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As It Was: Two Women Discover They Have the Same Husband

Here’s a story from the Klamath Falls Evening Herald of Dec. 11, 1913, about a homesteader who had two wives – at the same time.

In an unattributed story, the newspaper reported that two women, one from the East and the other from California, arrived in Klamath Falls on the same day in December 1913.

They both went to a local garage to hire a car and driver for a trip to Chiloquin, 28 miles away.  The driver arranged for them to travel together because they had similar destinations.  Each woman was unaware of the other’s purpose until they neared their destination and discovered they both were planning to join a husband.  It didn’t take long for them to figure out they were married to the same guy.  Two very angry women showed up at his door.

The driver said they went inside and after many tears and prayers one of them relinquished her claim on the man and asked to be taken back to Klamath Falls.  The other wife stayed with the homesteader. 

The exposed bigamist, well-known in the area, never explained a thing publicly.   
 

Source: "Two Women Find Husband Is One And The Same Man." The Evening Herald, 11 Dec. 1913 [Klamath Falls OR], p. 1. Historic Oregon Newspapers, oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn99063812/1912-12-11/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1846&index=0&date2=2017&words=FIND+TWO+WOMEN&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&lccn=sn99063812&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&pr. Accessed 18 July 2017.

Lynda Demsher has been editor of a small-town weekly newspaper, a radio reporter, a daily newspaper reporter and columnist for the Redding Record Searchlight, Redding California. She is a former teacher and contributed to various non-profit organizations in Redding in the realm of public relations, ads, marketing, grant writing and photography.