Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1901-12-04
Gone" No Longer.


O'Clock on Tuesday night of last week
Judge Gillett granted the divorce and
assessed one half of the costs to each.
Mrs. Nation was given the homestead
on south Oak street and Mr.. Nation
was given the Macy property. Each
was given the personal property now in
their possession.
The suit was brought by David Ma
tioR. His allegations were gross neg
lect of duty. extreme cruelty and expos
ing HIM to public ridicule. Judge Gil
lett granted the divorce on the ground
of neglect of duty but eXonerrated her
on the other charges.
Both Mr.. and Mrs. Nation claimed
all the property.
Mrs. Nation said that all of it. was
the result of her industry, while Mr..
Nation claimed that he had contributed
his full share of the labor. The testi-
mony showed that at the time of their
marriage they were in good clrcum-
stances but misfortunes brought then
down to point where their entire pos
sessions Will not exceed 81 900 in value.
Mrs. Nation said that she raised a cot
ton crop in Texas while Mr.. Nation
loafed in town and that when the crop
was marketed he pOcketed the money:
that she never could get any money
when she needed it: that she engaged
in the hotel business in Texas on So
borrowed money, denying herself any
food except scraps from the table FL
nally when she had made $4,000 DAVID
stepped in and took the money. When
she began her crusade. she said she
asked Mr. Nation to assist her on the
Smasiier's Mall. She said he wrote ed :
itOrlals she could not endorse. She
asked him to draw up contract to en-
ploy Nick Chiles, the negro, as printer
OH her paper and she afterwards dis
covered that the contract made him an
equal partner and that it cost her $247
to get rid of Chiles. She said that Mr..
Nation had endorsed her smashing ca
resr until she refused to make him boss
and treasurer. Shs was very frank in
saying that she had no love or respect
for HIM and after several interrogation
les she admitted that she resisted the
divorce only because she wanted pen
sion after her husbands death. She
thought that she was entitled to it be-
cause she had been his slave during the
best years of her life. She claimed to
be guided solely by divine inspiration
and when it came to choosing between
God and David, she was for God. Let
tiers were produced in which she de-
bounced him as hell bound hypocrite,
liar and thief. She told him he was
on his road to hell but that she was
praying God to have mercy on his soul.
Capt. Nation denied all her charges.
He said that he owned over two-thlrds
of the property they had at the time of
their marriage. He said that she was
a spendthrift and recounted how she
had purchased trlnkets for which they
had no use and on different occasions
after he had begged her to desist he
left her, to drown his troubles in tears
He said she had left him when he was
sick in bed unable to attend to himself
and he had to depend on the charity of
neighbors. This Mrs. Nation denied.
He said he always gave her money
when she asked tor It until he had no
more. When she began her crusade he
followed her and helped her out of
trouble repeatedly and finally when she
was released from Jail at Topeka, he
begged her to come home to Medicine
Lodge and live. She refused and final.
ly she wrote him warm letter, ending
it-"Once your wife, but wife no long
er."
A large crowd was in attendance
throughout the trial. Women were
more numerous than men. The SYM
patty was evenly divided. The trial
began Monday noon and did not end
until Tuesday night. G.. NJ. Martin
and j. N. Tincher represented Mr.. Ma
ton. c. W. Ellis represented Mrs. Ma.
ton. The case was handled ably by
both sides. Mrs. Nation was we'll
pleased in getting the homestead but
she did not want divorce. Mr.. Ma
zion was pleased with the divorce but
he wanted the homestead.