In the mid 1800s, a strong-willed Elizabeth Ware married Theophilus Packard, a Calvinist minister. After moving several times due to Elizabeth expressing “outlandish” religious ideas, Theophilus conspired with two local doctors to have his wife institutionalized. Even after she was released, Elizabeth was forced to take her husband to court to keep her money, possessions, and children after Theophilus abandoned her. What happened in that court room changed history and set laws that we still follow today.