A History of Marriage A History of Marriage A History of Marriage, published by Seven Stories Press, is a non-fiction book by Elizabeth Abbott, the Canadian author of "A History of Celibacy" (1999) and "A History of Mistresses" (2003) that combines general history and personal histories of marriage. The book is a study of mostly North American rituals of courting, nuptials, marriage, sex, child-raising and divorce. Some topics covered are relative ages at which various societies from Chinese to Mormon married off their girls; details of the satisfying marriage of Martin Luther and former nun Katharina von Bora; the ruptured family units of Native
Catharine Merrill and served in the Indiana General Assembly (1819–22) and as Indiana's first state treasurer (1822–34). Samuel was responsible for moving the state treasury to the new state capital at Indianapolis in 1824; his young family, which included nine-month-old Catharine, joined him on the journey. Catharine, nicknamed Kate, was the third of ten children. Merrill's mother died in 1847 and an older sister died two years later. Merrill's father married Elizabeth Young of Madison, Indiana, in 1849; he died in 1855. During this period, Catharine helped care for her younger siblings. Other members of the extended family also lived with the