The Widow’s Hard Struggle in Probate Court
A woman’s claim to her deceased husband's estate sparks a contentious legal battle after he died by suicide in Portland.
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.
The petition of Mrs. Kittie Merritt, the widow of Merritt, the well-known Portland businessman who committed suicide on May 15 by cutting his throat while jumping from a third-story window while temporarily insane, for the removal of Daniel McGuane as administrator of his estate, came up in the superior court today and developed a sensation. The attorneys for McGuane attempted to prove the petitioner had never been married to Merritt and was therefore not entitled to any share of the estate. Mrs. Merritt was placed on the stand and subjected to a merciless cross-examination, in which she admitted that she had lived with Merritt for several years as mistress, but claimed to have married him on January 2, 1892, in Spokane. She was unable, however, to produce her marriage certificate, and there is no record of a license ever having been issued for such a marriage. She brought two female witnesses to testify that they had witnessed the ceremony, but they were unable to give the name of the justice who performed the ceremony. Mrs. Merritt broke down several times and sobbed bitterly during the cross-examination. Judge Blake reserved his decision.
“Mrs. Merritt was placed on the stand and subjected to a merciless cross-examination, in which she admitted that she had lived with Merritt for several years as mistress, but claimed to have married him.”
This case highlights the fragility of legal marriage status for women in the 1890s, where lack of documentation could strip a surviving spouse of their rights. It reflects the intense social scrutiny and 'moral' litigation that often defined probate battles in that era.
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