A Leaded Revolver and a Restraining Order
Lena Barr’s divorce complaint accused her husband of years of cruelty — and of assaulting her with a loaded weapon in 1890.
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.
Lena Barr brought suit in the superior court yesterday against W. T. Barr for divorce, alleging in her complaint that the defendant had for years past been guilty of cruel and barbarous treatment toward her, and that he had failed to make proper provision for her support. Among other things she alleges that her husband, in December, 1890, assaulted her with a leaded revolver. She claims that he is worth some money and property, and asked for a restraining order to prevent him from disposing of his property pending the suit. The couple were married in Fort Scott, Kan., in February, 1878, and one child, a boy 9 years of age, has been born of the union.
“She alleges that her husband, in December, 1890, assaulted her with a leaded revolver.”
Long before modern protective orders, a Seattle woman asked a judge to freeze her husband’s property while her divorce case moved forward. The language of “cruel and barbarous treatment” is Victorian, but the underlying demand — safety and financial leverage — is still at the center of domestic-abuse cases.
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