The daily gazette., 1882-05-03
A CURIOUS PARADOX.
,,..,. Legal wife Not His Legal
M" widow.

nsan,s Legal WHO
h"" widow.
~ rova Supreme Court was occupied =
The lo%a hearing an oral argument by ..
Aiew days u " Cedar Rapids, in the case oi
b YognS u rs Mary A. Ellis, from Linn
Mary LliS NJ Young appearing for plaintiil
fOunIy, liant % making lengthy and able
pnd aPpe.naT The case Is very peculiar one,
gll9thd lethe decision of the Court Is sustained
lu IN establish doctrine that Is al once mover
md slauT,1 Wrro1 Ellis was married to plaintiff,
one r,i;s ny IN Canada in 1869. Ellis was a
PAY iii"e engineer, and after living with
lalIIoap ..S ,bo9t three years left her with her
anIn "pf While he came to the United States
Palen.s III home and employment. He
a saf," az wondering disposition, remaining
u " .Sort fine at any one place, but con
Y. .,.a 1HT NJ work at his business as railroad
nulns " In 1865 he wrote to his wife, the
,sn,F from Carrollton, ILL.,, sending her
lau1' na money and saying that he was rowing
.o",5 mu A. but hoped soon to have q farm
lOuu1 be could provide her home, and
rould live happy together yet. He
,oroyed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where
'n ar,in .J, wrote her, sending her money, and
-,sr hat ne was sorry she was not able to
~. that Il was not SO pleasant to have
1. io,,ars read to her and replies written by
.S"r narties. but he would soon be so
Ituate6 @ as to send for her, and all would be
sll Mrs. Ellis, who was an illiterate
oman, and had supported herself by wash
~ and working as a seamstress, went out
Council Bluffs early in 1868, where she
bet her husband.
"A He aid he had been leading rather dis
/. .nIute life, could not then provide home
x her and she had better go home again,
7 nd when he was ready he would send for
ker She went home, and then removed to
fbieapo, where she has since resided, earn
tp her living as a seamstress. She had let
In written to her husband from there but
kcelyed no replies until December, 1868,
hen he sent her $50 and wrote her, saying:
MARY, | am afraid we can never 90 to
usekeeping, as ! cannot content myself TO
tle down, but 1t is not your fault. Do
aget discouraged; all may be right yet"
In Ellis continued to have letters written
Nm but learned he had removed from
.gncil Bluffs. She had inquiries made on
The Iowa railroads but heard nothing of
n until she learned Of his death In Viola,
bya, in 1880,
ltappears after his removal from Council
lufs he married a lady In northern Iowa
] 1870, who died in 1873. In 1875 he mar
ID the defendant, Mary A, Ellis, with
|hOm he lived on farm near Viola until
! death He left large amount of
FOperty, including about $4,000 in Gov
Enment bonds Plaintiff came TO Iowa and
|fOsecuted her claim as his widow TO her
hare of his estate. The Circuit Court of
ynn county, Judge Hedges, found that
|anliif was duly and legally married to
lyron Ellis that there was no evidence of
divorce, and all the facts as stated above,
lt held that the facts all being proved
llk would be guilty of bigamy, and as the
|w presumed him innocent of crime 1t
|Ould be presumed that he had been di-
frred rather than that he was guilty of
ime and therefore denied the plaintiff her
ghtas widow. The plaintiff, the first
Aie, appeals.