A Ladies’ Aid Society Paid to Bring Him Back
When a former Aberdeen resident fled to Wisconsin accused of seducing a young woman under promise of marriage, local women raised the money to extradite 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.
Sheriff Graham left this morning for Benham, Wis., to secure one Luke Frank Good, a former resident of this city, wanted here on a charge of seducing Miss Mabel Hyser, of this city, under promise of marriage. Good was arrested at Benham on Saturday at the request of the sheriff here.
The young lady and her parents are in straitened circumstances, and were unable to prosecute the case, and the Ladies’ Aid Society took up the matter and succeeded in learning that he was working in a logging camp near Benham, Wis., and caused his arrest, and Saturday raised $250 to defray the expenses of the sheriff.
“The young lady and her parents are in straitened circumstances, and were unable to prosecute the case, and the Ladies’ Aid Society took up the matter.”
The Ladies’ Aid Society effectively crowdfunded a prosecution that the victim’s family could not afford, foreshadowing modern debates over who pays for justice in sexual-exploitation cases. It also shows how private charities once filled gaps in public prosecution.
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