Emerson and Wait, attorneys for plaintiff in Austin v. Whitley, dismiss suit. Record.

In the Macon County Circuit Court, a jury grants a divorce to Lincoln's client Sarah Ogden in the case of Ogden v. Ogden. Among other charges, Sarah claims that the defendant, Jonathan Ogden, "repeatedly" hit her and then left her "in a destitute and suffering situation." "In lieu of alimony," the court orders Jonathan to give Sarah "bedding . . . [and] four hundred dollars." The court awards Jonathan "custody . . . of the children," but it allows Sarah to "visit said children occasionally" and "without hinderance." Answer of Jonathan Ogden, filed May 1851, Ogden v. Ogden; Bill for Divorce, filed 9 May 1851, Ogden v. Ogden, both in case file A1037, Macon County Circuit Court, Illinois State Regional Archives Depository, University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, IL; Decree, 14 November 1851, Ogden v. Ogden, Record C, 86, Macon County Circuit Court, Macon County Courthouse, Decatur, IL.

Lincoln writes to Joseph McIntyre, Pekin attorney, about legal document he needs at once. Abraham Lincoln to Joseph S. McIntyre, 14 November 1851, CW, 2:112.