21284008https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/21284008North CarolinaGuilfordCountyy1840Superior013North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North CarolinaWilliam King charges that his "young & handsome" wife Mary was accepting "the embraces of other men." Standing by a window near their house, he overheard Mary and her sister planning a rendezvous. A few evenings later, he followed his wife to the house of her mother, "old lady Coley," where she said she was going for a visit. King discovered the mother was gone, while his wife and her sister entertained "two Mulatto fellows." Peering through a window, he saw Mary with her head on the lap of one of the men. He seeks a divorce. In her related answer, Mary denies her husband's allegations and charges that he left her alone many nights without any explanation, and that he subsequently moved in with a man of color and his three daughters.AdulteryDivorceInterracial socializing Interracial relationshipsSex workers/Promiscuity Illegitimacy