Appeals of Detrick

Citations

• 117 Pa. 452
• 11 A. 882
• 1888 Pa. LEXIS 436

Syllabus

<p>1. In proceedings for divorce a vinculo matrimonii, instituted by the husband on the ground of desertion, under the act of March 13, 1815, 6 Sm. L. 286, the causes which will amount to a justification of the wife’s withdrawal from the home of the libellant must be such as to entitle her to a divorce.</p> <p>2. The statute, act of February 26, 1817, 6 Sm. L. 405, specifies two distinct causes for divorce a mensa et thoro on the libel of the wife for ill-treatment: (a) when the husband has, by cruel and barbarous treatment, endangered his wife’s life; or, (b) offered such indignities to her person as to render her condition intolerable or life burdensome.</p> <p>3. To entitle the wife to a divorce a mensa et thoro for cruel and barbarous treatment (a) there must have been actual personal violence, or the reasonable apprehension of it; or, such a course of treatment as endangered her life or health and rendered cohabitation unsafe.</p>