SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

Therefore, Susanna asked the judge for a divorce from Henry Sanders, the return of her own real
estate and property, possession of the couple’s homestead, freedom from any debts accrued by
her husband, and custody of the children.
It appears that Henry Sanders either did not respond or at least did not contest the divorce
suit. In the Court’s findings, the judge ruled that the evidence established the defendant had
abandoned the plaintiff for more than one year; therefore, the divorce was granted. However, the
judge still had to decide the issues of child custody and property ownership. Susanna Sanders
received custody for the care and education of Samuel Sanders, minor, the couple’s youngest
child who was around five at the time of the divorce 138 . The Court awarded Henry Sanders
custody, care, and education of Rosa Bessie Sanders, minor. 139 In deciding the property issue,
the Court awarded Susanna all real estate in her name as well as the sum of $650 from the
defendant to pay for fees, bills, past due maintenance, and future support for their minor child,
Samuel. Furthermore, the Court declared that Susanna Sanders would retain possession and
ownership of the homestead farm.
Had this been the end of her sojourn in the courts, Susanna Sanders would perhaps be
remembered as a woman who had prevailed in difficult circumstances. But in very short order,
she embarked on a course that one supposes would have raised eyebrows in Clay County. Six
months after her divorce, at the first moment that it was legal for her to do so, Susanna Sanders
remarried. More shockingly, the man she married on Christmas Day 1896 was William W.Y.
Downing, a man twenty-six years her junior: she was forty-nine, he was twenty-three.
Barely more than two years later, on January 9, 1899, the matrimonial saga took a turn
guaranteed to incite community gossip: Susanna A. Downing petitioned the Clay County
138 The Census manuscript of 1890 shows Susanna Sanders living with a nine-year-old son.
139 Sanders v Sanders, Clay County District Court, State of Kansas.
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