Sensational Shooting at Monett

   In Monett, Missouri, on Tuesday evening, May 7, 1895, a young woman initially identified as Mrs. Frank Collins armed herself with a .38 caliber pistol and went looking for Anna Johnson, "a young woman of doubtful reputation" to whom Frank Collins had been paying much attention of late. Insanely jealous, the young wife decided to take matters into her own hands. Meeting Anna Johnson on one of the main streets of Monett, Mrs. Collins immediately opened fire. One bullet struck Miss Johnson in the left side just below the lower rib and went clear through her body. Mrs. Collins immediately turned over her weapon to a bystander and was soon placed under arrest. The victim was carried to a room over the nearby Silver Moon Restaurant and attended by physicians, who gave her almost no chance of surviving.

    Initial reports identified Frank Collins, the assailant's husband, as a noted gambler around Springfield. He was said to be one of the few men who could actually make a living gambling. He'd recently moved to Monett with his wife, although most parties in Springfield did not know he was married until after the shooting. Later reports said Collins's real name was Snodgrass, but that he often went by Collins because his mother had remarried a man named Collins when Frank was very young. Mrs. Collins (i.e. Mrs. Snodgrass) was also from Springfield, and her maiden name was Stella Kirkham. Her sister had eloped with a Chinaman a few years earlier, and their father had committed suicide shortly afterwards, supposedly because of the behavior of his wayward daughters.
   As for Anna Johnson, her real name was Anna Nave, and she had recently come to Monett from Fort Smith, Arkansas, where she was considered a "disreputable woman." After she was shot, word was immediately sent to Fort Smith, and two "fallen women" took the first train from Fort Smith to Monett to be by her side. One of the Fort Smith women was Pearl Starr, daughter of the infamous Belle Starr and the keeper of a bordello in Fort Smith. The two women wanted to take Anna back to Fort Smith, but her doctors would not allow it. Anna died on Wednesday evening, about 24 hours after she was shot, and the Fort Smith women reportedly vowed revenge.
   After Anna died, Stella Snodgrass was transported to Mt. Vernon and held without bail to await a preliminary hearing. Her husband hightailed it out of Monett but was thought to be hanging around Pierce City. However, I have thus far been unable to learn what the ultimate disposition of Stella's case was.