Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-10-16
Parties to Sensational Divorce
Case, Withdrawn After Filed,
Explain Case
SIGN STATEMENT TO PUBLIC
Brown Does Not Want to Be consid..
cred in Light of a Brute. and Wife
Saws That She Was Unduly lnflu-
enced in Outlining Charges in Pc
tition.

ltuW2TQ II. bToNIl GliSi LIS WIZ ~
Katie Brown, living on farm SIX
miles south of this city. who were the
narties to the extremely sensational
divorce case brought in the district
court last week and Immediately With
drawn. want to be set right before the
public, and have signed statement TOT
publication Mr.. Brown says he does
NOT want TO be considered by his neigh
bors as brute, which the petition Oh
his wife made him out to be, and Mrs.
Brown saws she was unduly influenced
in bringing the petition.
Mrs. Brown states that while she and
her husband have not got along as
well as they would have liked, their
misunderstanding We're largely the
result Of their greed for gain, and the
fact that neither was in good health,
consequently nervous and irritable. She
also saws that had she been left alone.
and not bothered by meddlesome
neighbors and relatives, she would not
have filed the sensational petition she
did. Mrs. Brown further declares that
she did not realize the true character
Of the charges preferred in her petit
ton until she saw them in cold black
and white in the newspaper. .
Brown, believing his wife was only
"bluffing' when she threatened to file
the petition for divorce, was surprised
beyond measure when he picked up
his evening paper and saw the account
of the charges brought. The result
was that the couple Immediately got
together, and signed stipulation TO
the effect that the case would be
dropped for the sake of the children,
in order not to force upon them the
disgrace of a public trial.
Statement to the Public.
In a statement to the public, pre-
pared and signed by Mr.. and Mrs.
Brown, the following explanation OF
different charges are made. The state
ment follows:
editor Times Republican,: In your
paper last week there appeared q.
lengthy article regarding the applica-
ton of Mrs. Katie Brown for a df.
yorce from her husband, Edward H
Brown.
eve, the undersigned parties to the
contemplated action, wish, for the in1
formation of friends and neighbors and
any interested, to make the follow
ing statement:
"The defendant realizes with feel
ings of sincere regret that he has made
the mistake, one all too common IN the
present age, of holding the reins of
discipline little too tight and allow
ing himself to neglect some Of his du-
ties to his wife and family, in the
frantic strife for money and the Ell
fort to lift himself and loved ones up
out of poverty and all it's attendant
evils. the struggle having been rem
dered harder in his case by the handl-
cap Of poor health.
.In extenuation Of plaintiffs action
it must be stated that she was labor
ing under an extreme nervous cond1-
ton, as attested by two physicians.
and was urged on by too busy neigh
hors and relatives who should have
been better employed.
"In your article you stated that the
plaintiff, altho a young woman, mas
hair white as snow, which might lead
some to believe that this condition had
been brought on by life of hardship,
whereas the fact of the case is, that 1t
is simply an inherited popularity, her
father having been snow white since
the age of 40, and every one of his
ten children exhibiting the same ten
dency to turn gray.
"Now, referring to the allegation
made. it becomes necessary to state
that the defendant never did compel,
nor does he ever remember of even
requesting plaintiff to perform work in
the field, but plaintiff did often. of her
own free will, realizing that defend
ant was not strong enough to make
a good showing, help in corn picking
and oats shocking.
Regarding the neglect at child-
birth, the facts are these: Our two
older children We're born in the liv-
ing rooms over the c.. M. & st. p rail-
way depot at Dunbar, defendant being
then employed as agent for the rail-
way company. and on each occasion
DIR. Graves, of Gilman, was in attend
ance..
CDR Graves, on one Of these calls,
told defendant that in all his exper-
fence he had never seen woman in
better health at such time. nor had
he witnessed one go thru the ordeal
more easily, remarking that it was
hardly necessary, except as precau-
tionary measure, for him to be pres
ent
THE third child was born under
like favorable conditions. in Mar
shalltown, within a few doors OF a
physician, and plaintiff and defendant.
being at the time in very Strengthened
circumstances, agreed that it would
be unwise to incur the expense of a
physician unless unfavorable symp-
toms developed, and defendant did, on
this occasion, as also on the birth of
the fourth child, render the plaintiff
the most careful and painstaking at
tendance personally.
Regarding the cream separator cpl
soc. three reliable witnesses agree that
there was nothing said on either side
of the crushing Of skulls, and it act
ually transpired that the bowl was held
in threatening attitude by plaintiff
who had been washing same, and that
defendant advanced and without IN
due roughness removed the same from
her hand and. placing it on the table,
did push plaintiff thru air open door
and closed the door after her Defend
ant states that under what he con
sidered great provocation re was SO
unkind on one or two occasions as to