Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-06-07
HE ASKS FOR A PENSION
Request is Not Made Because of His
Matrimonial Experiences, But for
the Reason That He Was in the Ar
my and is Now Feeling the Effects
Of the Hardships He Endured.
[BY H. ]. MAHIN.l
Washington Bureau Of the Courier.
Washington, D. c., June d.

Iowa man now living in Pendleton,
Oregon. Ten times married and eight
times divorced is Vests claim.
Heavens" exclaimed Commissioner
Ware as he glanced hastily over
Vests petition, This man is from my
own company in the Seventh Iowa cav
airy Mr.. Ware is the author of a
noted poem entitled: my First Wife"
in which he grows sentimentally des-
pondent over the thought of even a
second wife and he went into Vests
petition with interest.
Not Mormon Either.
Married ten times" he said. "why
West must have joined the Mormons.
Divorced eight times? No, he can't be
Mormon after all, they don't do
things that way. Anyhow Peter West
is the most married and most divorced
man in the United States"
Peter Vests matrimonial career is
the sensation of the pension depart
ment. To say that it smashed all rec
ords in the marriage line by the old
comrades is saying good deal as the
pension Office records yield some
strange proceedings in that direc.
ton.
Clerk Discredited Story.
The statement that West had been
married ten times presumably with
the sanction of the law was scarcely
credited by the clerk who examined his
petition and it was passed up to Com
missioner Ware. His discovery that
peter West, Second Iowa cavalry, y
fb - no roro wood u,oc old oorn ra n q
of his in the civil war, lent additional
interest to the matter and he read the
document through with evident relish
In addition to answering the list of
questions put to an applicant as to his
marriage relations, the frank and can.
did Peter appended the names of his
many consorts. the date and places OF
marriage and the whereof of the sun
dering of the ties which did not bind
in his case. Here is copy of Vests
own statement to the pension Office re-
garding his own matrimonial vicissi.
tudes:
Vests Ten Wives.
Eliza Hubbard. married in Waterloo,
Iowa, SYd divorced there in 1858.
Bertha Miers, married December z,
1858 in Independence, Iowa, divorced
in Waverly. Iowa in 1873.
E anna Dixon, married in Sacramen-
to, Cal, Oct. IL, 1875; divorced Janua-
ry 10, 1889, in Iowa City, Iowa.
Elizabeth Bray. married in July 4,
1879 !, in Winnemuced, New, divorced
Dec. 49,, 1881, at same place.
Frances Westfall, married August
20, 1883, Rye Patch, New, divorced
June 10, 1885, at Winnemunced. New
Mary Pendleton married Nov. "a,
1885, Oakland, Cal, divorced Dec. 10,
$780, at Reno, New.
Lucy E. Johnson, married December
80, 1890, Reno, New, divorced Feb. IS,
1896, at Pendleton, Oregon.
Melinda g. Hanley. married July q,
1884, at Pendleton, Oregon, died May
II, 1898, at same place.
Laura F. Burget, married August 20.
1898, at Pendleton, Oregon, divorced
April a, 1899.
Pauline Miller, married October 25,
1899, at Pendleton, Oregon.
AS many wives ais Peter West boasts
it can be seen that he has one wife
now. After experimenting with nine
in various sections of the country. he
wooed and won a widow, Pauline Gro
motka, who had been the wife of an
Italian. That at least he found domes-
tic tranquility is attested by the state
ment that number 10 is still his wife.
OF the other nine, eight were divorced
and one died in wedlock. He is dis
creetly silent as to the grounds on
which these numerous divorces were
secured and it is not known whether
Peter or the numerous Mrs. Peters
were the injured parties.
Government Lacked Foresight.
In giving his summary of wives
West tries to utilize the small space
left inc the pension application blank
for such purposes 1t was manifestly
impossible to crowd the list therein
and West made an addition to the
blank with the following explanation:
at is evident that the government
when printing blanks did not contem-
plate for a soldier to have SO many
consorts or they would have provided
more space to the answer required.
Hence this addition.
Long as West has been on wives he
Is short on children. There are but
four and none Of them should he die
today would be able to secure an or
phan'S pension as tney are all over 10
wears Of age. Commissioner Ware re-
marked when he noted this point that
his old comrade had not lived up to
his remarkable opportunities for de-
molishing the race suicide theory.
The secret of Vests success in WOO
ing and winning does not appear, but
the dates indicate that no sooner was
he off with the old than he was on
with the new. In one instance but
twelve days elapsed from the time he
was divorced until he was married
again. Intervals of three months and
six months were the usual thing. how
ever. OF all his wives figures show
that he liked best Emma Dixon, who
was finally divorced in Iowa City, Ia,
after fourteen years of married life.
ar course West could moi. have gone