Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1898 — Some Marriage and Diverce Statistics [ARTICLE]

Some Marriage and Diverce Statistics

The state statistician John B. Conner, yesterday issued a bulletin that contains much valuable information on the court business of the State and aUpßome interesting tables showing the number pf divorces anil marriage and the number of persons naturalized in each county. The bulletin is only a condensed abstract of a more extended analysis of the subjects which will appear in the biennial ‘report of the bureau to bo issued next year. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the bulletin to the general public is that relating to the

divorce records of the courts. The total number of marriages in the State for the year ending June 30, 1897, was 23,990 and the total number of divorces 3,080. Of these 2,103 were granted to wives and 838 to husbands, showing that causes for divorces were more than two to one against husbands. There Were 10.3 marriages to one divorce. Of the divorces 648 were’ granted for cruel treatment, 676 for abandonment, 371 for failure of husbands to provide, 276 for drunkenness, 284 for adultery, 21 for impotency and 47 for criminal conviction. Marion county shows up bad for divorces; 1860 marriage licenses were issued and 470 divorces granted. This is at the rate of one* divorce to everj’ 3.9 marriages. No other county except Shelby makes so bad a showing. There the marriages are only 3.6 times as many as the divorces. Ohio county with one divorce and 37 marriages has the best showing. Clark, Franklin and Putnam counties average only one divorce to 36, 39 and 30 marriages, respectively.

In Jasper county the marriages number 110 to divorces 7. This is 15.7 marriages to one divorce. Only 11 other counties in the |state make as good a showing as this. Not one of our six adjoining counties that does not have many more divorces in proportion to marriages, than does - Jasper countyThe total number of persons naturalized during the year was 514. Of these the largest number, 206, were natives of Germany; Sweden and Norway, 83; England 51; Russia, 26; Holland and Belgium, 24; Canada and British America, 13; Italy, 12; Austria, 11; France, 10; from several other countries. ’There were 2,932 who declared their intention to become citizens, and of these the several countries were represented in numbers as follows: Germany, 852; England, 383; Austria, 303; Italy, 189; Holland and Belgium, 169; Canada and British America, 158; Russia, 149; Ireland, 143; Sweden and Norway, 162; France, 108, and less numbers each from several other .countries.