The Tragedy and Redemption of Alice Cady
After a young woman fled to Seattle to escape scandal, her father and lover reunited with her to formalize their bond.
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.
SEATTLE, Dec. 18.—Miss Alice W. Cady, the young woman who fled from her home in Lima to Seattle to hide her shame, and upon whom an operation is alleged to have been performed by Dr. W. St. John Downey, will probably be married at the home of Police Matron Chapin. Her lover, John Coombs, the man who was responsible for her unfortunate condition, arrived in Seattle Wednesday in company with the girl's father, and the young couple have agreed to be married. The meeting between the sick girl and her father was affecting in the extreme. The girl was not quite sure that her family would not cast her off in her hour of trouble, and, when the tall form of her father appeared in the doorway of her room, she ran and cried and stretched out her arms from where she lay on the bed. Father and daughter locked in a loving embrace. Right behind the father came John Coombs, a big, square-shouldered, manly-looking young fellow. The girl recognized him with a glad smile, and the two were soon talking matters over. Coombs and the girl have known each other for years; they have been neighbors and have been lovers for the past two years. Coombs declares to the father that he did not know Alice's condition or he certainly would have married her.
“The girl was not quite sure that her family would not cast her off in her hour of trouble.”
This account highlights the harsh social stigmas regarding unwed pregnancy and the dangerous, often illegal, 'solutions' women were forced to seek at the turn of the century. It serves as a stark reminder of the long evolution of reproductive rights and the history of social policing of women's private lives.
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