The Ex-Husband’s Breach of Promise
A woman sues her former spouse for $25,000, alleging he courted her for remarriage only to marry another woman.
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 remarkable case of a woman suing a man who has once been her husband for breach of promise appears in an action brought yesterday by Mary M. Anderson against Louis C. Anderson. The couple were married for several years and had three children. On January 10, 1885, the wife was granted a divorce. Anderson later married the daughter of Capt. J. C. Brittain, but she died. Recently, the divorced wife returned to Seattle from Aberdeen. According to her claims, the husband began making advances, representing that he had reformed and wished to remarry her, promising to spend $1,000 on the education of each of their children. She alleges she yielded to his entreaties and resumed the relationship as his wife. She claims that he promised to remarry her, but instead, he married Gunda Thompson on December 3, 1892. For this reason, she seeks $25,000 in damages.
“She represented that he had reformed in his habits and that he loved her and wished to live with her and the children again.”
While breach-of-promise suits have largely vanished from modern dockets, the intersections of family law, financial settlement, and the 'reformed' spouse narrative remain staples of local court drama. It highlights how, even in 1892, the instability of legal marital status could lead to significant civil litigation in Seattle.
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