Gunfire Before Midnight: The Bratton Tragedy in Tacoma
Isaac Henry Bratton, 41, shot his wife and then himself at their Tacoma home. The couple had come from Missouri two years earlier and left three children.
Tacoma, Jan. 20.—Shortly before midnight Isaac Henry Bratton, aged 41, shot and killed his wife, and then killed himself, at their residence, South Seventh and J streets. The cause was domestic troubles. They leave three children. Bratton was the second husband and removed here two years ago from Mexico, Mo.
“The cause was domestic troubles. They leave three children.”
Domestic violence was often euphemized as “domestic troubles” in the 1890s and treated as a private tragedy. Today a murder-suicide like this is recognized as the lethal end of a pattern of abuse, and the children left behind are counted among its victims.
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