East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-04-04
rhe Riehts Of married WOMEN.


The Supreme Court of this State,
at It's last session, made an important
decision on the subject of the rights
of married women. The Court held
that deed from a man to his wife
was legal and valid, and that under
our constitution and laws there is no
necessity for the intervention of trus-
tees.
Tho opinion Of the Court was de-
livered by the Hon. ]. V. CAMPBELL,
and is very able and conclusive. He
first alludes to the disabilities of the
wife at common law, under which,
Immediately upon marriage, she ceases
to control either her actions or her
property. Her husband was entitled
to enjoy the possession of her lands,
became owner of her goods and per-
sonal estate, and could alone sue for
her demands. The wife could neither
possess nor manage property in her
own right, could make no contract Of
a personal nature which could bind
her, and could bring no suits in her
name. In short, under the common
law, she lost all the legal incidents
attaching to person acting in her
own right.
The first innovation or change of
the common law on the rights of mar
ried women occurred at the session Of
the Legislature in 1874, wherein it
was enacted "that any estate, real or
personal, which may have been ac-
quired by any female before her mar
riage, either by her own personal in
dustry or by inheritance, gift, grant
or devise, or to which she may at any
time hereafter be entitled by inheri-
lance, gift, grant or devise, and the
rents, issues, profits and income there
Of, shall be and continue the real and
personal estate of such female after
marriage to the same extent as before
marriage, and none of said property
shall be liable for her husbands debts
or engagements, but such property
shall be liable for all the debts of the
wife contracted prior to the marriage.
This was radical change of the
common law, and after seven years of
experience Of the practical effect of
such law the convention then in
session to revise the Constitution in
serted the following section in article
sixteen: "The real and personal
estate Of every female acquired before
marriage, and all property to which
she may afterwards become entitled
by gilt, grant, inheritance or devise,
shall be and remain the estate and
property of such female, and shall not
be liable for the debts, obligations or
engagements of her husband, and may
be devised and bequeathed by her as
if she were unmarried"
This provision in the Constitution
was followed by statute to carry it
into full effect, in which it is declared
that married woman shall have the
right to enjoy, control, sell, transfer,
mortgage, convey, devise or bequeath
her property in this same manner and
with like effect as if she were unmar-
rried." Notwithstanding the Consti-
tuition and laws, it has generally been
the opinion of the legal profession that
the husband and wife could not con-
tract with each other, and hence it was
held in the Circuit Court, in the case
under review by the Supreme Court,
that q deed made by the husband
directly to the wife was void. This
decision Of the court below was re-
versed, and thus is swept away forever
the last vestige Of this old common
law. There were not few persons
who apprehended great danger in
changing the common law, but the
experience of over twenty years in
Michigan proves that it was wise to
alter the law and place the property
of the wife under her own control
Detroit Free Press.