Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 239, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 October 1913 — GIVE UP SONS TO STATE HOME [ARTICLE]

GIVE UP SONS TO STATE HOME

Destitute Couple Weeps In Court as Husband Is Criticized by Lawyer. Duluth, Minn.—lnto the court records of Douglas county has been written a story of life’s ragged edge, fuller of pathos and homely sentiment than the usual offices of the court room afford. Elizabeth and James Johnson, father and mother, appeared before Judge Charles Smith in the juvenile court and asked the state to take care of their children. Woven into the proceedings was a tale of misfortune and adversity which when finished resulted in the commitment of two little boys to the state school at Sparta. Side by side on the witness stand sat husband and wife. Each had an infant. One was two years old and the other six months. Standing with his face against the wall and crying, was the eldest of the family, John. He is eight years old.

When Judge Smith sanctioned the commitment, John and Charles weje cut loose for all time from parental contact Mrs. Johnson has been married twice. To her present husband, James Johnson, she has been wedded five years, and their union has been illfavored. She has now four children, is a prospective mother, and one child has been burled. One is in a state institute in Minnesota, and the commitment of two recently leaves only a six-months old baby in the luckless household. The Johnsons are form Grand Rapids, Minn., where Mrs. Johnson owns a small farm, uncleaned and heavily encumbered. Six years ago the first husband, died and “Jim," the hired man, began suit for the woman’s hand and won it They were married. Facing one of the most difficult problems of existence, the couple appeared the other day and asked to be relieved of responsibility of the bare of-their children.

"I r u both made up your minds that you didn’t want these children any more," shouted Attorney D. E. Roberts, “and you decided to dump them on the state." The woman confessed affection for the man, and defended him "You must understand that you will never see your children again,” said Judge Smith. “Oh, your honor, can’t I ever get them back again?” moaned Mrs. Johnson. “No; they will go to Sparta to bo educated, and afterward they will be adopted by some reputable family. They are lost to you forever," said the court, as he made the commitment.