Arizona republican., 1897-11-10
THE MEEKER MUDDLE.
The Old Quarrel Disposed of and 8
 New One Begun.

A divorce suit with a history b:hind it was begun in district court yeste day when Messrs. Millay & Bennet. filed an action entitled, Lizzie Meeker vs Lewis Meeker'' The def:ndant is charged with desert:on The his tory, with which most people now in Phoenix are familiar, is as follows:
 About four years ago Lewis Meeker, reputed to be very wealthy, b ough. his wife, Sarah c. Meeker, all invalid, from Arkansas to Phoenix. The eli mate was friendly ito Mrs. Meeker and MT. Meeker liking the country, de- teruninad to make this ely his home He. built a handsome residence in the Hermosa tract, became interested in an, elevator at Glendale and became an integral and valued part of the community. His property was sup pOsed to consist of the elevator, the HermOsa house, considerable money and vast, but indefinite, belongings in Arkansas, state already famous as the commonwealth which had pro- duced Col. Jack Ha1bert cf Tucson, William c. DOwell of Phoen:x, and James Tarney of Maricopa
 A year later Mrs. Meeker died and less than a year, still later, that is, on July 27, 1895, MT. Meeker married a good looking widow, his presem. wife. Some time after this marriage it was discovered that MT. Meeker owned nothing except his interest in the Glendale elevator. The Hermosa resi- | dence, it's furniture, the Arkansas es- tate, everything, in fact, had been the property of his first wife and had de- scended to her daughter by a former husband, Mrs. Ina Mayes of Arkansas. i This disclosure was made in the course of a visit by Mrs Mayes' husband to Phoenix to settle the estate of his late lamented mOther-in-law So many obstacles were thrown in his way by MT. Meeker that MT Mayes was un- able to accomplish anything On that trip ard went away
 It has never been charged that the second Mrs. Meeker married her hus- band Tor his wealth, but her dfscov- cry that he had none was not calcu- | lated to intensity her affection for 1 him, so the neighbors said that the Meeker household became the seat of | many outbreaks and instructions. 1 On February 1, 1896, a day ever mem orable in Phoenix as the opening dy of the carnival, Meeker disappeared. and if any one has ever seen him or heard of him since, it has not come to the notice of any of his friends or 1 relatives
 Mrs. Meeker held possession of the property in Hermosa tract in the 1 meantime. Early this year MT. Waves returned to Phoenix with Col W. J..
 Nelson, a Kansas City lawyer, to bring matters to focus. They brought them to many fcci. For in stance, as everybody knows, Col. Nel- son and MT. Mayes and a constable were arrested while trying to dispos- sess Mrs. Meeker, and a tenant under special letters of admin Sitration. They were fined in a justice court and took an appeal. Then they procured the arrest or all the parties on the other sl'de. These criminal proceedings
 were followed by a long train of ac- tions in the probate and district counts, all of which were appealed.
 MT. Mayes couldn't waste all his years in this vain encounter He was unprepared for eternity and beside he
 had business which required his pres
 snce. Col. Nelson camped on the
 scene for several months and finally
 he went away returning about a month ago reinvigorated and prepared for continuation of the struggle Be- fore it was fairly reopened both sides
 began talking about compromise,
 which was happily effected on Mon day, as is shown in an entry in the county recorders office from which it appears that Mrs. Meeker gave Mrs.
 Ina Mayes quit claim deed to the