| Show DIVORCES an IN THE arroba PROBATE E COURT report of the grand aury jury v T i Z T to Z lorenian yore fore nian tan and the Grand auty jury of the third judicial district april A leria at your committee appointed to examine andreport and report upon the conduct of affairs in the probate court of this county beg leave to ofner offer the following us as the result of their investigations your committee bave have confined themselves more particularly in their investigations to the branch of divorce business as carried on in that court and we would here hero say that it is beyond the limit and power ower of this committee to give in N detail etall every case of oV divorce as it appears on the records of the court but we believe that the showing of such cases as we present are a fair representation 0 of the practice of granting divorces in this court and we think will fully convince this jury that the system of granting divorces in said court is such an outrage on justice and law that measures measure si amodid be taken that would at it di once nce proceedings I 1 As arf ali an example of the practice in said courtne cour court twe we would state that from the beginning of september 1876 tos to september ead 1877 there have been u upward w r of divorces grante graute dand ht lit pa least as t eighty per cent of that number were applied for when both parties artles arties to the suit were non resi resli dents of the territory and aad beyond the jurisdiction of the said court under this practice it is quite evident that great lu justice injustice must pa bo done and the mockery it makes of judicial proceedings which are supposed to be the most trust of any court we find that it is the general rule of practice in this court where the parties are nou non nou residents and where the complaining compla pia pla ining party prays brays for relief from his or her matrimonial obligations to employ some not riot oversensitive over sensitive or unscrupulous attorneys whose names are very ery seldom beldom attached to the co complaint m plaines plaints to forward ardathe the same to the probate court when the complaint plaint is filed accompanying this docu doeu document ment is an affidavit from the party complaining to the effect that the grievance grievances sp etc AS alleged in the complaint are rare all made in good faith and di that at he or achs ebe as uhe case may be intend to become A a resident of utah but at present itis out of the powe of tb e applicant i and thid that thelast thela st known place e of residence of the defendant was so and so naming the place apon the showing of di these valuable single handed by the plain plaintiff tT his hia hon HOD honor or judge eilas elias smith mith S issues a to be ad addressed dresse id and mailed to the ael last known place tf of residence of df the defendant aa us sworn to by the plain tiff and citing him or her to appear before his court on from twelve to sixteen days and show cause why such relief should not be granted as prayed for in the cam coa complaint now the plaintiff in these cases 1 ar for instance jived live in new york ork which gives five days to go and afia five days to return and which leaves a margin of only a few days for the thiS to consider whether he be or she shall appear in the action but the time of the court appears appe rs to be too valuable to be wasted wasted upon any such buch trifling contingency tin gency as the summons not reach reaching izig the party to whom it was addressed even supposing that the last known place of r residence esi ebi denee dence is g given I 1 ven parr correctly estly bub but the court seems seema to mohave have great faith in the postal department and a letter must of course find the party to whom it is md dressed addressed so accordingly on anthe the last day given for the appearance of the tho defendant his honor judge elias bilas smith grants ua tk decree as prayed for i sucu such in brief is the practice of or this bogus divorce mill when the parties are non residents and hene arties here h the complaining party prays fer fora a decree of divorce upon the grounds of I 1 incompatibility bill of r temperament pe different aims alms and bb objects in ju life 6 etc c all of ot such buch reasons being the most jt frequently used but we nind find a still more novel and direct nil method ethod of 0 shuffling the matrimonial obligations for instance a husband and wife both non residents and either of them making dom complaint plaint and dud swearing that the defendant has abandoned hilior her home and alid filing such sworn statement without any rny othel ether corroborative evidence can get the decree granted on the same day the petition ia Is filed As this may seem abo tuo too incredible for belief we will here cite several cases as examples of many more viz rose bardey vs dennis barney complaint filed january ad 1877 and sworn to in san francisco decree granted same day dominick vs josephine morigh complaint sworn to in new york and filed filed Jk january nuary ad ads 1877 decree granted same day stevens bently stevens vs adeline slovene complaint sworn to in n chicago february 1877 decree granted same day robt E R nesbit vs francesh frances H Ne kesell stilt complaint sworn to in terra terre haute hante ind filed february 1877 decree granted same day alice aiice alice aiice attwood vs nathaniel attwood complaint sworn to in st SL louis filed april 1877 plaintiff swears that defenda defendants riLls last known place of residence was at sea decree granted two days after filing of the application john B vial vs B D vial complaint sworn to in new now york filed april aprils 5 last known place of residence of defendant in france decree granted april to further instance the fraudulent and nefarious practice of this divorce business we would cite the following cases helen leonard applied for a divorce from peter leonard of III drington canada files her complaint in the court swearing to it in alien allen county indiana asks as a personal service cannot be made upon defendant within tion of this court thattie th that atthe the court direct that service be taken as forfeited according to section 5 utah ittu statutes tes in reference to divorce decree granted two days after filing the petition mary A smith files it a complaint against orlo orin smith on june 29 1877 in application makes statement that she wishes to become a resident of utah but cir at present prevent orlo orio smith m makes akes answer sworn to benore before john F evans clerk of common pleas delaware ohio stating that plain plaintiff tift ia is not and never was a resident of utah Is and always was a resident of delaware ohio and that her petition for fon divorce is a fragd practised practiced by di v verso arse wicked and unscrupulous attorneys tor defendant does not consent to the jurisdiction of judge smith s court and wants the action dismissed george C bates attorney for plain plaintiff tim tiT on february 16 1877 demurs to defendant loi answer on plea as containing no defense within law or equity to the bill filid filed in this court and groys judgment according to prayer id iri the bill decree granted march 2 0 1 1877 amelia a L elifritz Elif mitz fitz applies for a divorce from daniel G ell Bli elifritz fritz petition divorn sworn to ia in chicago february defendant rida iida nt writes feb from atlantic rowa towa to the thet court received this day notice purporting to come from you and in regard to a suit by my wife against me the notice does not spy what for I 1 want particulars it states that his wire is not nor never was in halt salt lake he wants to know in time so he can send an attorney to defend march he be writes again stating rating that his attorneys say the notice received is illegal unless it states what the action is brought for if you render a decree against me he bass says for anything without legal proc proe process processo essI essl will make it hot for you 11 after alfter this correspondence the court pursued the even tenor of its way and granted amelia the decree on the bolh day of march 1877 another case presenting features of a novel charae charac character teris js as follows follow st A H grant writes from itom hock springs wyoming Terri terni territory torys feb eeb 18 1877 to D bockholt esq who is clerk of the coun county tyAs as follows dear sir herewith find complaint signed I 1 have been waiting to hear from my friends have received answer from two all I 1 wrote to and they arh are arb willing to make the affidavits I 1 have writ t ten ita them to forward to me immediately dia tely I 1 believe the defendant is livingst livi living ngat at anamosa Ani mosa jones county iowa was the last I 1 heard beard of her I 1 dont know whether her consent could be obtained or not 1 ip would be according to her feelings in the matter I 1 wish to gain this divorce with as little publicity as possible aa As soon as the affidavits arrive I 1 will forward them should 81 louid I 1 go into utah I 1 will in inform form you I 1 am expecting an office som somewhere ethere in utah soon signed A H grast GRANT 21 his complaint Is filed for divorce february sworn to before solomon bans rans J P sweetwater sweet water county wyoming y orning territory february 18 1877 77 on march 2 ad d he writes again as follows BOCK Sp springs rings W T march ad 1877 dear sir I 1 have two affidi affidavits in my case shall I 1 send them to you I 1 expect two more in a few days if you wish them I 1 will send gend them all at once respectfully yours signed A H GRANT to D Boc bockholt kholl clerk probate court cour salt lake city utah he writes again march loth 1877 to D bockholt bock Sock holt bolt esq dear sir bir herewith find two affidavit will send the others as soon as they arrive reigned ned A H GRANT I 1 to this louisa A grant the defendant fondant made answer un under der date of march 5 1877 that no service bab has been made maxle upon her and she hm hai only during the week past rec received elved a copy of the complaint and summons through the mail has not had time to present counsel all the facts and circumstances cum stances to enable him to pre pro pair her answer but will dobo do so with us as lit litie litle le delay as possible is advised by counsel thal that she has a good and meritorious defense her residence is anamosa Ani mosa jones co iowa said baid plaintiff abandoned her without cause and left her with two young children dependent upon her for their support ald aid said children being the fruits of the marriage between beten ton plaintiff and this defendant she is compelled to support herself and them by her own labor ilbe she has no means to pay ciuni counsel lel iel for preparing defenso and conducting her defense and she asks to be granted reasonable time for preparing her defense and that the court will order that plaintiff shall pay hersich sums um by way of temporary alimony as shall seem geem reasonable to this court for employing counsel to prepare and conduct her de defense bense herein k Si signed gued LOUISA loum A G GRANT RANT S upon this showing the court granted a continuance of thirty days at the expiration of time a decree was granted april w your committee have examined consecutive cases and nind find among these the fol foi following luwin 9 a de granted meme teme day campt fild ibid 8 64 1 day after 9 66 2 days day 11 44 4 4 tai kur 3 46 1 t 4 i 3 4 1 4 U k 44 A 1 1 6 i 6 wco do J if 2 11 41 6 i 11 r 4 t 66 c 2 6 7 As 66 1 4 46 8 4 acl t 4 1 66 if 9 ai r 2 11 10 1 ad 9 2 it v it 66 ac 1 2 1 12 it rr i Is I 1 if ff 13 4 tf g ern 69 1 4 if 14 1 11 dit i f 6 if 4 15 II 11 4 P 1 r if 16 cl 94 3 4 61 17 14 h 11 i S T IS 16 t st t 6 64 S 1 20 i 1 64 21 46 gg lg 16 1 4 23 JV t W tr 4 64 1 11 37 7 i e 1 6 4 ai 33 41 a ft 1 6 if 31 if ai 14 10 if 40 T and over 3 oases unsettled I 1 1 case ease removed case dismissed we also find that the total ilum lium number berof of divorce cases applied for is in the probate court of this county for the ye year ar ending september 1877 and to show bow rapidly this disgraceful business id is on the increase we give the number of cases for the first six months dating from september 1876 as also the last lost six months ending september 1877 viz first six gix fix six i ix months 62 cases last six months cases your committee deem that the statistics taken from the records of this probate court and as shown herein are sufficient lelent evidence to call for the prompt suppression of these unjust and illegal proceedings and your committee have good reason to believe that other county probate courts of this territory are likewise engaged in uhla thia class of divorce bedrit ss to unequal nual if not greater extent 1 A significant fact as shown by the examination of your committee is that all nil divorces on nile file from non residents which we e have examined have been granted no matter how trifling or unwarrantable the alleged grounds of complaint nor how informal the proceedings cee ce may be except where some resident attorney hns has appeared to make defense and also in if wl many cadei cases the words worda ardi 8 c county oui of sait salt lake and e r utah were left blank blanka at i t the fi timothe time the tue p petitions were aw sworn orn to boand laud baud afterwards filled in with another hand writing 1 different from that in the body of the complaint your committee accompany thim this report with an abstract of over cases which upon examination have bv been found not t 9 materially in character from those herein detailed f axy we also find that thai fn an a large number of cases the complaint and all the papers in said cases are in the handwriting hand haud writing of ellas elias smith presiding judge of the court wherein the cases are pending showing the questionable proceeding of a judge practicing in his own court these thebe made by your committee in their investigations fully vindicate hiat hi honor chief justice schaeffer for his order enforcing the law relative to the inspection of public furnishes of the resistance si of judge elias smith and clerk 1 K R MACINTOSH G A lown the within report was adopted this day of se sept t 1877 MARTIN K HARKNESS foreman foreman attest G W BOSTWICK clerk following this there is a aliat list of cases case complete in detail of i he the places of residence of the plaintiffs plaintiff ii and defendants datlof date of complaint and the namis names names of ta the i attorneys when glyen giyen this last las shows that attorneys have appeared in ip only sixty seven cases of rf the They ale aie as follows george A webster 27 george 0 bates 19 MM bane 16 S S smith pha ika I 1 CK K gilchrist E M barnum sterritt merritt williams young S dewolf and mcbride Mu Bride appear Us hs attorn attorneys in iti one oue case care ench ech and add nd all of which however how ever are reg ularand were conducted according to the provisions of the law jaw with the exception oasis of th these ese esp cases caseb therefore the whole of these divor divorced div cei eeg were procured as indicated in I 1 the report of the graba jury i INDIANS AT MALAD malab S J report of the grated jury 1 1 to the third modi Jodi judicial cial vial 1 court of ke the territory merrit bry vf of utah the grand jurors of the april term r rm of baid eaid court post respect fully llly illy u the following report the refusal of a portion of the shoshone ond and bannock indians to stay upon their reservation at F fort port i hall idaho and aud audA their heir in intrusion n tr into the northern part of utah has been productive of much trouble and alarm to white settlers sett rett lers lors of corinne and vicinity two years ago the citizens bof corinne became apprehensive of danger owing to the camping of a large number of f these indians in the immediate vicinity pf af that place and whose a attitude t etude was iras by no meaos means f friendly I 1 nay WAY nor peaceable but their prete |
