Waiting for a divorce in Santa Barbara

In the Fall of 1890, Emily Averell is vacationing with J.G. Averell, her cousin Libbie (Elizabeth Louise Tyler), her cousin Edward Duty Tyler and his wife Louisa in Colorado Springs, when she is contacted by George Folger Canfield, a New York lawyer who was associated with her brother Hiram's businesses.  Canfield was evidently hired to assist Emily in gaining a divorce from Isaac Averell.  He was an excellent choice since he had brothers who were lawyers in California, and it appeared that Emily would need to establish residency in California before she could sue for divorce.

Emily's photographs of her time in Santa Barbara (held by George Eastman Museum), as well as letters sent to Emily by her mother and by James Sibley Watson, help to document this trip and the attendant anxieties surrounding the divorce.