Beatrice Howell, Married and Now Divorced at Age 15, Jan. 14, 1921

Here is a story of Beatrice Howell, married in this city last March and divorced the other day in Norfolk. Before she was 15 years old she became wildly in loved with Antonius van Bergen, a young sailor in Norfolk, her home city. Strong parental objections to the romance proved a barrier to heighten the intensity of the affection for her hero, and at his insistence the couple ran away and came to this city where they secured a marriage license. The girl swore at the time that she was 21 and with all her apparent youth, got by with it. Her lover gave his age as 22. The ceremony binding this couple in the holiest relation existing among human kind was performed with about the same degree of solemnity as that which accompanies the sale of a cow. And so the couple started out in life. The parents of the girl finally forgave and fed the couple for many months, taking them in their home and treating the young man as a son. The young fellow still had all the irresponsibility of youth, inconsiderate and thoughtless as all boys are. And the young bride with the foolish impetuousness of any little girl, was too young to accept the responsibilities to her position. The couple failed to agree and finally in October 1920 the young fellow went back to sea. The girl told the court that her husband had treated her coldly, had slapped her around and even taken her across his lap to spank her. Many witnesses corroborated her story and the court granted the 15 year old girl a decree of divorce. (From The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Jan. 14, 1921)