July 2, 1926: Her fourth husband is 'the worst'

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July 2, 1926: Her fourth husband is 'the worst'

Posted by: Ben Welter under Minnesota History, Crime Updated: June 21, 2010 - 7:54 PM

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A slice of courtroom life from the front page of the Minneapolis Daily Star:

WOMAN’S FOURTH
HUSBAND ‘WORST’;
HE GOES TO CELL

Threatened to Kill, Wife
Tells Judge – Prisoner
Can’t Remember

The peace of the workhouse today stilled the fighting impulses of Louis Olson, 48.

He was sentenced for a year after pleading guilty to carrying concealed weapons.

Olson, tall, grizzled, and not unprepossessing in appearance, faced Judge H.D. Dickinson this morning. He seemed a little bewildered.

After the plea, Judge Dickinson requested that Mrs. Olson, the complaining witness, be heard from.

Mrs. Olson was nothing loath.

“I have been married four times,” she declared, “and this is the worst husband I ever had.

“I married this man when he hadn’t a shirt to his back and now he has one shirt.

“I have taken care of him and spent $3,000 trying to cure him of the liquor habit. He is a total loss.

“This man came to my house the other night so drunk he didn’t know his own name. He waved a gun in my face and declared he was a Norwegian and he was going to kill all the Swedes in the neighborhood, including me. You know, judge, he can’t do that.”

Continuing in this vein, Mrs. Olson declared she had not lived with the man since January and had divorced him in February and that he was supposed to pay $7 a week alimony and he hadn’t paid more than $25 since that time.

Judge Dickinson asked Olson what he thought of the situation.

“I don’t know, your honor,” he said. “I can’t quite understand it. There isn’t much that I remember of that night.”

A Minneapolis courtroom -- night court, actually -- in about 1924. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

older post

June 17, 1890: 'Violently insane' from overwork

newer post

July 19, 1900: Death lurks in a keg of beer

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July 2, 1926: Her fourth husband is 'the worst'

WOMAN’S FOURTH
HUSBAND ‘WORST’;
HE GOES TO CELL

June 17, 1890: 'Violently insane' from overwork

July 19, 1900: Death lurks in a keg of beer

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July 2, 1926: Her fourth husband is 'the worst'

WOMAN’S FOURTH HUSBAND ‘WORST’; HE GOES TO CELL

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WOMAN’S FOURTH
HUSBAND ‘WORST’;
HE GOES TO CELL