 After a brief flirtation with poet Alice Cary , Griswold pursued a relationship with Harriet McCrillis . He originally did not want to divorce Charlotte Myers because he " dreaded the publicity " and because of her love for his daughter . He applied for divorce at the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia on March 25 , 1852 . Elizabeth Ellet and Ann S. Stephens wrote to Myers urging her not to grant the divorce , and to McCrillis not to marry him . To convince Myers to agree to the divorce , Griswold allowed her to keep his daughter Caroline if she signed a statement that she had deserted him . She agreed and the divorce was made official December 18 ; he likely never saw Myers or his daughter again . McCrillis and Griswold were married shortly thereafter on December 26 , 1852 , and settled at 196 West Twenty @-@ third Street in New York . Their son , William , was born on October 9 , 1853 . 
