Domestic Violence and a Very Public Feud
John and Mary McNeil return to court in a case of assault involving biting, teeth-marks, and threats of revenge.
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 McNeil family—John and Mary—whose names, within the past two years, have filled the newspapers with tales of domestic woe, came to the front again yesterday in a justice court. Mary McNeil had her husband John arrested upon a charge of assault and battery. The woman swore that on Saturday night, McNeil followed her into the Epler block on Second street and seized her by the throat. McNeil admitted the charge, but claimed his wife had first assaulted him and 'chewed his right arm from the shoulder to the wrist.' To substantiate his story, he bared his arm to show semi-circular raw spots. The justice fined McNeil $10 and costs; lacking funds, he faces jail time. McNeil now threatens to have his wife arrested in return.
“McNeil admitted the charge, but claimed that his wife first assaulted him and chewed his right arm from the shoulder to the wrist.”
Local reporting in the 1890s often treated domestic abuse as 'delectable' fodder for public gossip, providing names and locations of those involved in private, violent conflicts. This sensational style highlights how the justice system and the press managed private disputes in a city growing too fast for its own social institutions.
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