Marriage announcements are usually just the first of many happy announcements for young couples, but this item is tragically the first of many, many disappointments for Sadie Williams. She and Claude Powell only remained together until February of 1914. Sadie lived in boarding homes and with her parents for much of their married life while Claude traveled and got involved with at least three other women. He finally abandoned her in Dallas, after an argument about another woman, and Sadie returned to Caddo. She was granted custody of their two children and $40 per month alimony.
In 1920 Sadie married oil engineer, Mordecai Golden, in Ardmore. The announcement in the paper calls him an “upright citizen”. Unfortunately, two years later he shot and killed Thomas Craghead in a jealous rage over some questionable correspondence. Sadie and her father were also charged, but later released. After a lengthy and much publicized trial, Mordecai was acquitted. He and Sadie went on, with a new baby, to rebuild their lives in Texas.
The Caddo Herald
July 7, 1911
Powell- Williams
At the home of the bride last Sunday night Mr. Claude J. Powell and Miss Sadie Belton Williams were married, Rev. Hodges officiating.
The ceremony was witnessed by a few intimate friends and the family; the bridal couple departed on the night train for Waco, where they will make their home.
The bride is the lovely daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Williams, and grew into womanhood in Caddo, numbering her friends by the score.
The groom is a traveling salesman and is a brother of I. S. Powell, who lives near Caddo.
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