On this date in 1892, Wahpeton papers reported that Gertrude Weber had traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri, in search of her husband. With help from local police, she found him working at a shoe factory. To avoid arrest, Mr. Weber pretended to be overjoyed to see his wife and agreed to return with her to Wahpeton. He asked for a few hours to settle his affairs and gather his belongings. He took Mrs. Weber to a hotel but then escaped by train with the notorious Madam Dollie Anderson. Mrs. Weber soon realized she had been doubly duped.
Earlier, Mr. Weber, using a false name, had written to a Wahpeton lawyer inquiring about his wife. The lawyer showed the letter to Mrs. Weber, who recognized her husband's handwriting. Upon learning his location, she resolved to track him down.
Back in Wahpeton, she discovered that Mr. Weber had also been corresponding with Judge Folsom Dow, requesting a divorce. Dow responded with a letter containing harsh and derogatory comments about Mrs. Weber. Mr. Weber took that letter to a Missouri newspaper, hoping to have its defamatory content published.
Instead, the newspaper turned on Judge Dow. The editor advised Dow that "if he was a lawyer, to go to night school and learn to spell and to study the subject of sending filthy matter through the U.S. mail." The paper also reprinted what Wahpeton papers had said in support of Mrs. Weber, noting the public's sympathy for her efforts to earn a living and support her family. She had been left to run a hotel on the rougher end of town after her husband fled, and had been harshly judged by Dow for liquor law and bawdy house violations on the property.
Mrs. Weber later confronted Judge Dow with a horsewhip on Wahpeton’s main street. The Wahpeton Times described the “fracas” as quite an extended one, reporting that Mrs. Weber "used her whip very dexterously, striking a dozen or more times." The streets quickly filled with spectators, and the scene became a major source of amusement for the crowd.
The paper added that the universal verdict was clear: Judge Dow was wrong to write to Mr. Weber as he had, and no one seemed to blame Mrs. Weber for fighting back.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
SOURCES:
- HOODWINKED. Mrs. Gertrude Weber Outwitted by Her Erring Spouse. Richland County Gazette, April 29, 1892
- The St. Joseph Gazette, May April 10, 1892
- The St. Joseph Gazette, May 16, 1892
- Mrs. Weber Horse-Whips Judge Dow. The Wahpeton Times, Thursday, May 26, 1892
- THE CITY IN BRIEF. North Dakota Globe, May 26, 1892
