Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-04-29
FORT ETHAN ALLEN
ROMANCE SHATTERED
Mrs. Ethel Ceilings Seeks An
nulment of Marriage, Claim
ing That Her Husband, a
Former Captain Practiced
Fraud and Deceit

A petition for annument OF marriage
was heard in county court Tuesday
morning. The petition was entered by AT
torneys John G. Sargent and Ernest r.
Moore for X. Ethel F. Ceilings. formerly
of Fort Ethan Allen, and now OF Ox1ord'
Mass. against Walter Ceilings, a former
captain in the United states army.
In this case, it is alleged that the petit
toner came to Fort Ethan Allen with
ner father and mother about April =, 1915
Her father was Lieut.. Robert 3. Fletcher'
h. S. Army. Soon after arriving at the
Post the petitioner met Captain Coiings,
VINO paid her considerable attention. and
represented to her that he had once been
married. but that his former wife was
woman of bad character and that he had
obtained a divorce from her eight years
previously.
He told her. also. II is alleged, that
he had no children, that he came from
fine family, that his father owned hat
factory in Connecticut. that his uncle
was the head of the Victor Talking Ma
chine company and wealthy, that. through
letters of introduction from this uncle.
he was able to enter the homes of the
best families wherever he went, that his
bank account was large and that he
owned the largest and best automobile at
the Post.
Relying upon the truth Of these state
ments, and upon the declaration or
CAPTAIN Ceilings, the petition says, she
was married to him on october 10. 1918.
On the day following the marriage.
Captain Ceilings represented to her that
he had been transferred to Fort Sill,
Okla, and he left her. Later. he wrote
that he had resigned from the service,
and asked her to ship the household
goods and meet him at New Haven. Conn,
where he said he had position with the
New York, New Haven g. Hartford rail-
road.
The petitioner says that she shipped
the goods as requested and that she then
went to join him, only to find that he
had no Job. She had to go to live with
his parents in South Norwalk Conn. She
found that his father was not the owner
of a hat factory but was simply a COM
mon laborer, and that the other things
which he had represented to her con-
corning his family were not strictly true.
Becoming suspicious of Ceilings. the
petitioner then went to the home of her
uncle, Charles I. Rawson. in Oxford,
Mass, and began Investigations. She
found that Ceilings had been married be-
fore, that one child had been born to
him. and that his first wife. Mabel
Ceilings had obtained the divorce on the
grounds Of neglect and ill-treatment. This
divorce was obtained in Ell Paso, Texas,
on May q. 1918. so that during n part of
the time that Ceilings was representing
himself to the petitioner as a single man
he was really a married man.
Furthermore, the petition sets forth
that under the law Of the State of Texas
where the divorce was granted, the guilty
A@l.- C~1I In.
capable of entering into the marriage
contract for a year after May q, 1918. the
date on which the divorce was granted.
On these grounds. claiming that Captain
Ceilings practiced gross fraud and deceit
upon the petitioner. 1t was asked tina
the marriage between her and Captain
Ceilings be held null and void.