Yes, throughout the War period and even earlier, I guess, you see families with a set of grown children and another group of small children from two different wives. So the man definetly took a younger wife.

I checked the abuse thing and there is history of spousal abuse laws back to the time of Romulus in Rome. In 1874 North Carolina created a law allowing a man to "chastise" his wife as long as he didn't hurt her and suggested he should close the door and pull the curtains,,,,,