The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1879-07-17
CORRESPONDENCE.
A wB0NGED wOMAN,s srORY.

meDt In regard to the divorce ease Of W. ii. Small
wood and Tie way in which be treated his family
wish the people Of Kansas and washipgton Territory
70 know him Is he Is wish the people Of Ka.s.a
to know he wrote 70 me, telling me II had lefterz
from his friends there. saying slighsng things Of me
before he conmeueesl the snit. II he had giyea me
the names, they could have had chance to have
proved them
In February, 1875, in Topeka, W. H. SmaIlvood
told me he was in debt and did not know what to
do; said he would have to sell our home to pay the
debts We talked the matter over, snd concluded
the best that we could do was to move to Bates
County, Missouri, and try to make living on farm
my son and myself owend. When we had this talk,
and came to this conclusion, he intended coming
with the family to the farm. About two weeks af
terwards, he told me he did not know how he could
be able to help his father uniess he did something
else to make some money. He then said he would
60 to Waterville and into the newspaper business
with Mr. Campbell for the old peoples sake. I
agreed to his going He visitedus once while at Wa
terve; told me he was not making anything. hardly
enough to pay his board and intended to get some
thing else to do. Said. at one time in his letter. if
things got much worse, might send for his body, and
collect the insurance on his life. wrote to him to
come home; that We could make enough to live on
that If it was hard way Of living, it was better than
none.
When we moved to Bates County, We lived in my
sisters house until October, 1875; then We had to
move on farm, to keep the stock from destroying
the crop. We did not have house, lit had been
burned before we moved DOWN. We had to have an
old smoke house fixed up and live In until be could
make some money to build house. The season was
very rainy, and the house Isaked badly. Many
times have il wet all over, except under the
bed and the reasonit was dry under 1t was because
it did not rain enough to go through the bedding
We lived In that house from October, 1875, until De-
cember, 1876. He sent me money enough to put up
one room, and some to buy wagon When moved
to Bates County, had two cows and two ponies. He
gave SO THAT was all had for fourteen months.
did not have set Of harness any farming tools,
and being grassbopper times and everything very
high had to pay e per bnshel for corn, until grass
came for the stock. Living i'm such bad house, we
sick. The doctor says he testify that moth
ing else caused sickness. The doctor said he
afraid my son would lose his sight he had neu-
ralgia in his eyes SO badly. When W. II. was down
to see u.s. We agreed upon the plan of our house. He
had not the appointment to the Land Office then, but
told he intended to get something else to do In
the Fall of 1875 my little boy and myself were with
ont shoes. My son, W. NJ. Young, worked out, and
bought himself pair of boots, when he got the ague
and was not able to work any more until in the Win
ter. wore an old pair Of rubbers. Charley's feet
were tied up in rass until the week before Christmas
when sold five of land and got us things
never complained to him, or to any one. thought
he doing all he could, and if he could not get
anything to do he, of course, could not send any
money A great many of my hardships and trials
did not trouble him by writing and telling of them,
for thought he was feeling badly enough because
he could not help us. He never told me how much
he was in debt, until year ago last January. He
said that he owed about s2OOO he got in debt that
much while out of employment,) when he first went
to Vancouver He ran 500 behind with his paper at
Waterville; had to borrow money to 60 to Washing
ton City; had to borrow money to 60 to Vancouver;
said he had it all paid but 500. He was to come
home soon as he got out Of debt and had sent us
money to improve the place. and saved little ahead.
He always spoke of coming home, in his letters, until
in 1873 In the Summer of 1877, he said to me, that
he would not take his family out there for anything
in the world that the place too far out of the
world, and that the move would be sacrifice which
years salary would not repay. Said in fifty or one
hundred years henee-perhaps it would be that long
before the country would amount to anything, and
too old to sit down and wait for something
to turn up." Told me to be brave, and bear up
against misfortnnes; all would come ont right in the
end.
In 1877, W. II. Smallwood and W. NJ. Young were
sued by the Topeka Savings Bank and while the suit
was being carried on at Butler Bates County, No..
he wrote to me what to do. Once he wrote, and said
he did not know but what it would be the best thing
for to sell out and out there and to live
on farm, and he stay in town. Now, he had writ
ten to me, before, that farming considered dis
graceful out there; that the country people were
about like the "yah whoos- of Arkansas Nv son