December Gleanings from Coffeyville
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If you read any of my other monthly “Geanings” posts, you might recall that these “seen-around-town” sort of items were a regular column in the Coffeyville newspapers, and many newspapers, in the 1870s and 1880s. I have compiled samples for each month. The “gleanings” continued past the 1880s but generally speaking, became lists of who was shopping or visiting others. In this case, though, I included 1895 “gleanings.”
14 Dec 1878
Mince pies in demand.
Turkeys are melancholy.
Buckwheat cakes in fashion.
Oceans of goods in the Coffeyville stores.
Toys are being purchased by Santa Claus rapidly.
There will be a Christmas tree at the M.E. church, Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, 1878. The tree will be for Sabbath school and for everyone else.
28 Dec 1878
Ice is six inches thick on the river.
Mercury at zero several days lately.
Our folks are filling their ice houses.
Andrew Lee rode his horse across the river, Christmas, on the ice.
Last Monday [Dec. 23rd] all the stores in town were crowded with people making holiday purchases.
The little folks in the editorial family acknowledge the receipt of a most welcome Christmas present from W.S. Upham --- a sack of pecans.
Christmas was enjoyed by our people very much.
22 Dec 1883
Santa Claus at Upham’s.
Make the children happy.
Notice – To parties having Christmas trees, it will be to your advantage to examine our stock of Christmas Tree ornaments, Wax Candles and Self-balancing Candle Sticks, [at] Bump & Fuqua.
Some cuss…instigated by the devil, set off a couple bunches of firecrackers in the center of the square last Friday evening, causing one or two teams with buggies to break loose, and several saddle horses went flying down the road. The mayor put a stop to the sale of crackers…
26 Dec 1885
Merry Christmas!
Don’t forget the poor in your gifts.
The Plaza was crowded with teams on Wednesday.
Cranberries, 10 cents a quart at Ransom Brothers.
We hope that Kris Kringle will not miss a single house in Coffeyville.
The divorce case of Provvens v. Provvens is occupying the attention of the district court as we go to press. A large number of witnesses are in attendance from this city.
On Monday a couple of young bloods from the Territory mounted their ponies…and started down Walnut street on the jump, whooping, yelling, and firing their pistols into the air.
Lost! A white and brown spotted setter bird dog, answers to the name “DON.” Almost a perfect likeness of H.H. Isham’s dog. Any information leading to his recovery will be liberally rewarded.
Divorce was very public and embarrassing in the nineteenth century. A person had to be willing to open herself up to ridicule and loss of reputation just by filing for divorce. I use “her” deliberately as most divorces were initiated by women, in spite of the fact that they were so financially dependent on men. See my blog post “The Four Divorces of Myron C. Barbour” for information on Kansas divorce law.
As to the Provvens’ case, the Coffeyville Weekly Journal reported on 9 Jan 1886 that, “testimony was of a very sensational nature and, it may be said, rather vulgar.” Therefore, they did not repeat anything that was said in court. Oddly, for a case of such high interest, I did not find any more mention of it.
3 December 1895
Winter weather.
Christmas will soon be here.
We understand that one of Coffeyville’s business men has been sued $5,000 for breach of promise.
Fifteen cents for luncheon on Thursday noon at the Earnest Workers’ Fair.
Girls, don’t stay away from church on account of not having a way home from church, for Mr. Monroe Bailey…has started a free transportation wagon.
The Christmas displays in our merchants’ windows are very fine and many presents have been bought and laid aside already.
A number of the 1,000 shade and ornamental trees have been placed in the new park laid out in the city, and when this park is completed as per the design adopted, it will eclipse anything in the park line in all this section. Flower beds, fountains, etc. will be plentiful, and the people of Coffeyville will have something to be proud of indeed.
Breach of promise was also known as breach of contract to marry. Engagements were taken so seriously that they were regarded as a contract. There were concerns about a young woman being seduced after an engagement, then “ruined” by the man reneging on marriage. There were also concerns about “gold diggers” - typically young women pursuing older men for their money. Either they married under false pretenses, pretending to love the man, or he called off the engagement once he saw the woman for what she really was, and was slapped with a breach of promise suit. Women pursuing these suits were frequently seen as extortionists.
As one scholar said, this type of lawsuit reveals much about Victorian ideas of male and female roles, the institution of marriage, and “the maintenance of the social order in an era of transition to industrial capitalism.” In a pre-electronic world, trials were attended as a form of entertainment, and breach of promise and divorce suits were especially entertaining.
Sources:
Coombe, Rosemary J. “The Most Disgusting, Disgraceful and Inequitous Proceeding in Our Law”: The Action For Breach of Promise of Marriage in Nineteenth Century Ontario,” University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Winter 1988), pp. 64-108.
Kelsey, M. May. “Bachelors Beware - The Current Validity and Future Feasibility of a Cause of Action for Breach of Promise to Marry,” Tulsa Law Review, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Winter 2
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