The Bitter End of a College Place Marriage
A landmark local divorce case involving domestic violence, a butcher knife, and an $8,000 settlement concludes in Walla Walla.
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.
Out of the police court and into the divorce court, the marital troubles of the Withers, prominent College Place people, came to an end today when Judge Brents affixed his signature to a decree, awarding Mrs. Withers an absolute divorce from Andrew J. Withers, $8,000 in cash, and the custody of two minor children, Jesse and Mildred. This is supposed to end for all time a sensational case which has stirred peaceful College Place for months. Mr. Withers was lately committed to the county jail to keep the peace, Mrs. Withers complaining that he had threatened to kill her with a butcher knife. Habitual drunkenness and extreme cruelty were alleged in the complaint. The Withers were married at Xenia, Kansas, in 1871, and nine children were the result of the union. The community property consisted of $13,000 on deposit in the Bronson, Kansas, bank, ten lots in College Place valued at $3,500, and about $200 on deposit in a local bank. Of this, Mr. Withers is awarded the College Place property and the remaining $5,000 in the Bronson bank.
“Mr. Withers was lately committed to the county jail to keep the peace, Mrs. Withers complaining that he had threatened to kill her with a butcher knife.”
Domestic disputes were frequently aired in the public press of the early 20th century, often framing personal trauma as 'sensational' news. Today, College Place remains a distinct community, and records like these offer a glimpse into the legal and social vulnerabilities of women navigating marital separation before modern no-fault divorce laws.
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