A Scandalous Clandestine Marriage Ends in Court
After defying her father's warnings about her husband's bad habits, Kate Stephenson secures a divorce and custody of her children.
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.
The decree yesterday in the superior court divorcing Kate N. Stephenson from William L. Stephenson recalls a clandestine marriage in this city on January 24, 1890, that excited a great deal of comment at the time. Miss Kate Tewksbury was the daughter of the Rev. George A. Tewksbury, who was called from the East in the fall of 1889 to the Plymouth Congregational church. On December 16, Miss Tewksbury met William L. Stephenson, then a car accountant for the Northern Pacific, at a church social. An acquaintance was formed that quickly ripened into a warmer feeling. In less than three weeks the couple were engaged. The news of the engagement became known to several members, and they at once informed Dr. Tewksbury, warning him that Stephenson, on account of his former bad habits, was not a fit person for the husband of the young lady. The father accordingly forbade the marriage. Nevertheless, on the evening of January 24, Stephenson and Miss Tewksbury went quietly to Justice of the Peace John F. Miller and were married. For a short time after the marriage, Stephenson behaved himself, but it did not last long. He returned to his former bad habits, failed to support his wife, and finally left her. His present whereabouts are unknown. The wife at the time of the marriage had $2,000, which she has been compelled to use to support herself and children. She was granted a decree of divorce and the custody of the two children.
“The news of the engagement became known to several members, and they at once informed Dr. Tewksbury, warning him that Stephenson, on account of his former bad habits, was not a fit person for the husband of the young lady.”
Divorce and custody disputes were often reported with lurid detail in the 1890s, functioning as a form of social cautionary tale. While the legal proceedings for divorce have become routine and private, the societal scrutiny on women's choice of partners remains a persistent feature of public discourse.
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