The Cure for the Common Scold

This blog post is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" writing challenge by genealogist, blogger and podcast host Amy Johnson Crow. This week's prompt: At the Courthouse.

When you think about it, people getting into each other's business is a phenomenon as old as time. These days, people notify each other of their displeasure in angry arguments, road rages, tempestuous Twitter tirades, fiery Facebook posts and snarky Snapchats.

Back in the day, our ancestors - especially women - could be taken to court for being a nosey, neighborhood nuisance. They could be accused of being a "common scold." 

Defined by Duhaime's Law Dictionary, the common scold is "the now extinct offence of an angry woman who, by brawling and wrangling amongst her neighbours, disturbs the public peace." 1

In fact, Mary Gilbride, the second wife of our great, great grandfather Michael Gilbride, was found guilty of just that in 1897. 

It appears that Mary got on the bad side of her neighbors, the Morans, on Rock Street in Scranton. The cause could have been those charges she brought against Edward and Mary Moran, noted in a 20 May 1897 notice in The Scranton Tribune where she accused Mr. Moran of threatening her bodily harm, and Mrs. Moran of being a "common scold." 2

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Mary Moran, accused both Mary Gilbride and another neighbor, Mrs. Mary Gallagher, of being scolds. A 22 May 1897 notice in The Scranton Republican detailed that Mrs. Gilbride and Mrs. Gallagher were "arraigned before Alderman Fidler of the Second Ward on charges preferred by Mrs. Mary Moran." The prosecutor claimed that "the defendants are nothing but common scolds and a nuisance to their neighbors on Rock street." The ladies were each held on $300 bail (a whopping $9,098 in 2019 dollars), "to keep the peace and to answer the charges preferred by Mrs. Moran in Court." 3

Unfortunately for Mrs. Gilbride, the Morans won the day. In October 1897, Mary Gilbride was found guilty of being a common scold, and sentenced to "pay a fine of $15 and costs."  4

That's $450 and change in today's dollars. Ouch.

Just goes to show, that both then and now, it's better to mind your own business.

1 Duhaime.org Learn Law, (http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/CommonScold.aspx : accessed 2 March 2019).

2 The Scranton Tribune, 20 May 1897, (www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 March 2019), citing print edition, page 8, column 3.

3 The Scranton Republican, 22 May 1897, (www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 March 2019), citing print edition, page 8, column 1.

4 The Scranton Republican, 23 Oct 1897, (www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 March 2019), citing print edition, page 7, column 2.