John Taylor, a free man of color, seeks a divorce from his wife, Nancy Taylor, a free woman of color. He recounts that they were married in 1855 and "lived together in great harmony untill your Orator returning home late at night found her in bed with another man." Citing "his sense of duty to himself," Taylor admits that he "has been compelled to abandone her as his wife and since that time the said Nancy has been living in open adultery." The petitioner therefore prays "that the marriage aforesaid celebrated heretofore between your Orator and the said Nancy may be wholly annulled and declared void."
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Repository: Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Petersburg, Virginia