The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-30
WHO IS REAL WIFE?
The Mixed Matrimonial
1angle of Three Bid
wells. Was Divorce
Void?

The case of BidWell v Bidwell.
which is set for trial at the present
term of Wake county Superior Court.
is one that is full of the interest IF
complicated marital ties.
The central figure is Geo. n. Bid
well, native of Massa chusetts who
has, however, spent almost his en-
tire life in Western North Carolina.
He now lives in Macon county where
he has corundum mines and is a man
of large means. Although he is liv-
ing with Il wife of only a few wears
standing, he is being sued for main
tenance by wife No. l. whom he mar
ried fourteen years ago in South Cat
olina. The divorce which he obtained
in 1893 in North Dakota is, says the
first Mrs. Bidwell. null and void.
Hence, she is suing for an allowance
for the support of herself and her
eleVen-year old child.
The story of the BidWells is a ro-
mantle one. Mrs. Bidwell, the plain
tiff, is described as a petite, black
haired woman of thirty-five years Of
age, with powers of intellect unusu-
ally developed.
Bidwell, the defendant is an invalid
and is now in Raleigh attended by
his doctor, who comes with him
from his home in Macon county.
Mrs. Bidweli No 2 has no place in
this story except as a complication.
Mrs. BidWell No. / VINO was married
in 1890 to the defendant in the case.
| then going by the name Of Geo. Bid
we'll Lucas. was "a Miss Ella Enloe, a
member of the large and promin eht
family of that name who were Dio-
neerS in the Western part OF the State,
ana whose descendants are scattered
literally through several of the noun
tain counties. Her grandfather was
that Abraham Enloe who is sail TO
figure in the early history of Abraham
Lincoln as the employer of Lincoln's
mother, Nancy Hanks.
In 1890 Ella Euloe was Il young
girl teaching school in South Carolina,
and it was at that time that she sllo~
denly married George Bidwe!l Lucas.
the alias of Geo. H. Bidwell. the de-
PENDANT in the present suit.
The couple only lived together three
years when Bidwell deserted his wife
and disappeared. leaving her With an
infant child. When he was next heard
from, claims Mrs. BidWell. he had
been to North Dakota, procurei one
of the quick divorces of that State
and had returned to Massa chusetts.
where he married the second time.
After the second marriage. Mrs.
Bidwell. No. l brought suit in n Massa-
chusetts court for maintenance as a
wife, alleging as she does in the case
pending in Wake, the nullitY of the
Dakota decree.
This suit. it is said, was settled by
Bidwell out of court by the payment
of a large sum of money! rumorel
to have been $4,000.
Mrs BidWell No. l then came to
Raleigh. where she has since lived. hel
eleven wear old daughter being now
in attendance at st. Marys School In
this city.
The case when it comes to trial win
be hotly contested, Mrs. Bidwell claim
| ing that she was deserted by
her husband without cause; thaS
he "sipped off, to North Da
kota and obtained the decree OF
divorce by fraud and without proper
notice; that the decree of that cour;
is null and void and that. as the 'eal
Mrs. Bidwell, she is entitled to main
! tenance and support as wife.
/ Bidwell, however, contends that he
was deserted by his wife. that ne
applied for and obtained the divorce
| bona-fide on the ground of desert oA
! and that Mrs Bidwell No. i. not only
! had notice of the action in Dakota,
| but was represented by counsel at Inc
hearing of the cause.
/ The real trouble, it is alleged ~
Mrs. Bidwell's friends. arose from the
| fact that Mr.. BidWells parents OBJ
jected to his marriage and it was
| through their influence that he vas
persuaded 40 desert his wife and 2ro-
cure the divorce.
! At any rate. if the case comes 70
trial, the individuality of the parties
as well as the inherent interest of the
facts, will make the story unfolded oS
the evidence one of the noted cases
| of tho hist DRY of Wake county courts