The Tacoma Scandal That Turned Domestic
After filing for divorce and suing for damages, a wife launches a criminal adultery prosecution against her husband and his new business partner.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Edward Hollands, aged 40, and a woman named Mrs. Edwards, aged 25, appeared in a Justice's court today on the complaint of Mrs. Edward Hollands, charging them with adultery. Bail was set at $500, and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Hollands filed for divorce from her husband. She subsequently brought a civil suit for $10,000 in damages against Mrs. Edwards, alleging that she stole away the affections of her husband and went with him to live on a ranch near Eatonville, thirty-two miles from Tacoma. Mrs. Hollands claims she was forced to work in a kitchen to support her two children, including a babe, while left behind. Hollands denies the charges, claiming his wife told him last July that she did not love him. He states he then advertised for a housekeeper to take care of his four children, and Mrs. Edwards was hired. Since receiving a $5,000 inheritance from an Iowa relative, Mrs. Edwards has started a stage line and opened a grocery store, which Hollands is said to have stocked.
“She was compelled, she said, to work in a kitchen to support her two children, one a babe.”
This 1892 case of a spouse using the legal system to challenge a partner’s new domestic and financial arrangement echoes the high stakes of modern matrimonial and civil litigation in Washington. It serves as a stark reminder of how 'adultery' was once a common criminal prosecution used to leverage marital property disputes.
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