6/9/2010:
The city of Bismarck was shocked on this day in 1904, with the arrest of one of the city's finest attorneys. A. J. Hedrix, long-time resident of Bismarck, was arrested by Sheriff Welch on charges of bigamy.
The arrest came after Hedrix's first wife came to Bismarck from Des Moines, Iowa, and filed a complaint against the attorney. She and Mr. Hedrix had married many years before, and had lived in Des Moines for some time, with Mr. Hedrix working as a printer. One day, Mr. Hedrix approached his wife with the idea of relocating to Bismarck. After some discussion, it was decided that Mr. Hedrix would relocate first, in order to find work and a living situation. Some time later, Mr. Hedrix would send word, and Mrs. Hedrix would follow her husband. Unfortunately, no such invitation was forthcoming!
After several years, the woman eventually learned that her husband had not met some terrible fate, but was living in Bismarck after all, as a happily married man, having married another woman not long after his arrival to Bismarck. Furious, she boarded a train for Bismarck. She arrived in Justice Gilbert's court and immediately filed charges against her husband. Surprised, but bound by law, Judge Gilbert ordered Sheriff Welch to arrest the well-standing attorney.
Mr. Hedrix claimed that he only married the second time after receiving word that the first Mrs. Hedrix had divorced him in Des Moines, and that the entire case was a terrible misunderstanding. Judge Gilbert placed bail at $2,000, which the attorney quickly paid for his release. His wife, to her own surprise, was also placed under bail as a complaining witness; she, however, could not post the $500 needed for her own release. Needless to say, the woman did not enjoy her time in Bismarck as much as her husband apparently had.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. Friday (Evening ed.), June 10, 1904: p. 4.