The Bull Creek area of southern Christian County might well be called the epicenter of Ozarks feuds. Some of the infamous Bald Knobbers of the mid and late 1880s were from that area, and some of their activities occurred in that area. Although the reign of the Bald Knobbers did not really involve a family feud so much as a political one, elements of kinship and family factored into the feud. Almost concurrent with the Bald Knobbers' reign of terror was the Matthews-Payton feud, which occurred in southern Christian County. Then came the Meadows-Bilyeu feud in late 1898, which culminated in Bud Meadows's killing of three members of the Bilyeu family, who were his in-laws. That affair had scarcely died down when another feud flared up at Chestnutridge, located about four miles southeast of Spokane on present-day Highway 176.
On Sunday, September 29, 1901, Preacher Larkins and two of his sons, Jeff and Ben, got into a bloody encounter at a church at Chestnutridge (often spelled Chestnut Ridge at the time). It seems John Carter had married a daughter of Preacher Larkins, and the couple had a baby together. However, they had separated and the young woman had returned to her father's home with the child. On the fateful day, Carter showed up at the church with a brother of his and a friend of theirs named Charley Coates. John Carter tried to take the child away from its mother, which brought Judge Larkins and his sons to the young woman's aid. When Carter drew a pistol, Preacher Larkins knocked it out of his hand. This caused Carter's brother and Coates to enter the fray, and all hell broke loose. Larkins and his sons drew knives and "began to cut right and left." Carter and his sidekicks, who "also had sharp steel in their pockets," drew their blades and a knife fight was on in earnest, with both sides slicing every which way. When the bloody encounter ended, Charley Coates lay mortally wounded. At least that was the initial report, although the victim was misidentified as Charley Carter at the time. The other combatants had wounds of varying severity, and even one or two bystanders who were merely trying to stop the fight ended up getting cut. Seven men in all were injured. Preacher Larkins and one of his sons were said to have lost considerable blood from their stab wounds.
The Springfield Leader-Democrat said in its initial report of the affray that Charley Carter (actually Charley Coates) was not expected to live more than a day or two. John Carter was well enough to travel to Ozark and turn himself in after the fight, and the next day the county sheriff went down to Bull Creek and arrested the other parties involved in the melee, including Judge Larkins, as the preacher was usually called. (It's not clear whether he was ever actually a judge or this was just a name or honorary title he went by. He is listed in census records as "Judge Larkins" as though that was his actual name.)
The Leader-Democrat described Judge Larkins as "a well-known character in Christian County." He had served on "more grand juries than almost any other man south of Ozark," and he had a knack for getting involved in political disputes. In the Meadows-Bilyeu feud, Larkins had sided strongly with the Bilyeu faction and had testified against Meadows in the legal proceedings against him for killing the Bilyeus. Despite his somewhat cantankerous reputation, Larkins had "always stood for peace and good conduct in his neighborhood." He also "never lost an opportunity to defend the faith of the Christian church," although his preaching was "of a local and somewhat irregular character."
Dr. Wade of Spokane, who treated Charley Coates, was apparently about the only man who did not believe the dire prognosis that others had issued about his patient. He performed an operation to sew up Coates' internal organs, and within a week or ten days, Coates was on the mend and was expected to make pretty much a full recovery. The young doctor received much praise for the skill and expertise that resulted in such a surprisingly good outcome.
Saturday, April 16, 2022
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Wheelerville, Missouri
Often when I'm writing about one topic, I'll run across a tidbit of information that gives me an idea for a different topic. Something similar happened today except that the different topic I discovered wasn't really different. It and the first topic were very closely related, and the new bit of information I discovered didn't suggest a new topic so much as it expanded and changed the focus of the original topic. Specifically, I started out to write about the crossroads community of Wheelerville in eastern Barry County, but I discovered that the man after whom the community was named was a more interesting subject than the community itself, or at least I discovered there's more information about the man than there is about the community.
Austin Wheeler was born about 1895 near Jenkins in Barry County to a country doctor, Granville Wheeler, and his wife. Austin attended elementary school at Scholten, which is located about seven miles northeast of Jenkins on present-day Route D about a mile north of Highway 248, but he never went to high school. About 1927, he opened a general store at Scholten, which he operated with the help of his wife, Ada. Four years later, he moved his business a mile south to where Route D intersects with Highway 248, and the crossroads community became known as Wheelerville, since Austin Wheeler's store was about the only thing there.
In late November 1937, a bank robbery in Springfield resulting in a pell-mell chase after the robbers south of Springfield caused quite an excitement in northern Stone County, according to the Stone County News-Oracle, and the excitement spilled over into Wheelerville just across the line in Barry County. When the two male bank robbers roared through Wheelerville in their getaway vehicle, Austin Wheeler, having been alerted to the robbers' flight, jumped into his auto and gave chase. He "hit 'er up to 65 or 70 miles per hour, but never got within sight of them." (The bandits were later apprehended near Rogers, Arkansas, where they were from.)
In the spring of 1938, Wheeler added a room to his store because the business was enjoying such good patronage that "he was compelled to have more room for his stock of merchandise." In the mid-1930s, Austin's son, Clarence, joined his father working in the store at Wheelerville, and in 1937, the younger Wheeler opened his own store south of Aurora. Then, in August 1939, Clarence and his wife moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to open a store there.
A new community church was built at Wheelerville in late 1942 and dedicated on January 31, 1943. It soon became the main gathering spot for the Wheelerville area. Not only were regular church services held there, but the church also became a sort of social gathering place. The church is still there today, and it remains one of the few structures in Wheelerville. So, the community of Wheelerville is not much more than a wide spot in the road and never has been.
In 1946, Austin Wheeler moved to Springfield and opened a grocery store at 1212 North Broadway. Meanwhile, his son, Clarence, returning from World War II, also came to Springfield and bought a former Kroger store at 1131 East Central. In 1948, both the father son sold their stores and went into business together to found the first Consumers market at 1854 North Glenstone, with Clarence as the senior partner and his father mainly just helping out. By 1957, they had expanded Consumers into a supermarket chain that included five stores in the Springfield area, plus a headquarters and warehouse on East Bennett. In 1957, it was estimated that Consumers conducted between 40 and 50 percent of the grocery business in all of Greene County. The chain went on to establish additional stores not only in the immediate Springfield area but also in surrounding towns as far away as Joplin. At its high point, the chain had 38 stores.
In 1991, Clarence Wheeler retired after a lifetime in the grocery store business, and Fleming Foods bought the Consumers Supermarket chain a few years later. In the late 1990s, Fleming began selling and/or closing the Consumers stores until they were soon completely dissolved. Austin Wheeler died in 1996 at the age of 100, and Clarence died the next year at the age of 79.
I knew before I started researching this story that the Consumers Supermarket chain was founded by the Wheeler family, but I didn't know the family was originally from the Wheelerville, Missouri, area and that the tiny community was named for them. Even when I encountered the information that Austin Wheeler was the storekeeper at Wheelerville, I didn't make the connection at first. So, that's what I meant when I said at the beginning of the post that one thing in my research led to another and changed the focus of what I was going to write about.
Austin Wheeler was born about 1895 near Jenkins in Barry County to a country doctor, Granville Wheeler, and his wife. Austin attended elementary school at Scholten, which is located about seven miles northeast of Jenkins on present-day Route D about a mile north of Highway 248, but he never went to high school. About 1927, he opened a general store at Scholten, which he operated with the help of his wife, Ada. Four years later, he moved his business a mile south to where Route D intersects with Highway 248, and the crossroads community became known as Wheelerville, since Austin Wheeler's store was about the only thing there.
In late November 1937, a bank robbery in Springfield resulting in a pell-mell chase after the robbers south of Springfield caused quite an excitement in northern Stone County, according to the Stone County News-Oracle, and the excitement spilled over into Wheelerville just across the line in Barry County. When the two male bank robbers roared through Wheelerville in their getaway vehicle, Austin Wheeler, having been alerted to the robbers' flight, jumped into his auto and gave chase. He "hit 'er up to 65 or 70 miles per hour, but never got within sight of them." (The bandits were later apprehended near Rogers, Arkansas, where they were from.)
In the spring of 1938, Wheeler added a room to his store because the business was enjoying such good patronage that "he was compelled to have more room for his stock of merchandise." In the mid-1930s, Austin's son, Clarence, joined his father working in the store at Wheelerville, and in 1937, the younger Wheeler opened his own store south of Aurora. Then, in August 1939, Clarence and his wife moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to open a store there.
A new community church was built at Wheelerville in late 1942 and dedicated on January 31, 1943. It soon became the main gathering spot for the Wheelerville area. Not only were regular church services held there, but the church also became a sort of social gathering place. The church is still there today, and it remains one of the few structures in Wheelerville. So, the community of Wheelerville is not much more than a wide spot in the road and never has been.
In 1946, Austin Wheeler moved to Springfield and opened a grocery store at 1212 North Broadway. Meanwhile, his son, Clarence, returning from World War II, also came to Springfield and bought a former Kroger store at 1131 East Central. In 1948, both the father son sold their stores and went into business together to found the first Consumers market at 1854 North Glenstone, with Clarence as the senior partner and his father mainly just helping out. By 1957, they had expanded Consumers into a supermarket chain that included five stores in the Springfield area, plus a headquarters and warehouse on East Bennett. In 1957, it was estimated that Consumers conducted between 40 and 50 percent of the grocery business in all of Greene County. The chain went on to establish additional stores not only in the immediate Springfield area but also in surrounding towns as far away as Joplin. At its high point, the chain had 38 stores.
In 1991, Clarence Wheeler retired after a lifetime in the grocery store business, and Fleming Foods bought the Consumers Supermarket chain a few years later. In the late 1990s, Fleming began selling and/or closing the Consumers stores until they were soon completely dissolved. Austin Wheeler died in 1996 at the age of 100, and Clarence died the next year at the age of 79.
I knew before I started researching this story that the Consumers Supermarket chain was founded by the Wheeler family, but I didn't know the family was originally from the Wheelerville, Missouri, area and that the tiny community was named for them. Even when I encountered the information that Austin Wheeler was the storekeeper at Wheelerville, I didn't make the connection at first. So, that's what I meant when I said at the beginning of the post that one thing in my research led to another and changed the focus of what I was going to write about.
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Murder at Grovespring
My wife got a call yesterday from Grovespring, Missouri, which her phone identified as spam. So, she didn't answer the call, but she mentioned that she didn't even know where Grovespring was. I told her it was a few miles north of Hartville on Highway 5 and that I'd even been through there once upon a time. And that's how I arrived at the topic for my blog this week. I decided to write about Grovespring.
A post office was established at the location in 1872, and it was called Grove Spring for the obvious reason that it was situated in a grove near a spring. By 1885, the community also included a general store, a flour mill, and a saw mill, all run by the same man. The name of the place was changed to Grovespring in the 1890s. Apparently Grovespring never amounted to much more than a wide place in the road, because, other than this scant information, I didn't find much about it. With one exception: at Christmastime 1913, a somewhat infamous murder occurred near the tiny village.
About one o'clock in the afternoon on Monday, December 28, 1913, a young man named Samuel Henderson shot and killed an older man named Henry Johns at or near the home of Alex Weaver about three miles west of Grovespring. The twenty-year-old Henderson, who'd recently married Weaver's daughter, was at his father-in-law's house on the morning of the 28th when Johns, a local farmer and blacksmith, came riding by the Weaver place on a horse. He stopped, and he and Henderson exchanged heated words. Later in the day, Johns rode by the Weaver place again, and he and Henderson, who was carrying a shotgun, renewed their dispute. When Johns started to ride away, Henderson allegedly shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. As Johns fell from the horse, his foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged some distance before the horse halted. Henderson promptly sent word to the Wright County sheriff that he'd killed a man, and a deputy was dispatched to the scene to bring Henderson back to Hartville, where he was lodged in the county jail. Although the victim had been shot in the back of the head, Henderson disputed accusations of cold-blooded murder, claiming self-defense. He said he saw Johns reaching toward his pocket for what he thought was a gun, but the only weapon found on the dead man was a pocket knife.
Details of what actually happened, including the cause of the argument that led to the shooting, were sketchy, because only Henderson and his kinfolk witnessed the affair. However, one initial report said the affray came about because of an "old trouble" between the two men. Specifically, "the name of Mrs. Henderson" (the shooter's 18-year-old wife) was said to have figured in the argument. Johns had allegedly made the remark sometime earlier that Henderson and his new bride "could not live together," which Henderson construed to mean that Johns himself would be the cause of the breakup.
At Henderson's trial at Hartville in mid-April 1914, more details about the nature of the enmity between the two men came out. At least according to the defense, "improper relations" had existed between Johns and Henderson's young wife prior to her marriage to the defendant and Johns had suggested that he might renew those relations. The prosecution admitted that jealousy was a factor but denied the specific allegation that improper relations had existed between the victim and the young woman. The prosecution argued for a first-degree murder conviction, claiming that the defendant had shot the victim in the back without provocation as he was riding away. The defense, on the other hand, said the shot entered the victim's body as it did only because Johns turned or dodged just as Henderson fired his gun.
Henderson was convicted but on a lesser charge of second-degree murder, and he was assessed 10 years in the state pen. He arrived at the Jefferson City facility on April 28, 1914, but his sentence was commuted by the governor four and a half years later and he was released on October 16, 1918.
A post office was established at the location in 1872, and it was called Grove Spring for the obvious reason that it was situated in a grove near a spring. By 1885, the community also included a general store, a flour mill, and a saw mill, all run by the same man. The name of the place was changed to Grovespring in the 1890s. Apparently Grovespring never amounted to much more than a wide place in the road, because, other than this scant information, I didn't find much about it. With one exception: at Christmastime 1913, a somewhat infamous murder occurred near the tiny village.
About one o'clock in the afternoon on Monday, December 28, 1913, a young man named Samuel Henderson shot and killed an older man named Henry Johns at or near the home of Alex Weaver about three miles west of Grovespring. The twenty-year-old Henderson, who'd recently married Weaver's daughter, was at his father-in-law's house on the morning of the 28th when Johns, a local farmer and blacksmith, came riding by the Weaver place on a horse. He stopped, and he and Henderson exchanged heated words. Later in the day, Johns rode by the Weaver place again, and he and Henderson, who was carrying a shotgun, renewed their dispute. When Johns started to ride away, Henderson allegedly shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. As Johns fell from the horse, his foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged some distance before the horse halted. Henderson promptly sent word to the Wright County sheriff that he'd killed a man, and a deputy was dispatched to the scene to bring Henderson back to Hartville, where he was lodged in the county jail. Although the victim had been shot in the back of the head, Henderson disputed accusations of cold-blooded murder, claiming self-defense. He said he saw Johns reaching toward his pocket for what he thought was a gun, but the only weapon found on the dead man was a pocket knife.
Details of what actually happened, including the cause of the argument that led to the shooting, were sketchy, because only Henderson and his kinfolk witnessed the affair. However, one initial report said the affray came about because of an "old trouble" between the two men. Specifically, "the name of Mrs. Henderson" (the shooter's 18-year-old wife) was said to have figured in the argument. Johns had allegedly made the remark sometime earlier that Henderson and his new bride "could not live together," which Henderson construed to mean that Johns himself would be the cause of the breakup.
At Henderson's trial at Hartville in mid-April 1914, more details about the nature of the enmity between the two men came out. At least according to the defense, "improper relations" had existed between Johns and Henderson's young wife prior to her marriage to the defendant and Johns had suggested that he might renew those relations. The prosecution admitted that jealousy was a factor but denied the specific allegation that improper relations had existed between the victim and the young woman. The prosecution argued for a first-degree murder conviction, claiming that the defendant had shot the victim in the back without provocation as he was riding away. The defense, on the other hand, said the shot entered the victim's body as it did only because Johns turned or dodged just as Henderson fired his gun.
Henderson was convicted but on a lesser charge of second-degree murder, and he was assessed 10 years in the state pen. He arrived at the Jefferson City facility on April 28, 1914, but his sentence was commuted by the governor four and a half years later and he was released on October 16, 1918.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Triple Murder at Grandin
About 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17, 1973, Robert Kitterman walked into the Bank of Grandin (MO), where he was president, and told Ralph Stanley, the bank's bookkeeper, that he had dynamite wired to his chest and not to turn on any lights or electric switches or make any phone calls because they might trigger an explosion. Kitterman explained that his wife and daughter were being held for ransom by kidnappers and that the villains had rigged the dynamite to his chest. Stanley did not see any dynamite, but he noticed that Kitterman's shirt seemed tighter than usual. He could tell that something was likely under the shirt, and he could also tell that Kitterman was nervous.
Stanley helped Kitterman gather up over $10,000 and place it in a money satchel. As Kitterman was leaving the bank with the ransom money, he met L. W. Kingen, superintendent of the nearby Elsinore Schools, and told him the same thing he'd told Stanley--that his wife and daughter were being held by extortionists. After Kingen and others alerted authorities, lawmen tried to intercept Kitterman before he once again made contact with the kidnappers but to no avail.
About 2;30 p.m., just over an hour after Kitterman had walked into the bank, his car and his 17-year-old daughter's car were both spotted in a secluded area near an abandoned farm a few miles south of Grandin just across the county line in northern Ripley County. Nearby were the dead bodies of Kitterman; his wife, Bertha; and the 17-year-old daughter, Roberta. All three bodies were bound, and each had been shot once in the head at close range with a small-caliber weapon. Although Kitterman's body was rigged with wire, no dynamite was found. And investigators doubted the idea that Kitterman had been rigged with dynamite so that it could be set off remotely via a radio signal, but that was apparently what Kitterman had believed. A bullet believed to have passed through the daughter's body, a couple of spent cartridges, and a tire track were the only forensic clues found at the scene. The only other clue to the identity of the murderers was the fact that, while at the bank, Kitterman had referred to the abductors as "they," leading lawmen to believe that there was more than one perpetrator. Investigators theorized that the abduction happened at the Kitterman home just a mile or so south of Grandin when both Kitterman and his daughter, a high school senior, came home for lunch. The villains then likely drove the family or forced the family to drive to the scene where they were later found dead, and the wife and daughter were held captive there while Kitterman was sent into town to get the cash.
A breakthrough in the investigation came a couple of days later when police received an anonymous phone call from a man who said he'd seen 33-year-old ex-con Dallas Ray Delay set off a small explosive device in a Poplar Bluff garage a few days before the Grandin crime and brag that he was going to use it to rob a bank. Additional investigation further incriminated Delay, who was already wanted on a couple of other warrants, and it revealed his sidekicks to be 21-year-old Lloyd Dwaine Cowin and 22-year-old Jerry Rector. The suspects, all three of whom lived in the Van Buren area, were arrested in Poplar Bluff on Friday the 19th, two days after the crime.
Charged with three counts of first-degree murder, all three defendants obtained changes of venue from Ripley County after they were bound over for trial. Delay pleaded guilty in Cole County in April 1973 and received three consecutive life sentences. Rector pleaded guilty in Jefferson County in late June and received three concurrent life terms. Cowin initially pleaded not guilty in Greene County Court but changed his plea to guilty in September and was sentenced to three concurrent life terms. All three perpetrators were also later either found guilty of or pleaded guilty to federal charges.
Stanley helped Kitterman gather up over $10,000 and place it in a money satchel. As Kitterman was leaving the bank with the ransom money, he met L. W. Kingen, superintendent of the nearby Elsinore Schools, and told him the same thing he'd told Stanley--that his wife and daughter were being held by extortionists. After Kingen and others alerted authorities, lawmen tried to intercept Kitterman before he once again made contact with the kidnappers but to no avail.
About 2;30 p.m., just over an hour after Kitterman had walked into the bank, his car and his 17-year-old daughter's car were both spotted in a secluded area near an abandoned farm a few miles south of Grandin just across the county line in northern Ripley County. Nearby were the dead bodies of Kitterman; his wife, Bertha; and the 17-year-old daughter, Roberta. All three bodies were bound, and each had been shot once in the head at close range with a small-caliber weapon. Although Kitterman's body was rigged with wire, no dynamite was found. And investigators doubted the idea that Kitterman had been rigged with dynamite so that it could be set off remotely via a radio signal, but that was apparently what Kitterman had believed. A bullet believed to have passed through the daughter's body, a couple of spent cartridges, and a tire track were the only forensic clues found at the scene. The only other clue to the identity of the murderers was the fact that, while at the bank, Kitterman had referred to the abductors as "they," leading lawmen to believe that there was more than one perpetrator. Investigators theorized that the abduction happened at the Kitterman home just a mile or so south of Grandin when both Kitterman and his daughter, a high school senior, came home for lunch. The villains then likely drove the family or forced the family to drive to the scene where they were later found dead, and the wife and daughter were held captive there while Kitterman was sent into town to get the cash.
A breakthrough in the investigation came a couple of days later when police received an anonymous phone call from a man who said he'd seen 33-year-old ex-con Dallas Ray Delay set off a small explosive device in a Poplar Bluff garage a few days before the Grandin crime and brag that he was going to use it to rob a bank. Additional investigation further incriminated Delay, who was already wanted on a couple of other warrants, and it revealed his sidekicks to be 21-year-old Lloyd Dwaine Cowin and 22-year-old Jerry Rector. The suspects, all three of whom lived in the Van Buren area, were arrested in Poplar Bluff on Friday the 19th, two days after the crime.
Charged with three counts of first-degree murder, all three defendants obtained changes of venue from Ripley County after they were bound over for trial. Delay pleaded guilty in Cole County in April 1973 and received three consecutive life sentences. Rector pleaded guilty in Jefferson County in late June and received three concurrent life terms. Cowin initially pleaded not guilty in Greene County Court but changed his plea to guilty in September and was sentenced to three concurrent life terms. All three perpetrators were also later either found guilty of or pleaded guilty to federal charges.
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Double Murder at Birch Tree
About eleven o'clock on the night of July 13, 1932, 19-year-old Earl Phelps came hurrying into Birch Tree (MO) and hailed the first people he saw. He told them that he'd awakened from his sleep at the Phelps place outside town and found three intruders beating his father and stepmother to death. He tried to intervene and one of the villains knocked him down, he said, but he managed to get up and make his escape. A number of citizens rushed to the scene and found the man and the woman had both been badly beaten with a hammer and stabbed with a butcher knife. The woman died before they could get medical help for her, and Earl's father, Felix Phelps, died the next day at the hospital.
That same day, July 14, as officials questioned Earl Phelps about the crime, their suspicions began to rest on him. He continued to stick to his story of intruders for some hours before he finally confessed to a Springfield newspaperman who'd come to Birch Tree to report on the crime. Young Phelps admitted that he and three of his acquaintances had killed the couple when they attempted to rob them of $2,000 and the couple resisted. The reporter convinced Phelps to repeat his confession to the county prosecutor.
When the three young men whom Earl had implicated quickly proved alibis, authorities grilled young Phelps even harder, and he finally broke down and admitted that he alone had killed his father and stepmother. He insisted that the motive for the crime was the $2,000 his father and stepmother had recently gotten as a windfall. (One report said the stepmother had inherited it, and another said the couple found the money during a trip to Springfield.) Law officers, however, thought the real motive was Earl's hatred for his stepmother.
When young Phelps's preliminary hearing came up in early August, he waived examination and was held for trial in the Shannon County Jail at Eminence without bond. Phelps escaped on the evening of September 6 by hitting a jailer in the side of the head with a shovel. A posse went out looking for him that night and couldn't find him, but the fugitive turned himself in the next day. At his trial on September 12, he pleaded guilty to double murder, and three days later, he was sentenced to two life terms in the Missouri State Prison. He was still in the penitentiary in 1940, but I'm not sure what happened to him after that, except that he died in 1968, according to a family historian.
That same day, July 14, as officials questioned Earl Phelps about the crime, their suspicions began to rest on him. He continued to stick to his story of intruders for some hours before he finally confessed to a Springfield newspaperman who'd come to Birch Tree to report on the crime. Young Phelps admitted that he and three of his acquaintances had killed the couple when they attempted to rob them of $2,000 and the couple resisted. The reporter convinced Phelps to repeat his confession to the county prosecutor.
When the three young men whom Earl had implicated quickly proved alibis, authorities grilled young Phelps even harder, and he finally broke down and admitted that he alone had killed his father and stepmother. He insisted that the motive for the crime was the $2,000 his father and stepmother had recently gotten as a windfall. (One report said the stepmother had inherited it, and another said the couple found the money during a trip to Springfield.) Law officers, however, thought the real motive was Earl's hatred for his stepmother.
When young Phelps's preliminary hearing came up in early August, he waived examination and was held for trial in the Shannon County Jail at Eminence without bond. Phelps escaped on the evening of September 6 by hitting a jailer in the side of the head with a shovel. A posse went out looking for him that night and couldn't find him, but the fugitive turned himself in the next day. At his trial on September 12, he pleaded guilty to double murder, and three days later, he was sentenced to two life terms in the Missouri State Prison. He was still in the penitentiary in 1940, but I'm not sure what happened to him after that, except that he died in 1968, according to a family historian.
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Civil War Rape
As I mentioned in my Bushwhacker Belles book, during the run-up to the Civil War and during the war's early stages, Southern leaders in Missouri used the threat of Federal soldiers raping Missouri women as one way of arousing sentiment against Union occupation of the state. In reality, rape was relatively rare in Missouri (and elsewhere) during the Civil War, and the rape of white women by Union soldiers was even rarer, since some of the few rapes that did occur were either committed by men other than Union soldiers or were committed against black women (i.e. slaves or servants). By my cursory calculation, Union Provost Marshals Papers mention only ten separate rapes, attempted rapes, or accusations of rape in Missouri during the entire four-year course of the war. Of course, this does not account for rapes that went unreported, as many almost certainly did; still, ten is a pretty low number, especially considering how prevalent murder, robbery, and other crimes were during the war and how disordered society in general was.
What historian Michael Fellman called "symbolic rape" (acts such as invading women's homes when no male protector was present, using obscene language in the presence of women, etc.) was much more common than actual rape. It's probably safe to say that, even if rapes were not carried out against Missouri women on a large scale, the threat of rape was an ever-present danger. And the actual rape of white women in Missouri by Federal soldiers was certainly not unheard of. See, for instance, my account of the rape of a woman in Taney County by a Union soldier in 1863. (https://ozarks-history.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-civil-war-rape.html.)
The rape of white women by men other than Federal soldiers was also not particularly common, but such crimes did, of course, occur. An example was a rape that happened in Bates County, Missouri, in the fall of 1862. In early October, 26-year-old Alexander Belcher and 23-year-old Ryan Tongut, both of Bates County, were charged with sexually assaulting 28-year-old Eliza (aka Louisa) Hedrick. Married and the mother of two or three kids, Eliza was also a resident of Bates County.
Belcher and Tongut were arrested and taken to the camp of Confederate colonel Warner Lewis at Pleasant Gap in southeast Bates County, where they were given a drumhead court martial, convicted of rape, and sentenced to death on October 9. Rather than carry out the sentence himself, however, Lewis detailed a squad the next day to take the two men to Union authorities at Calhoun with paperwork outlining their crime and stating the verdict of the hasty trial he'd conducted. Although that extemporaneous proceeding had found the pair guilty and sentenced them to death, Lewis recommended that the two men, both of whom were unaffiliated with either the Confederate or the Union army, be turned over to civil authorities for trial.
Alas, the pair never reached Calhoun. The squad transporting the convicts laid over at Deepwater on the evening of October 10, and during the changing of the guard that night, Belcher and Tongut, who had "worked their fists out of the chains which confined them," sprang up, knocked out the candle lighting the cell, "bursted open the door and made good their escape." A detail was sent out to look for the fugitives, but they were apparently never recaptured.
The rape of white women by men other than Federal soldiers was also not particularly common, but such crimes did, of course, occur. An example was a rape that happened in Bates County, Missouri, in the fall of 1862. In early October, 26-year-old Alexander Belcher and 23-year-old Ryan Tongut, both of Bates County, were charged with sexually assaulting 28-year-old Eliza (aka Louisa) Hedrick. Married and the mother of two or three kids, Eliza was also a resident of Bates County.
Belcher and Tongut were arrested and taken to the camp of Confederate colonel Warner Lewis at Pleasant Gap in southeast Bates County, where they were given a drumhead court martial, convicted of rape, and sentenced to death on October 9. Rather than carry out the sentence himself, however, Lewis detailed a squad the next day to take the two men to Union authorities at Calhoun with paperwork outlining their crime and stating the verdict of the hasty trial he'd conducted. Although that extemporaneous proceeding had found the pair guilty and sentenced them to death, Lewis recommended that the two men, both of whom were unaffiliated with either the Confederate or the Union army, be turned over to civil authorities for trial.
Alas, the pair never reached Calhoun. The squad transporting the convicts laid over at Deepwater on the evening of October 10, and during the changing of the guard that night, Belcher and Tongut, who had "worked their fists out of the chains which confined them," sprang up, knocked out the candle lighting the cell, "bursted open the door and made good their escape." A detail was sent out to look for the fugitives, but they were apparently never recaptured.
Sources: Union Provost Marshals' Papers and US census records
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Charity State Bank Burglary and Explosion
Charity, Missouri, located just off Highway 38 in southern Dallas County, is a place I'm somewhat familiar with, since it's not too far out of my old stomping grounds around Fair Grove. Yet, I don't think I've ever actually been to Charity. I've been along the stretch of Highway 38 that passes by Charity, but the town proper lies slightly to the east of 38. I say town proper, but the town really doesn't amount to much. A church or two, a couple of businesses, and a few residences. That's about it, except for the elementary school, which I think is still going as part of the Dallas County R-1 (Buffalo) School District. Even when I was a teenager and young man running around Fair Grove, Charity was not much more than a wide place in the road, just as it is today, but that has not always been so. At one time in the early 1900s, it was a going little community with a high school. (The high school consolidated somewhere around the late 1940s with Elkland and Buffalo, and Elkland, in turn, consolidated with Buffalo, Fair Grove, and Marshfield in the late 1950s.) Charity even had a bank during the early 1920s, and the bank's short-lived history forms one of the more interesting and colorful parts of the town's past.
In October 1919, Reuben "R. E." Melton, a former mail carrier and postmaster at Ozark, Missouri, moved from Christian County to Charity to help organize and start the Charity State Bank. The bank opened about the first of November 1919 with John Graves as president and Melton as cashier. About June of 1921, Melton resigned his position with the bank after less than two years, and in early July, he and his family returned to Christian County and took up residence in Ozark.
In the wee hours of the morning of Monday, August 1, just a month or two after Melton's resignation, one or more bandits broke into the bank and blew up the safe. Initial reports said the burglars used so much explosive that the door of the safe blew through the front of the building, the rest of the safe blew through the rear of the building, and the explosion set the building on fire. The blaze was so intense that it caused the bricks partially encasing a vault to crumble, allowing all the banks papers inside to catch fire and be destroyed. Townspeople were awakened by the explosion, and a bucket brigade was quickly organized to fight the fire. However, the flames were so hot and had gained such headway, that nothing could be done to save the structure. Burned to the ground, the building was such a total loss that it could not be determined how much money, if any, the crooks had obtained, although the bank was capitalized at only about $10,000. Authorities initially had no clue as to who the robbers might be.
When Melton received a phone call at Ozark on Monday morning informing him of the crime, he and another Christian County man headed to Charity to investigate. But was Melton returning to the scene of his own crime?
In late September, Melton and a young man named Jesse Stevers, whom Melton employed in a garage he owned at Charity, were arrested on suspicion of having committed the bank job after incriminating evidence was reportedly discovered at the garage. Both denied all involvement in the crime, and both were released on bond. Melton said he would have no trouble establishing an alibi, because he was attending church in Ozark on the night the bank was blown up almost 50 miles away. Dallas County investigators said they had turned up no evidence that Melton's resignation from the bank was anything but voluntary, but a contrary report suggested that some residents of the Charity area had ill feelings toward the cashier, which partially accounted for his quitting. Ralph Cavin, Melton successor as cashier of the bank, was later arrested as a third suspect in the crime.
Melton's case was moved to Hickory County on a change of venue, and he was found not guilty in November 1922. Many of his friends in Christian County, where he enjoyed a good reputation, said they had felt confident all along that he was not guilty. The cases of both Stevers and Cavin were moved to Webster County on venue changes, and the charges against them ended up being dropped for lack of evidence. So, as far as I've been able to learn, no one was ever convicted of blowing up the Charity State Bank. The process of liquidating the bank began almost immediately after the crime, and no other bank took its place in the small Dallas County community.
In October 1919, Reuben "R. E." Melton, a former mail carrier and postmaster at Ozark, Missouri, moved from Christian County to Charity to help organize and start the Charity State Bank. The bank opened about the first of November 1919 with John Graves as president and Melton as cashier. About June of 1921, Melton resigned his position with the bank after less than two years, and in early July, he and his family returned to Christian County and took up residence in Ozark.
In the wee hours of the morning of Monday, August 1, just a month or two after Melton's resignation, one or more bandits broke into the bank and blew up the safe. Initial reports said the burglars used so much explosive that the door of the safe blew through the front of the building, the rest of the safe blew through the rear of the building, and the explosion set the building on fire. The blaze was so intense that it caused the bricks partially encasing a vault to crumble, allowing all the banks papers inside to catch fire and be destroyed. Townspeople were awakened by the explosion, and a bucket brigade was quickly organized to fight the fire. However, the flames were so hot and had gained such headway, that nothing could be done to save the structure. Burned to the ground, the building was such a total loss that it could not be determined how much money, if any, the crooks had obtained, although the bank was capitalized at only about $10,000. Authorities initially had no clue as to who the robbers might be.
When Melton received a phone call at Ozark on Monday morning informing him of the crime, he and another Christian County man headed to Charity to investigate. But was Melton returning to the scene of his own crime?
In late September, Melton and a young man named Jesse Stevers, whom Melton employed in a garage he owned at Charity, were arrested on suspicion of having committed the bank job after incriminating evidence was reportedly discovered at the garage. Both denied all involvement in the crime, and both were released on bond. Melton said he would have no trouble establishing an alibi, because he was attending church in Ozark on the night the bank was blown up almost 50 miles away. Dallas County investigators said they had turned up no evidence that Melton's resignation from the bank was anything but voluntary, but a contrary report suggested that some residents of the Charity area had ill feelings toward the cashier, which partially accounted for his quitting. Ralph Cavin, Melton successor as cashier of the bank, was later arrested as a third suspect in the crime.
Melton's case was moved to Hickory County on a change of venue, and he was found not guilty in November 1922. Many of his friends in Christian County, where he enjoyed a good reputation, said they had felt confident all along that he was not guilty. The cases of both Stevers and Cavin were moved to Webster County on venue changes, and the charges against them ended up being dropped for lack of evidence. So, as far as I've been able to learn, no one was ever convicted of blowing up the Charity State Bank. The process of liquidating the bank began almost immediately after the crime, and no other bank took its place in the small Dallas County community.
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