Divorce and Domestic Violence in Rosedale
After his wife fled to Tacoma to initiate divorce proceedings, a Rosedale farmer was arrested for making violent threats against her and those helping her.
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.
O. W. Scott, a farmer of Rosedale, was arrested on a warrant charging him with threatening to kill Byron Moon, a carman of the T. R. P. company. Scott had been arrested previously for threats against his wife, but she withdrew the complaint at that time. Scott's current trouble stems from his ongoing abuse of his wife, who finally fled to the city to seek a divorce with the assistance of friends, Mr. and Mrs. Moon. Mrs. Scott alleges that despite previous legal intervention, her husband continued to treat her brutally, including forcing her to work in fields and physically assaulting her with a strap. Scott was taken into custody to prevent him from carrying out his threats or harming himself.
“She failed to please her lord, the latter struck her in the face with a strap.”
Historical reporting of domestic violence often framed the issue through the lens of criminal nuisance or neighborhood disturbance. Today, this story highlights the long-standing challenge of how survivors find refuge in urban centers when escaping abuse in rural or isolated areas.
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