Lawyer Benjamin Godshalk has filed an answer in the Court of Chancery in the suit of Mrs. Susan Slavin against husband, James Slavin, for divorce.
The defendant denies the charges of desertion and infidelity made against him and charges his wife with habitual drunkenness. He alleges also in answer his wife's extreme cruelty to their son, now 18 years old, is the cause of the latter's present confinement in the State Hospital for the Insane.
The wife's statement in the bill about the marriage of the couple in County Fermanaugh, Ireland, in 1879, and their settlement in this city four years later, the husband says are true.
Six children were born to them, namely: John and Mary Ellen, who died in infancy; James Jr., aged 16; Lillie, aged 16; Annie, aged 10; and Joseph, aged 5.
Slavin claims to have potters consumption, saying he is only able to earn $13 weekly.
Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times, April 23, 1903.