The Custody Battle of the Silver State House
After a failed divorce, a Seattle husband wins custody of his daughters, alleging his wife was 'masquerading' in male attire and neglecting their home.
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.
Judge Langley yesterday settled the habeas corpus case by ordering that two little girls, over whose custody trouble arose, shall go to their father, who may take them from the mother whenever he finds them. The habeas corpus proceedings were a result of the Shafer divorce case, which was dismissed. The complaint was filed last summer by Mrs. May L. Shafer, who sought a divorce from her husband, W. Shafer, and the custody of two daughters, Alice and Florence. Shafer took the stand and told that his married life had been happy until he came to Seattle with his wife four years ago. While the witness was making his home in the Silver State House his wife was constantly leaving the house in his absence and going to the room of a musician named Sharpe, who was a player in a brass band in town. Mr. and Mrs. D. K. Marshall testified they had seen Mrs. Shafer masquerading around publicly in male attire, a rather too giddy act for the mother of a girl 10 years old to take delight in. Judge Langley said that Mrs. Shafer might be a good woman, but there was a good deal to show that she was unsteady. An order giving the custody of the children to Shafer was granted.
“They had seen Mrs. Shafer masquerading around publicly in male attire, a rather too giddy act for the mother of a girl 10 years old to take delight in.”
This 1891 custody fight centers on the moral policing of a mother's private life, specifically her 'giddy' choices and alleged cross-dressing. It serves as a reminder of how the judicial system once used personal social behavior—and societal prejudices regarding gender expression—to make life-altering determinations about family stability.
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