Cycling blog Hometown by Handlebar over in Fort Worth has the delicious details. The action begins in early April, 1890, as progressive William S. Pendelton takes office as mayor. He lasted about four months. Pendleton turned out to be a little too progressive, especially when it came to comely telephone operator Miss Addie Cullen, described by a Houston newspaper as “a second Venus.” He said he had obtained a “secret divorce” in Chicago from his wife before marrying Miss Cullen in New Orleans. The Chicago divorce, alas, was soon pronounced a forgery.
What intrigues me about the story is how easily people seem to have scooted around the country in 1890. A mayor of Fort Worth gets a phony divorce in Chicago and marries in New Orleans. Who needs airplanes?
