Aquilla Wren

Aquilla Wren (1787–1844) was a businessman and land owner in Peoria, Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s. He and his wife came of note beyond Peoria as a result of a sensational divorce proceeding in which Abraham Lincoln was involved.

After Aquilla Wren divorced Clarissa (Jones) Wren, she pursued an alimony payment from him despite significant cultural and legal obstacles. Even after Aquilla Wren died during the course of the proceedings, Clarissa Wren continued the case, which eventually wound up in the Illinois Supreme Court. Lincoln seems to have come into the case late in the term of court when he assisted Elihu H. Powell and William F. Bryan in their efforts to obtain a new trial.

Pre-divorce Aquilla Wren was born in 1787; his wife was born as Clarissa Jones in 1781. They married in Jackson County, Ohio, in January 1826. They moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1829, then to Peoria in 1830. and assessor for Peoria in 1841. Lincoln charged $150 for his services.

Aquilla Wren was granted a decree after a finding by a jury that his wife Clarissa had been guilty of misconduct. Attorneys argued that according to Illinois statute, a wife divorced for fault or misconduct lost those rights.

On December 22, 1845, Justice Walter B. Scates wrote the opinion for the 7–1 majority (Justice Richard M. Young dissented). On December 29, the attorneys for Moss, Frye, and Thomas Wren filed a petition for rehearing, which the court denied.

Legacy Between 1839 and 1861, Lincoln or his legal partners were involved in seventeen similar cases where husbands sued their wives and accused them of adultery.