106 Iowa 492 | Iowa | 1898
The parties to this action were married to each other in October, 1867. Nine children have been born to them, of whom six are living and four are grown. They have resided in Malvern for ten years. As grounds for divorce the plaintiff alleges that the defendant has willfully abused and beaten him, and has become angry, and used vulgar and indecent language to him in the presence of their children; that she cannot control her temper, and has made violent threats against members of the family, and has-annoyed and harassed the plaintiff; that she has neglected her household duties and her duties as a wife, has absented herself from home the larger part of the time, and has so conducted herself as to impair his health; and for ten months preceding the commencement of this action the plaintiff had felt that his life was actually endangered by her. The defendant denies all allegation of improper conduct on her part. The-district court granted to the plaintiff a divorce, but did not make any provisions for the custody of the minor children. The testimony of the plaintiff and of his daughter Maggie,, who is twenty-six years of age, and of his son De, who is seventeen years of age, and of a Mrs. Crow, who lived in the family as a domestic, tends to sustain the claims of the plaintiff. But the evidence shows the following facts: The defendant has for a number of years been engaged in numerous enterprises-of a public nature; has been active in the church, Sunday school, and temperance work; has been interested m the science of healing; has written essays; and has canvassed for the-sale of different articles. She spent considerable time in-preparing a chart on a roll of cloth seventy feet in length-