Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-21
WONDERS OF WEDLOCK.
A Maine Case that BahIed Yankee
Jury-CaIifOrnia Furnishes Case
of Legal and Social Contradiction

A Maine Case that Bamed n Yankee
Jury-CaIifOrnia Furnishes n Case
of Legal and Social Contradiction
The philosophy Of domestic history in
wolves many a problem in real life that
would be secuted as extrayagantly imprac-
ticable in fiction, and the peculiarly facile
genius Of social and legal institutions in the
United States seems notably favorable 10
the development of such cuTiOsities. Thus
a Jury in Portland, Me-, has recently dis
agreed, and thereby necessitated a new
trial, in a case Of alleged mistaken identity
the parties to which are a gentleman who
claims another persons wife as his own,
and the lady who, firmly and Indignantly
denies that she ever even saw the claimant
before. Mrs. Waite, wife of a highly res
pectable citizen of that name, is the lady in
question. and the claimant Of her marital
allegiance, who is from another part Of the
country, persists that he once married and
was deserted by her, and brings letters and
witnesses in proof thereof. She, on the
contrary, is sustained by husband, children,
old friends and acquaintances, in utterly
denving all knowledge of the man; and, as
the disagreement Of the jury shows, the
evidence on both sides Is so strong IS to
battle the average Of human sagaclty 10 de-
eide the astounding problem.
But vet more surprising are the anoma-
lOus LEGAL complications Of case in San
Bernardino, California. Of which the fol-
. owing are the chief facts: In 1872 an
EngliShman named OadeS came thither
from Australia, and purchased a farm in
Tamescal township. representing that he
had experienced bitter domestic bereaye-
ment and pecuniary loss in the land whence
he came, and exhibiting great dependency
of spirit in consequence. In January Of
the following wear he wOOed and won a
comely and hi-hly-reSpectable widow Of
San BernarlinO named FOreland, but not
without having given her the tragic history
Of his past errors. About six years before
he had been a thrifty farmer in Wellington
county, New Zealand, on the frontiers OF
the seditious Maori county. During his
absence from home one day, on a short
Journey of business, while his wife and
several children were.alOne in the house,
band Of savage MaOris devastated the place,
and left the buildings in smoking ruins.
| Upon his return he found only heaps Of
| smOldering embers and ashes in the place
where the homestead had stood; and charred
AliLtlltll Ald-liltAlS III lllE NAEdtAAuA "ANt0
| left him no hope but that his whole family
had been butchered by the pitiless Destroy
| erS. Il seemed, indeed, barely possible AZ
first that some of the victims had been car
ried of captive; but weeks, months, and
even years Of pitiful waiting and inquiring
never sustained the possibility. 1t last the
| inconsOlable man had gathered together
what little worldly substance was left to
him and emigated to California, and now
told the story Of his cdlamitleS 10 her whom
| he besOught to be his second wife. Thus
Mrs. FOreland knew what OadeS had suf-
fered before she gave him her hand in we'd
lock, and needed no further information
from him when in a year after thei mar
riage-Or only a few weeks asO-the first
Mrs. Oades and her three children arrived
at the farm in search Of husband and
parent. The woman and the little ones
had been made prisoners, instead Of killed,
| by the MaOris; the human remains found
| in the smoking ruins were those Of savageS
who were slain by each other in fight for
the spOils; and, after a captivity Of years,
| the hapleSs Mrs. Oades and her children
had finally been released, and followed
their natural protector to California.
Upon hearing the pIteOus tale from the
poor wanderers, Oades and his second wife
| were of one mind about what 10 do in the
matter. They would Not relinquiSh THEN
| own union, for il had been entered into in
/ perfect good faith on both sides, and was
| Justified by the mutual devotion it had lie
| velOped; but the deSOlate newcomers must
be received into the house as legitimate
members of the family, and receive all the
amends that could possibly be made for
their anomalous condition.
| Not so, though, decided the good people
Of San Bernardino, who, on being frankly
| told of the domestic situation, insisted that
| there must be a divorce to accommodate
affairs to civilized form. As neither Oades
nor either of the Mrs. Oades would move
/ in the matter, the public prosecuting attOr-
ney was constrained 10 institute legal pre-
| ceedings. And then began the judicial per
plexities of the problem. According to the
| Los .Angeles Express, the husband was
first sued for retaining the woman from
| Australia under his roof. He proved that
She was his lawful wife, and tue suit was
abandoned. 4 suit was then brought
against him for unlawfully living with wife
| number two. He was acquitted under the
law. which declares that ''the marriage Of a
| person having a husband or wife tlivinS Is
void. unless such former husband or wife
| living was absent and not known 10 such
person to be living for five years immedi-
| atelv preceding such subsequent marriage
| in which case the subsequent marriage IS
void only from the time its nullity IS adj
Judged by a proper tribunal" He was then
| prosecuted for bigamy, but the law provides
| that "nO person shall be held guilty Of biga-
| NV whose husband or wife has been absent
| for five successive years without being
| known to such person as being living "a
he again escaped. A fourth suit was finally
brought TO dissolve the second marriage
| That failed because not brought by one OF
ale Interested parties. They were appealed tc
but refused to take action. AT a publicmeet-
inc of the now fairly frantic citizens It was
proposed TO petition the Legislature TO pass
a special act dissOlving Oades' last mar
riage. But Oades, who was present, IN
mediately arose TO address the meeting
| and told them that that was no 90, for by
the twentieth section Of the fourth article
of the Constitution Of California It is ex'
pressly provided that SnO divorces shall bC
granted by the legislature
As OadeS produced the book itself tn:
argument was unanswerable. Ii was then
| proposed that the Legislature should be pc
titiOned to call a constitutional convention
for the purpose Of annulling one or the o,le
of Oades' marriages; but Oddes produced th'
Constitution Of the United States, and reae
the tenth section of the first article, whicl