SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

The records of the Downing divorce tend to underscore the inadequacy of such records
when it comes to determining the “truth” of a failed marriage. Indeed, such a determination is
ultimately impossible. Was Susanna Downing a foolish woman flattered into marriage by a
younger man only to find out that he was a brute? Or, was William Downing a gullible young
man seduced into servitude by dreams of being a country squire living off of his wife’s property?
Or did both versions carry part of the truth? Is it possible that William Downing, weary of the
labor from which he had thought his marriage would free him, turned his rage on his wife and
her child?
Whatever the case, Susanna Simpson Sanders Downing had once again used the liberal
divorce laws of the state of Kansas to free herself and preserve her property. It does appear
however that her reputation in the community did not survive the second divorce. When she
died in 1909, her obituary was short with plain language suggesting that the community never
accepted her actions. William Downing seems to have landed on his feet. In the census
manuscript of 1910, he is listed as married to a woman named Rose, his occupation that of
“butcher.”
The divorce cases of Mrs. Holtzgang, Mrs. Selts, and Mrs. Sanders are unusual when
examining at divorce cases of Kansas women. Each of these women had property that they were
willing to go to the courts to protect. Mrs. Holtzgang and Mrs. Selts continued to maintain
successful businesses. One could assume from a careful scrutiny of their obituaries that the
community accepted their divorces. The community found that their former husbands were in
the wrong and these women overcame the stigma of divorce. In contrast, Mrs. Sanders’s
obituary was short and lacked the flowery language of the other two obituaries. The community
did not respect her actions. The way that she handled her second divorce as well as the
68