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The Woman Who Sought A Court Order To Stop Her Husband From Saying Stupid Things
In 1907 a fed up woman tried to legally shut her soon to be ex husband up
Husbands putting their feet in their mouths isn’t uncommon in the institution of marriage. In fact, wives often wish their partners wouldn’t say many of the things that they do. However, one Cleveland woman went to extraordinary measures more than a century ago to get her husband to stop saying stupid things by seeking a court order demanding that he stop.
The February 27, 1907 issue of the Chicago Tribune reported on the case of Katherine Graf, a resident of Cleveland. Although she and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce, they still lived in the same house with their children as things were getting figured out. With tensions likely already very high, she finally had enough of him saying things she thought were stupid, so she went before a judge requesting an order to compel him to stop.
Graf explained to the judge why she was seeking such an unusual action:
“Yes, we have lived in the same house since the filing of my divorce petition, one week ago, and we eat at the same table, but we both are silent. The children commented at the dinner table about my second divorce petition and my husband…
