After Aquilla Wren, a merchant in Peoria, 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.