Parkland Woman Sues After Broken Engagement
A Parkland woman has filed a $16,000 breach of promise suit against a man who allegedly walked away after she divorced her husband to marry him.
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.
Claiming that John T. Davis promised to marry her and later refused, Dora Oline Lee commenced suit for $16,000 damages in the superior court yesterday afternoon. Miss Lee resides in Parkland, while the defendant, who formerly lived here, is in San Diego. The young woman claims that she secured a divorce from her first husband in order to marry Davis, and that, after everything was arranged for the second marriage, Davis 'skipped out,' leaving her to the mercy of friends.
“The young woman claims that she secured a divorce from her first husband in order to marry Davis, and that, after everything was arranged for the second marriage, Davis 'skipped out.'”
Breach of promise suits were a common form of litigation in the early 20th century, used to recover damages for the social and economic disruption of a broken engagement. While these specific legal claims have largely vanished, they highlight the high stakes of marriage contracts in an era where women's economic autonomy was limited.
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