The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-17

Ia Porte, Ind, Nov. 16.--Abraham
RhiEes is an Indiana man who enjoys
the unusual distinction of having
lived with and been divorced from IL
wives. More than that, he has just
taken unto himself his twelfth wife.
Rhimes is a picturesque character. He
IS pau.archaI in appearance. The
SHOWS of 20 winters have whitened his
hear. while his figure is stopped and
bent Rhimes is seemingly controlled
by mania to marry. He is however,
pursued by mysterious Nemesis.
Twenty years have elapsed since his
first marriage Courts for nearly two
decades have been tribunals before
which Rhimes has appeared to have
the VOWS of wedlock annulled. No wife
has been permitted TO share his life
for q longer period than three years.
Some of his alliances have been I'M
precedented in their brevity, while
others have been remarkable for their
peculiar phases of domestic life. His
wives, with the exception of No. 3,
have been but few years out of their
teens. Indiana girls have not alone
been permitted to become the wives of
the much-married HoOsier, but ada
cent states have offered their daugh-
Iers at his shrine.
Romance and discord are interviewer
in the recital Of 20 years of welded life,
RhimeS has been the petitioner in all
the applications for divorce but one,
the exception being recorded in the
case of his first wife. He commenced
life a farmer, and by frugal industry
succeeded in accommodating a fortune
From the time he attained his ma
jority until he was 80 years of age he
ff7c e coll Tsr.,.
feature which developed in early life
was Rhimes' marked aversion TO wo-
men, of whom later in life he was a
persistent wooer. At the age of So
years the Indiana farmer determined
to break the monutOny of his existence
by taking unto himself a Wife, and
with this end in view the want column
of a matrimonial journal offered the
desired medium for bringing about a
marriage
Among several hundred letters re-
ceived was one from Miss Emeline
Candy of Minneapolis. who wove bright
bits of sentiment into the letters which
she indited to Rhimes. The courtship
was brief and Miss Candy became Mrs.
Rhimes No. l. Rhimes could not recon
Gle himself to married life and one
years experience brought final es-
arrangement and divorce. Miss Candy
returned to Minneapolis and Rhimes
set himself about to get a second
wife.
Two months later, July 6, 1877, Miss
Martha Robbins of Evansville took
upon herself the vows of constancy.
Six months from that time Rhimes was
again a free man. Miss Robbins had
been found wanting. Still an unbe-
lever in the saying that marriage is
failure" Rhimes journeyed to De-
troit, Mich, and in February, 1879.
MISS samantha Bengal of that city.
without previous knowledge of the In
diana mans rejection OF two former
wives, consented 10 marriage There
was a lack Of harmony in their do
mestic relations and the divorce calen-
dar recorded the inevitable legal decree /
Of separation
Then followed Miss Levina Straw of
indianapolis. who presided over the
Rhimes household until 1882. Rhimes
then determined to live alone. but he
was still the victim of an uncomfortable
mania, and Mrs. Anna Roland. a ST.
Louis widow. next became the sub
Ject of his Establishments His Nemesis
was not sleeping. and on April 5. 1886.
Rhlmes was again divorced, and. going
into seclusion, there remained until
july y 1887. when Mrs. Sarah Overly
OF ChautauQua county, n. Y CON
sented 10 share his joys and sorrows. /
Mrs. Overly typified the new woman
OF her day, for as Mrs1 Rhines she
asserted her wifely prerogatives and
the husband sought redress in the
courts
Miss Rachael Magnum. aged %. of
Cleveland, O., was wife No I. Mar
Iled in 1888. she was divorced in Sep
TENDER, 1889. Rhimes repented of the /
action after the court had restored TO |
her her former name, and the recon- /
Citation being mutual the divorced /
wife became Rhimes' bride and eighth !
VIE. The time came, however, for /
Rhlmes to disagree for good but after /
the union with his ninth wife. Miss
smith of Louisville. and his action for /
divorce, the Indiana courts refused 10 :
issue further recrees. and Rhimes. de-
terlnined TO prosecute his conquest. !
went 10 Dakota, where he acquired /
residence and a legal separation.
He then located in Berrin county |
Mich, where he met and wooed Miss +,
Stella BloomhaSen, and in his seventy |
second year was married to the Michi- /
gan girl, whose age was but "a He
divorced his tenth wife in that state. /
and returning to the Hoosier state
AGAIN found peace OF mind in an alli- /
asce with Mrs. Mary Walsh. But two
months sufhced to tell the tale of do
mestic infelicity, and the connubial
knot was again ruthlessly severed.
Last week Miss Ethel Rytall of Arm
Strong county, Pa. a member of a well
huOWH FANNY. was bride No. 10. and
marriage and domestic bliss once more
reign supreme in the Rhimes house
hold.
Rhimes is a lean, awkard- appearing
man. He has coarse features, and
might be called a raw-boned back
Woodsman- He has an aquiline nose
small. deep-set eyes and large mouth:
q heavy must2che ornaments his upper
lip The hair on his head is sparse. He
seldom wears necktie or collar. while
his clothes are Of rough. homespun ma
terial- He wears a brown hat. and is
an inveterate tObacco-chewer. He is
fairly well educated
During the 20 years that Rhimes has
been familiar figure in the courts of
justice he has paid $4,000 in alimony
TO divorced wives, and the end is ap-
parently not yet, despite his age.
AN ARTIST.
Yonkers Statesman: Yeast-I notice
CfQi-rS "a he his s6x-arfic;ror ,o.x