The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-07
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His first wife would have none Of So
ciety or society's affairs and obtained
a divorce in 1887 which vas not op-
posed. She got $4,000 aIimoay and the
subsequent affairs of John O'Day did
not interest her. She would not sat-
isfy local curiosity even by expressing
an opinion. In the heydey of his glory
John O'Day was a Berry Wall among
the public men of the state. He made
a trip to New York as the attorney
| and vice president of the St. louis &
San Francisco railroad and induced
| Banker Seligman and a half dozen
eastern milliOnaiTes to accompany him
home. Mrs. O'Day No. 1 was duly uOti-
I fed by wire of the coming of the dis
| tingUished party and was requested to
| have an elaborate dinner prepared.
I But in order to make assurance doub-
| ~ sure Colonel O'Day on his arrival
! fastened to his home to make inquiries.
/ Take EN- to the hotel" said Mrs.
| O'Day No. 1. I don't want to bother
/ with EN-" And she didn't.
| The first Mrs. O'Day obtained her di-
1 vorce and $4,000 in the early spring OF
! 1887. The second marriage of Colonel
! O'Day was celebrated the same year.
/ The date had been up to this time a
/ secret The first public announcement
! that Colonel O'Day had been married
/ for second time came in 1890. when
! his houseburned down. He told the
| reporters who came to interview him
| about the heroism Of his wife, and de-
/ scribed with minuteness her deeds of
| daring Prior to this time Colonel
/ O'Day's enemies had a various times
/ tried to defeat him in local politics on
the ground that he was not a resident
Of Springfield, but was married and
/ lived in St. Louis. 1T is a lie" Col
Onel O'Day would say. And ODay
/ would always win at the polls, which
| temporarily settled the marriage qUes-
| ton.
! Colonel ODay met and married his
second wife while in the zenith of his
| power. Prior to his first divorce Mrs.
! Alice Williams kept a boarding house
! in Grand avenue, St. Louis. Colonel
] O'Day boarded there. He was boarding
| with Mrs. Williams when the divorce
| was applied for. The date of the Sec
ond marriage has not been given with
more exactness than the year 1887. but
it occurred in Ann Arbor instead of St
Louis.
| ODay's downfall as a political power
in Missouri dates from his forced re-
tirement from the St. Louis & San
Francisco management. The St. Louis
complications came as a climax to his
career.
He was born in ireland in November
1874. He studied law with Judge Wind
scr OF Rochester, n. Y, and moved
west in 1853. settling in Juneau, Wis
He came with his wife TO Springfield
in 1866, and his father and mother fol
lowed him. Springfield at that time hac
a population Of 1900, and the lawyer
at the bar of the Ozark metropolis prac
ticed in twenty-one counties.
From the time of his arrival O'Da,
made reputation for industry. Thos
who Dracuced with him in the earl
days declare that the only book he ha,
ever read outside the legal text book
was Napoleon and His Marshals." H
made use of nc quotations, either il
: his private conversation or il
MS speeches He was a success as
| trial lawyer. His methods can be illcS
trated By one of a thousand storie
which are told of his early days as
lawyer.
It is twenty-five miles from Spring
field to Forsythe, and when in an i'm
portant law suit in the early days
/ was known that the one witness upO
; whom Colonel O'Day depended was Il
{ FOrsythe, the lawyer on the other side
who did not want TO go to trial. an
swered in court that he would be read
on the following morning. O'Da
jumped into his buggy and started 70
Forsythe late IN the afternoon II
{ found his witness and started HON
the same night. There had been q heav
rain, and two streams which he ha
] to cross were out Of their banks.
crossing one Of them the horses &c
over their depth and the party wa
washed down stream. O'Day landed /
! a willow tree. and farmer rescued tn
] team further down the stream. Bl
e O'Day and his witness We're in coul
s when the case was called at 8 o'eloc
! in the morning.
O'Day was made local attorney Il
| the St Louis e san Eranicsco railrna