Not much happens these days in Oakley, the remains of a village in Liberty Township some six miles northwest of Chariton. Oakley dates from 1878 and was founded as Oakley Station, along the Northern Branch of the C.B.&Q. Railroad, built 1878-79 to link Chariton and Indianola.
But there was a degree of excitement back in 1902, commencing on January 15 when Mrs. Timmy Krutsinger, nee Van Winkle, then 23 and four years into her marriage to John Meredith Krutsinger, encountered Miss Ida Noble, 29, station agent and telegraph operator at the Oakley depot. The two women exchanged words in front of the post office, Miss Noble slapped Mrs. Krutsinger, Timmy fell off the sidewalk into the street then got up, grabbed a board and came after Ida --- at which point the proprietor of the store and post office separated the women and peace was restored, sort of.
There seem to have been no criminal charges filed, but Mrs. Krutsinger did launch a civil suit for damages against Miss Noble. The case came to jury trial in Chariton during late April --- a lengthy affair that provided a good deal of entertainment for idlers who sat in on it at the Lucas County Courthouse and also for readers of The Chariton Patriot, who found this report in their edition of May 8, 1902:
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The case that attracted most attention during court was one brought from Oakley wherein Mrs. Timmie Krutsinger was plaintiff and Miss Ida Noble, station agent at Oakley, defendant. It was a suit for damages for $1,000 claimed by Mrs. Krutsinger for injuries received at the hands of Miss Noble last January.
The plaintiff and her witnesses testified that on January 15, Mrs. Krutsinger met Miss Noble in front of the post office at Oakley and after some words had passed between them that Miss Noble struck Mrs. Krutsinger in the face knocking her off the porch and under a wagon that stood in front. It was also claimed that a wheel of the wagon passed over her neck.
The defendant and her witnesses did not deny that she had struck Mrs. Krutsinger, but testified that the blow was a light one on the left cheek with the open palm of the hand and was not of sufficient force to knock her down. But in stepping back, it was claimed, Mrs. Krutsinger fell off the porch and under the wagon.
The witness for the defendant also testified that she could not have been seriously injured for she immediately jumped up, grabbed a board and made for Miss Noble, but was stopped by Mr. Piper from continuing the quarrel.
It was also claimed that in the altercation, Miss Noble had pulled a quantity of hair from the plaintiff's head which was shown in evidence. This was denied by the defendant although she admitted that she might have pulled a few hairs out, but nothing like the quantity exhibited.
The attorneys for the defense, Messrs. Barger and Penick, admitted the assault and battery charge but introduced many creditable witnesses showing mitigating circumstances. It was testified by the defendant, Miss Noble, and at least 10 or 12 of the best citizens of Oakley, that for the last five or six months she had been annoyed and interfered with in the discharge of her duties as station agent and in delivering and receiving the mail to and from the post office; that Mrs. Krutsinger and two or three of her companions --- naming Mrs. Myrtle Foster and Mrs. Sallie Lane --- met together to insult and annoy her on every possible occasion; that these parties would band together and jostle her on the sidewalk, make her step around them and off the sidewalk when she was taking the mail to the post office, congregate at the station, use insulting language to and about her.
The evidence showed that Miss Noble had applied to authorities to have this outrage stopped but could get no relief. Miss Noble testified that she might have borne all this but the crowning act was insulting language used about her old mother by Mrs. Krutsinger, which was the immediate cause of her slapping the plaintiff in the face and pulling her hair. These were the mitigating circumstances offered by the defendant.
In addition, a counterclaim of $5,000 damage against Mrs. Krutsinger for slander was introduced by Miss Noble. To prove the slander charge, two witnesses, Goldie Ryan and Mrs. Emma Cumpston, were subpoenaed. They testified to the most foul and indecent language used by Mrs. Krutsinger in their presence and about Miss Ida Noble.
To break down this evidence the attorney for Mrs. Krutsinger, Frank Q. Stuart, introduced six witnesses who testified that the moral character of Goldie Ryan and Mrs. Cumpston was bad. The names of these witnesses are Mrs. Timmie Krutsinger, the plaintiff, Mrs. Myrtle Foster, Mrs. Sallie Lane, Mr. and Mrs. D.K. Johnson and one other witness whose name we did not learn.
In rebuttal, the following witnesses were introduced. Aaron Burgett, the hotel keeper at Oakley, testified that he had known Goldie Ryan and Mrs. Cumpston nearly all their lives and their moral character as far as he ever heard was good.
Mrs. Lucy Parry, formerly Miss Simpson of Chariton and at one time Goldie Ryans' teacher, said that her moral character was good. Burt James said he had known both a long time; his evidence was that the reputation of these women as regards their moral character was good.
The case was hard fought on both sides. Frank Q. Stuart ably conducted the the side of the plaintiff as did Messrs. Barger and Penick, the defense. The result was the jury after being out 36 hours agreed to disagree and were discharged. The case is now where it started and we hope the tax payers of Lucas county will never hear of it again.
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At the next term of court, the case that had ended in stalemate was dismissed by the presiding judge --- at the expense of the plaintiff, Mrs. Krutsinger, and peace seems to have been restored to the sidewalks of old Oakley. Nothing ever was published to explain the origin of the animosity among its early residents.
At the time of the slap heard around Lucas County, Miss Noble --- the youngest of eight children of George W. (1818-1893) and Eva Noble --- was the principal caregiver for her elderly mother on the family farm near Oakley. Eva (1831-1907) died five years later, during 1907.
Ida, who chose not to marry, continued as station agent at Oakley for a time, then moved to Kansas to pursue that line of work as station agent and telegraph operator at various locations there. Following retirement, she lived in various places, including Fairfield, Chariton and Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she died during 1950, age 77. Her remains were returned to Lucas County and interred with those of her parents at the Niswender Cemetery southeast of Oakley.
Timmy (1879-1956) and John (1879-1966) Krutsinger continued to live and farm in Lucas County for the remainder of their lives. They are buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, north of Oakley.
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