The Croquet Courtship Scandal
A young suitor and his sweetheart face off against a disapproving father in an all-woman jury trial.
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 episode of love and law occurred in this county, near Winlock, a few days ago. A young man named Wales, recently from the East, fell in love with Clara Powl, daughter of Philip Powl. Things went on until they were engaged to be married. The old man strongly objected, and forbade his applicant whenever Wales made a call. This day, Wales and Clara were in the courtyard playing croquet, and the old man vigorously read orders for Wales to leave the premises. Finding the young man rather determined, he picked up a mallet and thought he would try force, though the young man retorted with a mallet or anything he could get his hands upon. Mallets, chairs, and weapons of various kinds were soon flung about, and in the contest young Wales came out winner. Wales and Clara were married soon after. The old man, still wanting to wreak vengeance on his new son-in-law, had him arrested on the charge of assault and battery. The trial came yesterday before Justice Smith, of Winlock. It was a lively bell, the jury being composed of five women and one man. Prosecuting Attorney Reynolds appeared for the Territory and Probate Judge Vadir for the defendant, Wales. The sympathies of the women were strong for the young man, and he was acquitted. It is not yet known how the old man likes his new son-in-law, since the trial.
“The sympathies of the women were strong for the young man, and he was acquitted.”
Long before Washington became a leader in women's suffrage, Winlock residents were already experimenting with local power—in this case, an all-female jury deciding a domestic squabble. It highlights how the 'wild' frontier courts were often more progressive in social practice than the formal legal codes of the time.
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