187 Iowa 617 | Iowa | 1919
The parties were married in March, 1901, and lived together as husband and wife until May, 1918. They have four childi’en, whose ages are 16, 15, 10, and 9. Their troubles seem to have commenced about a year and a half or two years before the suit. She charged cruelty such as to endanger her life, in that, without just cause, he has assaulted, struck, choked, and threatened her ; that he has cruelly whipped the children in her presence, one time a daughter of 15; that he has accused plaintiff of being unfaithful to her marriage vows, and being intimate with other men, and running after other men; that such charges were madé in the presence and hearing of the children and other relatives. She states the property owned by defendant, and that $1,600 of her own money went into the real estate. She asks alimony, and the custody of the children.
Defendant admits the formal allegations of the petition, and denies all allegations as to cruelty.
The decree awards plaintiff a divorce, and the custody, of the children; also awards alimony in the sum of $7,685, and the title to certain household goods, which, by agreement, were set off to her for her use, pending the final decree in the order for temporary alimony. Defendant was also required to pay for the support and education of the four children so long as she shall support and educate them, $15 each per month for the two older children, and $10 each for the other two, such payments to continue no longer than until the children attain the age of 18 years, respectively.
“I read, to keep my mind off my troubles. I read the Bible many times; seemed like, when I didn’t know what' else to do, — didn’t know where to turn, — what to do, — I read the Bible, simply to afford relief to my mind, so I didn’t feel quite so afraid to go to bed; and finally I got so I was afraid I was going to lose my mind. I couldn’t stand very much more.”
At this point in her testimony, she broke down on the stand, and counsel for defendant asked that the witness be withdrawn from the stand until she could become calm,
“Q. You sleep good at night, I suppose? A. Oh, I have my sleep, yes; it’s always my custom to sleep some at night. Q. What had been your general habit as to sleep? Do you generally sleep sound and well at night? A. Yes, —depends; sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Q. What is your, general habit in that respect ? A. I generally sleep pretty fair, only when I had too much of this trouble on my mind. I slept pretty well some of the time this summer.”
Her evidence afterwards was stronger thhn this, as to her not being able to sleep. It was a matter of discretion in the trial court, allowing the case to be re-opened.
“You may as well leave that old slop barrel down there. Tell her mother she can keep the old slop barrel there. I ain’t got no use for her, — all she is good for is to run around with other men, anyway.”
“Q. You believed it when you talked with her down to your brother-in-law’s, Zahradneck’s, and you believed they were true, and do now, don’t you? A. I do. Q. Do you want to live with a woman that is guilty of that? A. If you want to ask me some questions, set down in your chair. I called her sow, because she used a syringe. I never said anything out of the way to her. She did go around with other men. She sent for a syringe, after she came back,— after she had been running around with other men I spoke about. I can’t prove I ketched her doing anything. Q. But still, in your own mind, you feel there is something wrong, don’t you ? A. No, I told her to stay at home and take care of her stuff. Q. You thought your wife had been guilty of some relation with other men, didn’t you, — that is why she was using this syringe? A. It was. There was something wrong. I did give her a calling down when they went with
Kroul is an uncle of plaintiff’s, and 10 years her senior. She is 42. The witness says, further:
“I told her at one time, if she wanted to run with old. John Kroul every place, she could go down there with him to this bos social; I told her. I accused her before all the children of running around with John Kroul. Shé was guilty. It is so.”
It appears that, in regard to the last-mentioned transaction, the children were present, and two young sons of John Kroul’s. Defendant refused to go with them, and refused to permit his wife to get into the surrey with the children that night. She testifies that he struck her more than once, once when she did not want to go to a neighbor’s with him for apples. At another time, she says he struck her on the side of the head, several times. She testified to defendant’s giving one of the boys a severe whipping, because the boy did not hear him call. She says that sometimes when he did get mad, it lasted a week; that he was in the habit of spitting tobacco juice in the oven; that she worked in the field, plowed corn, harrowed, shocked grain, put up the hay, and did chores, milked the cows, and gathered corn. Within the year before the final separation, she left him, and went to her brother’s. Defendant came to see her, and inquired if there were any bums staying there. She says that, at that time, defendant asked her if she was going to send him to the penitentiary, and she told him she hoped it would not come to that. During this talk, she told him that he had abused her, and that, if he would sign a paper that these things he had been saying were not true, she would think about going back to him, and he said he would not take back anything. She told him there was not a word of truth in the things he had been saying, and he knew it, and she couldn’t live with him and have him abuse
We shall not go into the evidence further. There are many other circumstances testified to by plaintiff. Twenty-two other witnesses testified for her. The children testified to some of the transactions. Plaintiff is corroborated as to some of the transactions, though perhaps not all, by other witnesses, and by witnesses other than the children. There is no evidence to justify the-defendant in saying that plaintiff was guilty of adultery. The defendant denies many of the circumstances testified to by plaintiff and other witnesses, and makes charges against her as to her conduct. Doubtless she has not treated defendant, at all times, as she should. Defendant introduced some eight or ten witnesses, several of them testifying to the value of defendant’s land, and the character of it, and the personal property. Others of them testify to seeing the parties out together occasionally, and they say that they seemed friendly, and the children seemed to be well dressed; that they visited occasionally and threshed there, and didn’t hear him talk coarse to her or the children. Some of them say that plaintiff and defendant did not speak to each other when they were out. Others said that they seemed to get along all right, so far as they noticed. There is a large record. After reading the evidence, we reach the conclusion that the evidence is sufficient to justify a divorce.