The Mail-Order Marriage from Hell
A lonely rancher and a widow seeking companionship found only a farcical and bitter end to their long-distance romance.
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.
Two hearts which the 'Cupid's Journal,' a matrimonial advertising sheet, had made to beat as one were yesterday disentangled by Judge Homes, and by a decree of divorce sent each to beat to its own way. The owners of the hearts were Jennie Thomas and her husband, Warren C. Thomas, a rancher near Orillia. Mrs. Thomas told the court that about two years ago, as a lonely widow in the East, she answered an ad in the publication from a 'prosperous farmer in Western Washington, a widower with no small children.' They corresponded, exchanged photographs, and seemed to agree on everything. She traveled West to marry him in Seattle in April, 1892. Upon arrival, the illusion shattered. Thomas had two grown sons who resented the new stepmother. When the wife attempted to entertain them with a 'magic money-maker'—a parlor toy that turned blank paper into banknotes—they accused her of counterfeiting. The husband soon sided with his sons, branded her an adventuress, and eventually bundled her into a spring wagon to be cast out into Seattle with only $12.50. Judge Homes granted the divorce after reviewing a letter from Thomas admitting he had disliked her from the moment he first saw her but married her anyway to 'fulfill my agreement.'
“Two hearts which the 'Cupid's Journal,' a matrimonial advertising sheet, had made to beat as one were yesterday disentangled by Judge Homes.”
This 1894 case of a mail-order marriage turned sour highlights the early desperation of lonely settlers, a stark contrast to today's digital dating culture where the 'misrepresentation' of a profile can lead to ghosting rather than a public court battle over property and honor.
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