The Ill-Fated Divorce of Whatcom County
A couple of thirty years' standing attempted a DIY divorce through a notary, only to find themselves inadvertently back in the bonds of matrimony when the law intervened.
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.
An amusing and unusual proceeding has been revealed to Governor Semple. It seems that some time ago, an aged couple residing in Whatcom County became tired of domestic felicity, which with them was of about thirty years standing, and mutually agreed to dissolve partnership. They accordingly repaired to a notary public who drew up a contract by which the property was satisfactorily distributed and who then pronounced them divorced. Things went well until a few days ago, when the old lady and a neighbor's young son appeared to the clerk of the county and requested a marriage license. The clerk became suspicious when the nature of the old lady's 'divorce' was discovered. The matter was at once reported to Governor Semple and as a result the old couple have been made aware of the fact that they are still man and wife, and the unfortunate notary who issued the divorce mourns the loss of his commission.
“An aged couple residing in Whatcom County became tired of domestic felicity, which with them was of about thirty years standing, and mutually agreed to dissolve partnership.”
While modern Washingtonians have access to structured legal dissolution, the era's lack of accessible legal frameworks for ending domestic partnerships often led to creative—if legally null—solutions. The confusion of this couple highlights the persistent human desire to escape 'domestic felicity' when it curdles, regardless of the era's rigid legal barriers.
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