Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Two unusual legal questions confronted Judge J. Stanley Webster: Was young M.C. Parsons sane? And was his recent marriage legal?

This saga began years before when Parsons suffered a fractured skull when he fell against a football goal post. He later stole a car and went joy riding, and when he was arrested, doctors questioned whether he could distinguish right from wrong. When he was at Washington State College, he caused a sensation by eloping with a Pullman girl (apparently against the wishes of the girl’s parents).

He was committed to what was then called the Eastern Washington Hospital for the Insane at Medical Lake. Some doctors advised an operation.

However, he was released from the hospital after his father posted a $2,500 bond. After Parsons was out, he married Miss Alma Baker, of Spokane, which was illegal since he had not actually been ruled sane. Parsons told the court “the thought never entered my head that I did not have a right to marry.”

The boy’s father and the bride’s parents asked Judge Webster to let the marriage stand. However, Webster ruled Parsons remained insane, and the marriage was therefore null.

However, he said if a jury were to subsequently rule Parsons sane, they could repeat their marriage ceremony.

After the ruling, Parsons’ parents said they were taking him to be operated upon to “cure his criminal tendencies.”