Today being Valentine's Day, let's take a look at four imperfect love affairs from the Lower Haight of yore, as noted in the local newspapers,the Call and the Chronicle.
Henry Ackerman and Ida Richardson
37-year-old Henry, a tailor, met 32-year-old Ida on a steam train between San Francisco and Napa in 1920. A romance developed, and two years later Henry asked Ida to marry him.
Ida, however, had discovered that Henry secretly had a wife and child in Calistoga. She rejected his marriage proposal.
This rejection apparently turned Henry into a bit of a stalker, which scared Ida. So much so, in fact, that she decided to sail to Hawaii to escape him. When Henry found out about her travel plans, he allegedly got a job working on the steamer she was planning to take, just to be with her.
The day before the ship was due to depart, Henry stopped by the rooming house at 414 Haight St. where Ida lived, in one last attempt to get her to stay. When she refused, Henry reportedly said, "Then let me give you my last present." He pulled out a revolver, and shot four times.
Apparently Henry wasn't the best marksman, as three of the four bullets missed their target. One wounded Ida in the right shoulder, though not seriously.
Henry fled. A woman named Mary, who was in charge of the rooming house, heard the shots. She rushed after Henry, chasing him for three blocks to his own house at 625 Oak St. There, Henry locked himself in his room, and slashed his throat with a razor.
Police soon arrived and broke down the door to find Henry unconscious. He died on his way to this hospital.
Arthur Waldstein and Pearl Henderson
Arthur and Pearl met as children, learning how to roller skate together on a little rink in the Mission. The two grew up together, and both became professional skaters. They also fell in love.
Some time around late 1915, at the age of 24, Arthur was stricken with tuberculosis. The illness plagued him for months, and his condition steadily worsened. By September of 1916, his doctors determined that there was nothing they could do to save him.
Pearl took up nursing at a local hospital so that she could learn how to care for Arthur. As it increasingly looked like Arthur would not recover, Pearl decided that the two should get married. They did so on September 26th, 1916, at Arthur's bedside at 493 Haight St.
"I know Arthur will get well now that he is my husband," the Chronicle quoted her as saying at the time.
Arthur did not get well. Rather, he died six days later.
Pearl's mourning period was apparently brief. She remarried in March of the following year. That marriage lasted only six months however, with Pearl filing for divorce on the grounds that her new husband "treated her cruelly by drinking to excess and pinching her."
Arthur Waldstein. Chicago Daily News, 1907.
Thomas and Annie Armstrong
Speaking of divorce, in September of 1910 Annie Armstrong sought to end her marriage to her husband Thomas. The couple had been together for 15 years, living at 788 Haight St., and those 15 years were apparently very quiet.
Annie claimed in her divorce complaint that Thomas had, on average, said only 10 words to her each week over the course of their marriage.
"When he did speak, she says, it was only when his own comfort compelled him to," the Chronicle reported. He never took her to a theater, nor did he "consult her comfort, convenience, or interest, or make any attempt to make her married life happy."
Annie described Thomas as "vain and utterly selfish ... wrapped in himself, sullen and sulky." She also claimed that he struck her in the face.
She sought half of her husband's income — which was about $200 a month — in alimony.
Robert Peterson and Dorothea Halley
Finally, in 1912 the Chronicle inexplicably detailed the brief romance of two strangers, Robert and Dorothea.
October 12th: Robert, a bachelor, stops into the Auditorium Skating Rink at Page and Fillmore after hearing dance music coming from the venue. Inside, he spots a dancer named Dorothea, who "looked extremely good to Peterson," the paper reports.
October 13th: Robert asks Dorothea to marry him (!). She says she'll try it, but if she doesn't like it, she'll seek a divorce.
October 14th: The couple marries.
October 15th: The couple has its first quarrel.
October 16th: "Nothing particular happened."
October 17th: Dorothea goes out by herself at night, and doesn't come home until 2am. This distresses Robert. Had he done something to destroy her love?
October 18th: The two reconcile.
October 19th: "Another blank day."
October 20th: This day was "terrible," in the paper's words. Dorothea goes out again, but this time doesn't come home. Robert stays up all night in agony.
October 21st: Dorothea comes home. Robert tells her that if she wants to remain his wife, she's going to have to stay home at least part of the time. Dorothea apparently doesn't love this ultimatum, and books herself a room at a nearby hotel.
October 22nd: Robert ponders his situation.
October 23rd: Robert consults a lawyer.
October 24th: Robert files for divorce.
Happy Valentine's Day!
