SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

only the right to divorce would insure that abused women were not forever trapped in such
brutality. For any particular case, however, the question must necessarily be asked: did a
divorce petition of this type reveal a horrible and vicious truth, or did it merely reveal a woman
who knew what language must necessarily be used to leave an inconvenient marriage? Clearly,
the district judges who were polled the same year that Susanna Downing filed this petition were
suspicious that, at least at times, it was the latter that guided the plaintiff’s actions. Certainly in
the Downing case, some of the action that ensued raised those very questions about Susanna.
There was, for example, the fact that the Court records for this case included a letter from
Susanna’s attorney, dated February 2, 1899, to the sheriff of Wyandotte County. The attorney
offered the sheriff compensation to serve a summons for Mr. Downing to return to Clay County
for the case. The problem was that the sheriff would have to find him first: the attorney
provided a physical description of William Downing, his last known address, and the
information that Downing was believed to be in Kansas City working a meat packing plant. 145 If
Downing was no longer in Clay County, why had Susanna Downing filed for a restraining order
in early January? And did it mean anything that this allegedly terrorized woman had specifically
asked that Downing be required to leave her property alone?
William Downing was obviously found because he responded to the divorce petition in
late February. Not surprisingly, he denied all of her claims of abuse. But his response went on
to make a startling accusation: his wife, he claimed, had lured him into marriage under false
pretenses and, since the beginning of the marriage, had treated him with contempt. In short,
William Downing turned the tables. There was an abused party, but his claim was that it was
himself.
145 Downing v Downing, Clay Center District Court, Case No. 4549, State of Kansas (Letter from Prosecuting
Attorney Williams to the Sheriff of Wyandotte County, Kansas).
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