The Divorce Mill: Three Women Escape Their Marriages in Seattle
A single day in Judge Humes’ court saw three women granted divorces on grounds of desertion, cruelty, and financial abandonment.
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.
Yesterday was divorce day in Judge Humes' court and three unhappy wives were freed from matrimonial bonds that had been made unbearable. Florence J. Hadley testified to her husband George D. Hadley's constant neglect and failure to provide, having abandoned her. She was granted custody of their child and alimony. Mrs. Rutley, married in Ontario, sought freedom after three years of non-support by Thomas Rutley, who failed to appear in court. Finally, Christine Jager secured a divorce from T. George Jager, detailing a harrowing history of threats, physical assault with a knife, and desertion. She was granted custody of their son and permitted to resume her maiden name, Christine Johanson.
“Christine Jager, whose burden of care and sorrow, according to her evidence, had been heavily laid on her by the cruel treatment of her husband... until forbearance ceased to be a virtue.”
In 1894, divorce was a public, often humiliating spectacle requiring women to prove ‘cruelty’ or ‘neglect’ to earn their freedom. While the legal barriers have shifted, the struggle for financial independence and the burden of sole child-rearing faced by these women remains a resonant theme in modern family law and domestic life in Seattle.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.