21286609https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/21286609North CarolinaBuncombeCounty1866Superior014North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North CarolinaMary L. Lytle petitions for divorce charging her husband with adultery, abusive behavior, and that he is "much inclined toward drunkenness." Moreover, he threatened to kill her, keeping a knife under his pillow and promising to "cut her throat." "This treatment," she asserts, "was habitual & as well when Sober as when he was drunk." She also accuses him of having had illicit intercourse with a "negro" or "mulatto" woman owned by his father. She claims that she "has good reason to believe that the same intercourse is kept up to this day." She seeks a divorce.AdulteryDivorceDomestic violenceDrunkennessAssaultInterracial relationshipsSex workers/Promiscuity