, 1886-02-16
KIDNAPPED.
How a Mother Stole Her own chIldren.

'a'N VhhAt SUN ~ " - ''s
Several months ago n man named
Woodruff who is now in Cheyenne and
employed in one of our barber shops,
got a divorce from his wife, Pauline
Woodruff, through the courts at Omaha,
a decree being also awarded at the time
giving him the custody of their two
beautiful little children Lena and Lizzie,
now aged respectively 6 and 4 years.
The father subsequently gave the
mother the custody of the children-she
at the time having became somewhat
demorllized and engaged in running a
house Of i'll repute to which for a time
she took them. Subsequently the father
drifted to Cheyenne aud the mother to
Denver, the children being brought to
Cheyenne and placed by the father in
the family of Henry Brenning a well
known carpenter of this city.
Some months ago the mother, who
was then and now is the proprietress of
n house in Denver similar to the one
she conducted in Omaha, came up to
Cheyenne and instituted habeas corpus
proceedings in order to get possession of
the children. The case was heard before
Judge Lacey, the father resisting
the attempt to get the children.
Judge Lacey held that neither the father
or the mother were the proper persons to
have the custody of the children, but
awarded them to Henry Brenning, on
condition that he should give bonds in the
sum of$3,0 900 for their safe keeping. The
bond was given, but some objection hav-
ing been made to its form, it was not
perfected and never has been to this day.
Last Wednesday Pauline Woodruff ar
rived in Cheyenne from Denver with the
avowed purpose of making another effort
by law to get possession of her children.
She consulted an attorney as to what
course to pursue and the latter after max
ing an examination failed to find what he
deemed a sufficient record of the proceed
ings under the habeas corpus, and, it is
said, advised his client that if she could
get possession of the children
and get them across the line into
Colorado, they then could not be
taken from her. Pauline resolved
to try this plan and in order to work it
successfully took into her confidence a
young woman who resides in Cheyenne
and one whose course of life is not now
and has not been for some years very ex-
emplary. Pauline, when she first came
up to Cheyenne went to the house of Mr..
Brenning, where her children were and
made that her headquarters. The plan
as arranged between the two women
the mother and the conidant, was for the
latter to call in a hack at the residence of
Brenning and got Pauline to go out
riding with her, which she did
on Sunday morning just before
it was time for the Denver
train TO start out on its journey southwark.
When Pauline got ready to go nj riding,
she asked Mrs. Brenning for permission
to take the two children along, which was
given, Mrs. Brenning, of course, not sus-
p%ecting anything wrong. The sequel
shows that Pauline drove rapidly 10 the
train, went aboard with the two children
aud was across the Colorado line on her
way to Denver before the fact of the kid
mapping became known.
The affair has caused much excitement,
and various opinions are expressed as to
what can or ought to be done. Brenning
as well as Woodruff want to take some
effective steps in the matter. and there
may be a good deal of trouble made for
somebody, but the chances are that the
two children will hardly be found and
brought back to Cheyenne.