Man discovers 16-year-old daughter dating bigamist

When 25-year-old Harry Fritz arrived in Warwick in May of 1895, he planned on living at his brother’s house in the village of Hill’s Grove. Seven months of cohabitation proved unsuccessful as the men didn’t get along and, in December, Harry left the abode and proceeded to rent a room from Joseph Levi Straight, who also resided in Hill’s Grove.

Rumors had swirled about Harry since his arrival in Rhode Island. Many whispered that he had deserted the cruiser Columbia – which had been launched during the summer of 1892 and participated in the intervention in Nicaragua in the summer of 1894 – and fled the Navy. Joseph didn’t know if the story was true but the boarder was holding a job at the Rhode Island Malleable Iron Works and didn’t seem the type to court trouble. What Joseph didn’t realize was that Harry had quickly begun courting his daughter Hattie, who had turned 16 on Feb. 8, 1896.

The second week of February, Joseph learned that Harry and Hattie had married and was shown the marriage license, which had been secured on Jan. 2 and signed later that day with the signature of Providence Reverend Moses Homan Bixby. As Joseph surged forward in his attempt to learn more of all that had been happening right under his nose, he discovered that Harry was already married and had left a wife in New Jersey.

Furious, Joseph immediately went to the police station and had a warrant sworn out. Officers went directly to the Iron Works where they found Harry toiling at his job, arrested him and informed him he was being charged with bigamy. Joseph, the officer and Harry rode in a wagon back to the police station. Once they arrived, Harry jumped from the vehicle and ran as fast as lightening toward the railroad, both of his hands locked in cuffs. The officer jumped out and began to chase him while Joseph maneuvered the wagon along an alternative route to the railroad, hoping to cut Harry off.

When he reached the railroad, Harry raced across the iron bridge, which passed over Apponaug Cove. He followed the shoreline as fast as his feet would carry him until he reached Shell Point. A coating of ice covered the water there and he decided to take his chances and run across it to the opposite side. The officer wasn’t that brave – or stupid – and gave up the foot chase at that time, though not the efforts to bring Harry back into custody. A search went on throughout the day and finally, at about 4:30 that afternoon, police learned that the escapee was inside a barn on the farm of Henry Budlong in the village of Buttonwoods.

As he had secreted himself so deeply beneath the hay in the Budlong barn, Harry wasn’t located for quite some time. Finally, one of the officers, using a hayfork to spread the fodder, uncovered him. Harry knew he had lost the battle. “Shoot me if you wish,” he told the officer. “If you run again, I will,” the lawman told him.

Harry’s wrists were terribly swollen and deeply cut, void of the handcuffs, which he had violently tried to break off his body. When police asked him where the cuffs were, Harry told them that a native of England who was employed there on the farm – a 19-year-old named Walter Becket – had responded to his pleadings for freedom and consented to file them off.

Harry was transported without further incident to the town hall and secured in a basement cell. The following day, he admitted that the marriage license as well as the signature of the reverend were forged in an effort to make Hattie happy. He explained that he had fallen in love with the young girl and intended to file for divorce from his wife very soon.

Because no marriage had actually taken place between Harry and Hattie, the charge of bigamy could not stand. Joseph withdrew his complaint and Harry was let go. A legal marriage made Hattie a wife just a couple weeks later – although she married someone else.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.