A divorce suit which is causing considerable of a sensation particularly in theatrical circles, was filed yesterday in the Third District Court. The complainant is Mrs. Clomenia P. Bailey, whose maiden name was Clomenia Pratt, daughter of the late Orson Pratt, and the defendant is her husband, William Bailey.
The plaintiff for a number of years has devoted herself to the theatrical profession in which, in a local way, she has obtained considerable distinction. The complaint, which is very voluminous, sets forth that the parties intermarried at Logan on October 28, 1885; that since said marriage the defendant has been guilty of cruel treatment of the plaintiff to the extent of causing great bodily injury and great mental distress; that at the birth of plaintiff’s child in August, 1886, he abused and neglected her by leaving her for six days without proper care; that in the spring of 1887 the plaintiff was compelled to leave him and go to her mother; that in the month of January, 1888, defendant, in one of his almost daily outbursts of anger, cursed and threatened to kill plaintiff and her mother, and created a great scene to the disgust of the boarders of the hotel where they were stopping; that at various other times he used vile language towards her, and that in May, 1888, in this city, he falsely accused her of infidelity with a man named Lindsay, and said “G—d— if such a thing can live in my house,” and threatened to kill her; that his abuse of her brought on sever nervous prostration which nearly caused her death; that on one occasion he drew a large pocket knife on plaintiff, and in January, 1892, charged her with infidelity and undue intimacy with a man named Brough, and that defendant falsely charged to other parties in the absence of plaintiff, that she was “laying up” with one Taylor, meaning that she had been guilty of infidelity and prostitution with said Taylor; that defendant falsely charged and reported that during the summer of 1893, while plaintiff was in New York City studying her profession as dramatist, she was living a life of shame, and was living with a man named Davidson, meaning to and thereby falsely charging her with prostitution; that he falsely charged that one Haywood was another of her old “flames,” meaning to and thereby falsely charging her with lewdness and prostitution; that he has in the presence of many people and friends of plaintiff slandered her by falsely charging her with infidelity and prostitution with divers other persons at divers and sundry times and places; that in April, 1893, owing to defendant’s cruelty and threats, she left him, and has ever since refused to live with him as his wife.
Plaintiff also alleges that defendant is possessed of real estate to the value of $1500, a number of blooded horses which are very valuable, and large sheep and other interests; that she is in indigent circumstances and wholly dependent on her own exertions for her support; wherefore plaintiff prays for judgment dissolving the bonds of matrimony and restoring her to her maiden name, Clomenia Pratt, that an equitable and just division of the common property be made, and that the defendant pay the costs of the suit.
Application was made by the plaintiff’s attorneys, Breeze & Burris, in Chief Justice Merritt’s court for an order to restrain the defendant from disposing of his property. His Honor granted a temporary restraining order pending the hearing of the suit.
[Salt Lake Tribune, Mar. 25, 1894]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006]