A Brutal Marriage Ends
After enduring months of physical abuse and a terrifying attempt on her life, Cora A. Newson is granted a divorce by Judge Lichtenberg.
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.
Cora A. Newson was yesterday granted a divorce by Judge Lichtenberg from Johnson C. Newson, and was also allowed to renew her former name, Mrs. A. Goucher. The case was one of the most sensational of its kind that ever came before Judge Lichtenberg, and the court took occasion to read the defendant a severe lecture. His honor accused the defendant of perjury, and lamented the fact that the state's attorney was not present to prosecute him on a criminal charge. The couple were married on August 25, 1891, when Mrs. Newson, then Mrs. Goucher, was a pretty young woman and had money. Her husband, who is a tailor, began abusing her a month after their marriage and many times afterward beat her. On May 3, Newson, so the plaintiff claimed, attempted to cut her throat, and since that time she has not lived with him. The evidence showed that Newson was jealous of his wife because of the alleged attentions shown her by John Entwistle. Mrs. Newson has lived in Seattle a long time.
“His honor accused the defendant of perjury, and lamented the fact that the state's attorney was not present to prosecute him on a criminal charge.”
Domestic violence was frequently handled as a 'sensational' matter in 1892 news, but the court's public condemnation of the husband highlights an early attempt at judicial oversight in private affairs. Today, Seattle's legal system approaches these cases with specialized domestic violence courts, though the struggle to protect victims remains a core civic challenge.
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