Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-08-11
THE WOMAN WHOSUED
~ M. QUAD.

/ The Widow CoIville Of the village OF
Quincy had ever been known as de
mure and bashful. She WIS so as a
wife. and she was SO us widow up
to certain date One day three years
! after the loss of her husband she was
going TO the postotfice when she came
across the village cooper and the vii
lage butcher engaged In wrangle,
| The wrangle became Il fight as she mp
] preached. and she was so frightened
| that she had to lean up against the
! fence and gasp for breath The butch
! er brought an action against the coop
er for assault and battery. and the
| widow was summoned as a witness
\ She took the oath and the stand. hut
\ that was all. She was so affected that
! she had 10 be removed from the court
/ rounl
! A few days later Mrs. Colville was
left legacy of 5000. Men. women
and children reioiced over it and con-
! graduated her. but not for long. how
ever. Within month she developed
mn idiosyncrasy that soon surprised the
whole county. She feil In love with the
law-she who had never been IN u
court of justice but once and then 10
be- carried our In "a faiuting condition
II was IL thunderclap TO the villa
gers to hear one day that she had
sued Elder Johnson for trespass. For
ten long years the elder had been In
the habit of cutting across Il corner of
the CoIviile property on his way To and
from the store. He was on good
terms with the widow. and she had
not warned him. She had simply ap.
piled for summons and engaged a
lawyer. The elder called to see her
summons In hand: but. while she WAS
demure. she was also obstinate She
bad long felt that she did not have her
rights In law. aud now she was bound
10 get them.
A. the elder had not been warned
personally aud as there had been no
notice to the public the widows case
was Yuaslied. She was not n bit disap-
pointed or cast down. She simply
looked around for some one else to
sue. In a couple OF weeks she brought
suit against Il widower named Solo
mon Lee for breach of promise Mr.
Lee lived AT the other end of the vil-
lage and was never in her house On
a certain occasion year before the
suit he was passing her place as she
was trying to drive a strange hog out
OF the garden. The hog was an artful
dodger. and the wjdower volunteered
his services He not only drove our
the hog. according to the widows tes-
timouy. but he patted her on the shout
der and observed that 4 little woman
like her ought TO have husband like
him to keep the garden clear OF hogs
Ia breach OF promise cuse there
has got TO be something more than a
hog incident to nail the lid down. The
I. widower denied the gentle words at
tributed 10 him. and no fond letters
or other thrilling Incidents were
brought forward The case was there
fore dismissed. The widow seemed to
revel In being called to the stand. and
she paid the costs without losing her
smile. Two weeks later came the
turn Of Deacon Tracy. He lived near
the widow and had known her since
her marriage. Wanting hoe one day.
he called 10 borrow hers. She hap
pened to be out. and he took the hoe
along. He hadn't returned 1t yet when
a summons was served on him for
respass and unlawfully converting
property to his own use. He FASTENED
over to see the widow. but 1t was no
use. She said she had come to Just
love the law and the suit must 60 on.
II did go on. and the widow was nom
suited and had the costs to pay.
By this time the citizens Of Quincy
had begun to sit up and take notice.
There were laws. and there was a
widow The query Of whether she had
had enough of 1t was soon answered.
She hadn't. Half dozen women had
criticised her for bringing the suits.
and SO she brought half dozen more.
The local justice Of the peace refused
at Perry's Corners did. The six wom-
en- asked forgiveness. and their hus-
bands tried to fix things. but IL was no
60. The suits had to 60 on. They
caused the defendants considerable
trouble and anxiety. but when they
came to trial the verdict was In their
favor. They had criticised instead Of
scandalized. The widow. however,
longed for more suits, and it wasn't
long before fortune favored her.
She was buying some calico at the
store when clerk who was known
for his humor expressed the hope that
she would not sue him for breach Of
promise. as he was already engaged to
three different widows and more com.
ing. Next day she had him summon
ed for assault and battery. Under the
law one can assault and batter with
the tongue alone. Under the law I'M
due levity or humiliating any person
Is a misdemeanor. The humorous
clerk was hailed into court and fined
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