On January 26, 1887, Katherine (Katie) Marie Dora Yaeger married Franklin Pierce Mayes in Lincoln, Nebraska.[1] After getting married, they settled on a farm near Emerald, Nebraska with Franklin’s two sons that he had with his first wife, Julia Ann Vaughan.[2] Julia passed away two years prior. Between the years of 1888 and 1901, Katie and Franklin had four sons: John, George, Leroy, and Leslie.[3] They eventually moved to Lincoln and then separated. Despite outlining different reasons for their separation, the couple agreed that they had been separated for several years prior to Katie’s petition.
On March 14, 1923, Franklin filed an affidavit of insanity against Katie. The Lancaster Commissioners of Insanity committed Katie to the Lincoln State Hospital on March 27. On December 12, Katie petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus and named the superintendent of the hospital, Dr. D. G. Griffith, as the respondent.[4] Judge J. H. Broady allowed the writ and ordered that she be released after hearing the evidence. Dr. Griffith motioned for a retrial but was denied.
On January 16, 1924, Katie petitioned the Lancaster County District Court for a divorce from Franklin. She stated that Franklin had been extremely cruel, neglected to provide for her, abandoned her, and forced her to financially support herself for ten years. On March 3, Franklin filed a motion that would require Katie to specify the timeline of her allegations. The court sustained Franklin’s motion and Katie amended her petition on April 16.
In the amended petition, she detailed that Franklin was verbally and physically abusive towards her and their children. She explained that he threatened to put her in the asylum and their children in a detention home. He allegedly left her without support for weeks at a time, which forced her to work and provide for the family.
Furthermore, she outlined the distress she experienced during and after institutionalization. She argued that Franklin “maliciously and with the intention to do great bodily harm” committed her to the asylum after “repeated designs and attempts… to do away with her and to permanently destroy her peace of mind, body, and soul.” [5] She further explained that Franklin would tell her that he “married her out of pity… was sorry of his bargain and wished that she would get a divorce.” [6] Lastly, she alleged that during their six-year separation, he did not support her financially and continued to harass her, only returning to Lincoln to commit her to the asylum.
On May 21, Franklin responded to the amended petition. He alleged that following their first child’s birth, Katie began to resent her stepchildren. He then left their farm to live at a home in Emerald for three years. He argued that her mistreatment forced him to place his eldest sons under the care of friends before he moved to Lincoln in 1894. During this time, Katie’s alleged “extravagance” made him lose the Emerald farm.[7] He eventually built a home in Lincoln using the money from his first wife’s estate, which he placed under Katie’s name.
Furthermore, he said that Katie’s mental health declined after their youngest son’s birth. In 1915, he took the family to Long Beach, California and stayed there to build another home. During this time, Katie went back to Lincoln with their two youngest sons. He injured his leg during construction and had to get it amputated after an infection. When he returned to Lincoln, he stated that he endured Katie’s abuse and eventually left in 1918 to live with their eldest son under the advice of his physicians.
He further detailed that he was 71 years old, never recovered his strength after the amputation of his leg and had developed severe heart issues that left him bedridden. He said that neighbors’ complaints about Katie compelled him to commit her to the asylum. He alleged that Katie had paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and extreme nervousness, which Superintendent Griffith declared as incurable.[8] Their son, George F. Mayes, was appointed as guardian of their Lincoln home and Katie allegedly challenged this by attempting to have a peace warrant sworn against him while on parole from the asylum. This failed, but she regained control of the property after being released from the asylum. Lastly, Franklin alleged that Katie had accused her sons and stepsons of being abusive towards her. He asked the judge to deny the divorce because it would disgrace him in his old age.[9]
Figure 1 reads: "Woman Denied Divorce.— Katie Mayes was refused a divorce from Franklin P. Mayes by District Judge Lincoln Frost Wednesday at the conclusion of a two day hearing. Mrs. Mayes charged non-support and cruelty. Mr. Mayes, who is 72 years old, declared that his wife was suffering from paranoia, and that she had delusions that her best friends were persecuting her."
On May 28, 1924, Judge Lincoln Frost ruled that Katie was paranoid, Franklin was not cruel or neglectful, and Franklin had provided for the family to the best of his ability. Subsequently, Judge Frost denied Katie’s petition for divorce. The Lincoln Star’s report on the case is shown on the right.[10]
During the early twentieth century, multiple states allowed spouses to void, or annul, a marriage if their spouse was declared to have been insane at the time of marriage. However, the law was more ambiguous concerning spouses that were declared insane after marriage. In fact, insanity was not listed in Nebraska’s 1929 statutes as grounds for a divorce, with the accepted reasons being: adultery, physical incompetence, incarceration for three years, abandonment, drunkenness, a sentence of life imprisonment, and extreme cruelty.[11]
Figure 2 reads: “Robert Edeson is announced for a special engagement at the Boyd theater on next Sunday for five performances, when he will present for the first time before a local audience ’A Man’s Man’, a new play of American life of the present day, by Anna Steese Richardson and Henry Leslie Fridenberg. The idea for the drama is said to have had its basis in the recent experience of a prominent Standard Oil millionaire, who succeeded in having a state legislature pass a bill making insanity a ground for divorce, which law was repealed immediately after this magnate had taken advantage of it in order to free himself from the wife of his youth, whom he had come to regard as an obstacle to social ambitions, inspired by his sudden rise to wealth and power.”
However, divorce and insanity were often paired together in Nebraskan journalism. This topic of conversation was popular enough that Omaha theaters hosted performances depicting these stories. The February 6, 1910, edition of Omaha Daily Bee described a play titled “A Man’s a Man” that featured a Standard Oil millionaire who lobbied the state legislature to pass a bill including insanity as grounds for divorce, which he then used to secure a divorce from his wife and free himself of financial responsibility.[12] This play was based on the true story of Standard Oil magnate Henry M. Flagler, who was often referred to as the “king of Florida.”[13] After successfully persuading the Florida Legislature to include insanity as grounds for divorce, he divorced his wife, who was institutionalized at a New York sanitarium, and remarried a few days later.[14]
“Insanity” was broadly defined in Chapter 40, Section 54 of the 1882-1911 Compiled Statutes of Nebraska as, “every species of insanity or mental derangement.”[15] Mental evaluations considered the testimonies of the informant, relatives, friends, other citizens in the county of jurisdiction, and the physician’s discretion. Before admission to the asylum, a person’s mental status would also be assessed and documented using a questionnaire, which is shown below.[16]
Figure 3 reads: "First - What is the patient's name? Married or single? If any children, how many? Age of youngest? Age of patient? Second - Where was the patient born? Third - Where is his (or her) place of residence? Fourth - What has been the patient's occupation? Fifth - Is this the first attack? If not, when did others occur, and what was their duration? Sixth - When were the first symptoms of this attack manifested, and in what way? Seventh - Does the disease appear to be increasing, decreasing, or stationary? Eighth - Is the disease variable, and are there rational intervals? If so, do they occur at regular periods? Ninth - On what subjects or in what way is derangement now manifested? State fully? Tenth - Has the patient shown any disposition to injure other? Eleventh - Has suicide ever been attempted? If so, in what way? Is the propensity now active? Twelfth - Is there a disposition to filthy habits, destruction of clothing, breaking glass, &c.? Thirteenth - What relatives, including grandparents and cousins, have been insane? Fourteenth - Did the patient manifest any peculiarities of temper, habits, disposition, or pursuits, before the accession of the disease? Any predominant passion, religious impressions, &c.? Fifteenth - Has the patient been subject to any bodily disease - epilepsy, suppressed eruptions, discharge of sores, or even had any injury of the head? Sixteenth - Was the patient even [sic] addicted to intemperance in any form? Seventeenth - Has restraint or confinement been employed? If so, what kind, and how long? Eighteenth - What is supposed to be the cause of the disease? Nineteenth - What treatment has been pursued for the relief of the patient? Mention particulars and the effect. Twentieth - State any other matter supposed to have a bearing on the case."
- [1] Familysearch.org, “Katie Yager in Entry for Franklin P. Mayes," Nebraska Marriages, 1855-1995. Accessed July 13, 2023, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5Z8-MNZ.
- [2] Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska—Lincoln. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 5.
- [3] Familysearch.org, “Katie Mayes in Household of Frank P Mayes," United States Census, 1910. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML4L-PV9.
- [4] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 1.
- [5] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 4.
- [6] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 4.
- [7] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 6.
- [8] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 7.
- [9] “In the matter of an application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, Katie Mayes.” https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0759, 8.
- [10] “Woman Denied Divorce,“ The Lincoln Star (May 29, 1924), 4.
- [11] “Husband and Wife Chapter 42,” Compiled Statutes of Nebraska 1929 1 (1929), 1032–43.
- [12] "At the Omaha Theaters," Omaha Daily Bee 39, no. 34 (February 06, 1910), 14.
- [13] “Divorce to Rich Has Become Matter of Millions," Omaha Daily Bee 37, no. 13 (September 15, 1907), 22.
- [14] “Divorce to Rich Has Become Matter of Millions," Omaha Daily Bee 37, no. 13 (1907), 22.
- [15] “Insane Part I: Chapter 40,” Compiled Statutes of the State of Nebraska 1881. With Amendments 1882 to 1911 Comprising All Laws of a General Nature in Force July 7, 1911 1 (1911), 1131–47.
- [16] “Insane Part I: Chapter 40,” 1911, 1138-1139.
Further reading
Klaus Hartmann and Les Margolin, “The Nebraska Asylum for the Insane, 1870-1886,” Nebraska History 63 (1982), 164-182. http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1982Asylum.pdf
