The Mystery of the Murdered Man's Two Wives
A shocking revelation in the case of C. C. Grant suggests the victim may have been a bigamist, or perhaps the victim of a clever fraud.
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.
Facts of a sensational order are daily coming to light in the case of C. C. Grant, the murdered man, and if all be true, it may be that he was the victim of an adventuress. The woman who arrived in Tacoma in company with Dr. May, of San Francisco, and who claims to be the lawful wife of the murdered man, has produced evidence in the shape of a marriage certificate which shows that she was married to Grant in Johnson County, Neb., on August 15, 1878. The ceremony was performed by Solomon Ware, Probate Judge of that county, and witnessed by A. Ring and C. V. Faux. From Nebraska they moved to Walla Walla, where Grant was left by her in the year 1884. Mr. Grant came to Tacoma, where he married his second wife, Miss Hattie Henches, whom he married last May, the Rev. Mr. Watson performing the ceremony. Mrs. Grant, from Tacoma, is evidently the victim of treachery, and is neither a widow nor a wife. She says that if the woman from San Francisco can prove her claim, she will give up her own. She was evidently much in love with Grant, and from all accounts, the affection was mutual. The unfortunate second wife is heart-broken by the death of Grant, while Mrs. Grant from San Francisco does not appear to mourn the loss at all. Grant's body will be exhumed, that Mrs. Grant from San Francisco can identify it. It is said at police headquarters that Martin, the murderer, has been seen in the vicinity of Steilacoom, in company with another man.
“Mrs. Grant, from Tacoma, is evidently the victim of treachery, and is neither a widow nor a wife.”
This case highlights the fragility of legal identity and marriage records in the frontier era, where travel and communication gaps made bigamy—or at least the appearance of it—easier to sustain. Today, our digital marriage and divorce databases make such long-term deceptions significantly harder to maintain.
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