Case Name: Webster v. Webster
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire
Decision Date: 1876-12
Citations: 58 N.H. 3
Docket Number: 
Parties: Webster v. Webster.
Judges: Foster, J., did not sit.
Reporter: New Hampshire Reports
Volume: 58
Pages: 3–4

Head Matter:
Webster v. Webster.
By the law of Massachusetts, a woman, having a husband living from whom she is not divorced, is incapable of contracting a second valid marriage.
, In Equity. The question is, whether the plaintiff is the widow of Thomas Webster. In 1833, slie married one Farnsworth, with whom she lived in Massachusetts until 1847, when he deserted lier. lie died in 1872. She has not seen him since 1848, and more than twenty years ago she heard he was dead. In 1855, she married Thomas Webster, in Massachusetts, and afterwards lived with him in this state until 1872, when she left him. He died in 1873.
C. U. Bell and Hatch, for the plaintiff.
Bartlett and Frink, for the defendant.

Opinion:
Sawyer, J.
The plaintiff was incapable of contracting a valid marriage with Webster in 1855, because she then had a husband living from whom she was not divorced. Mass. Rev. St., c. 75, s. 4 (Gen. St., c. 106, s. 4); c. 76, s. 1 (Gen. St., c. 107, s. 1). The exemption from the criminal punishment of polygamy in certain cases (Mass. Rev. St., c. 130, ss. 2, 3; Gen. St., c. 165, ss. 4, 5) does not render the second marriage valid. Kenley v. Kenley, 2 Yeates 207; Fenton v. Reed, 4 Johns. 52; Williamson v. Parisien, 1 Johns. Ch. 389; Glass v. Glass, 114 Mass. 563; 2 Kent Com. 79. It is not necessary to consider whether Hiram v. Pierce, 45 Me. 367, gives the true construction of that provision of the Massachusetts statutes, by which, under some circumstances, the issue of the second marriage is " deemed to be the legitimate issue of the parent capable of contracting the marriage." The plaintiff is not the widow of Webster.
Case discharged.
Foster, J., did not sit.