A Scandalous Breach of Promise
A $100,000 lawsuit in Port Townsend reveals a tale of alleged deception, a jilted bride, and an attempted hotel scandal.
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 sensational breach of promise suit brought by Mary H. Bellanger against Robert H. Craswell for $100,000 will likely come up for trial in the superior court in Port Townsend next January. The suit, originally commenced here, was transferred to the United States circuit court, where the plaintiff secured a verdict for $10,000. The case was then taken to the court of appeals in San Francisco, where the verdict was reversed and the circuit ordered to remand the case back to the superior court for adjudication. The complainant charges Craswell with having won her heart and hand under a promise of marriage, claiming he even secured the services of a minister in Montreal to perform the ceremony. On the eve of the wedding, the defendant sought to take improper liberties, which the complainant indignantly repelled. This created such a scene in the fashionable hotel where they were staying that the landlord expelled her from the premises. Miss Bellanger avers that this incident caused her to lose an opportunity of marriage, and she estimates her damage at $100,000. Craswell, a native of Nova Scotia, is about 80 years old and a wealthy landowner, while Miss Bellanger formerly operated a restaurant in Port Townsend.
“There it was that Craswell succumbed to the charms of her flashing black eyes and brought the blush of modesty to her cheeks by proposing wedlock.”
Breach of promise suits were a common, if litigious, way for women of this era to seek financial restitution for social ruin. While these laws have long been repealed, the underlying civic argument—who is responsible when a broken engagement leaves someone socially or economically vulnerable—remains a subject of endless fascination in our culture.
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