SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

Susanna Downing’s list of abuses was not, however, complete. Her petition went on to
claim that William Downing had also abused her son Samuel. Her young child had begged his
stepfather not to abuse his mother, an attempt at intervention that had cost him dearly, for
William Downing, she charged, “has many times severely whipped and beaten the said child and
to such an extent as to endanger the life of said child.” 142 Additionally, Susanna made clear that,
in submitting her divorce petition, she was risking her life: William, she claimed, had repeatedly
made threats that if she filed for divorce, he would “shoot her house full of holes and burn her
out.” 143 Her summary of her situation was an indictment of the character of her husband, who
was she said,
. . . a man of violent and vicious temper . . . [who] exercises no control over his
temper and plaintiff alleges that she is constant fear of her life by reason of such
conduct and threats upon the part of said defendant. Plaintiff said further that for
more than six months past she has lived and now lives in constant fear of an
assault and beating by said defendant.” 144
A day after filing a petition for divorce, Susanna A. Downing completed the picture of herself as
a terrified battered wife by petitioning the district judge for a restraining order against her
husband. The restraining order was to prevent her husband from residing in the same residence
during the pending legal action. She also asked that her husband be restrained from interfering
in any manner with her property or possessions. The judge granted her request.
The nightmare marriage depicted in Susanna Downing’s divorce petition as well as her
request for a restraining order was, of course, the reality for far too many women in the United
States. Indeed, one of the strongest arguments for liberalized divorce laws was the assertion that
142 Ibid.
143 Ibid.
144 Ibid.
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