A Stovepipe and a Divorce
A domestic dispute involving a violent husband and a faulty stovepipe leads to a divorce decree in Judge Langley's court.
Mrs. Annie Bogart secured a divorce, all costs of the suit, attorney fees, and $15 per month alimony from her husband, Charles A. Bogart, in Judge Langley's court yesterday. Bogart, a fireman at the University street engine house, was married to Miss Annie Murphy on September 14, 1889. She claimed that ever since the honeymoon, he was abusive and cruel. Testimony, corroborated by her 13-year-old sister Mamie, detailed instances of verbal and physical abuse. One incident occurred when Bogart came home to find the stovepipe out of order; upon discovering smoke in the house, he became enraged, abused her, and struck her in the face. Mrs. Bogart also claimed he failed to support her, contributing only $5 to her support since November 1892. She left his house on Washington's Birthday. Judge Langley granted the divorce and allowed her to resume her maiden name.
“When he came home and found that the stovepipe was out of order and that there was considerable smoke in the house, he became violently enraged.”
Divorce proceedings of the 1890s often required public, humiliating testimony of 'cruelty' to satisfy the state. The reliance on domestic testimony remains a reminder of how the courts governed the privacy of the home.
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