The Unmaking of a Marriage
A teenager’s elopement ends with her father forcing her into the House of the Good Shepherd.
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.
Married only to be parted by an angry father is the fate that befell Charles W. Graham and Hattie Anspaugh. The couple, aged 26 and 16 respectively, eloped and were married by a justice of the peace after Graham laid siege to her heart despite her father's objections. After spending two days at the Florence Hotel, they were intercepted by police at the waterfront while attempting to catch a boat to Colby. Upon their return, the father took Hattie to the police station and subsequently placed her in the House of the Good Shepherd. Graham was released, as the father's attempt to prosecute him for marrying the 16-year-old girl proved legally toothless.
“The old saying about love laughing at locksmiths must have held good in the present case.”
The 'House of the Good Shepherd' was a common institutional response to 'wayward' girls in the late 19th century, reflecting a era where paternal control over women was legally codified. Today, we view this as a tragic violation of bodily autonomy and agency that contrasts sharply with modern marriage equality and consent laws.
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