This curious little tale commences during the early spring of 1902 in the tiny village of Omaha, Missouri, northeast of Unionville in Putnam County. Putnam County is a neighbor here in the south of Iowa, located just south of the Missouri state line due south of Centerville. The Chariton River, as it flows southeasterly from Lucas County turns south by the time it passes under Highway 2 east of Centerville and then into Missouri, where it becomes the eastern border of Putnam County.
The parties involved were a gentleman named J. M. Ellenberger; his wife, whose given name never is mentioned; John Helton; and his John's wife, Anna. If reports are to be believed, Mrs. Ellenberger and Mr. Helton were sister and brother.
The first report appeared in The Unionville Republican of April 16, 1902, as follows:
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A sensational elopement has been attracting considerable attention in the east end of the county of late. We are informed that J.M. Ellenberger and Mrs. Anna Helton, wife of John Helton, of near Omaha, left their respective homes some two weeks or more ago for parts unknown. They were traced to Mendota and thence to Albia where they registered at a hotel as man and wife, but further than that their whereabouts is unknown. Ellenberger leaves a wife and one child. The Heltons had no children. Mrs. Ellenberger and John Helton are brother and sister.
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Six weeks later, The Chariton Patriot continued the story with this brief report on the front page of its edition of June 5, 1902:
A young woman, Mrs. Ellenberger, of Omaha, a small town in Putnam county, Missouri, came on the south branch train on Wednesday in search of her husband, who had run away with another man's wife. The couple passed through Chariton about three weeks ago and were noticed by the officers. A letter written by the woman to her husband, begging him to forgive her and take her back, was in Mrs. Ellenberger's possession and located the couple at Granger, a small town 18 miles north of Des Moines. A warrant was issued and placed in the hands of Deputy Sheriff Pulliam, who went north, accompanied by Mrs. Ellenberger and her little child, arrested the couple and lodged them in jail here.
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A few additional pieces of information were included in this report, included in the Chariton news column of The Tri-Weekly Ottumwa Courier on June 10:
Deputy Sheriff Pulliam arrived home on the north branch Thursday evening from Granger, having in charge a Mr. Ellenberger and a Mrs. Helton, alias Mr. and Mrs. Newman. They hail from Omaha and registered at Albia on their way up here as Mr. and Mrs. Newman. After their arrival here they went to work at the county farm, the man as a farm hand and the woman as a domestic, where they stayed for a month and left, when they were located at Granger. They were traced and arrested on a warrant sworn out by Mr. Helton, who is at present in Omaha, but will arrive here today. The date for the preliminary hearing has not been set yet.
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The case came up for hearing later in June in the court of Winfield Scott "Fid" Long, a Chariton justice of the peace. The many twists and turns that followed were reported upon in The Chariton Herald of June 26 as follows:
There was a trial in Justice Long's court last week, in which a man named J.M. Ellenberger and a woman named Mrs. Anna Helton, of Omaha, Mo., where charged with adultery. The man had left a wife at home and the woman had left a husband, and very naturally the "left" members were wrothy at the elopement.
The eloping couple proved to be quite smooth of tongue, however, for Mrs. Helton talked her husband into forgiveness so effectually that he returned home and sent her money with which to return home also, after the trial. Ellenberger also talked his wife into a forgiving mood, and then borrowed all the lose change she had.
Everybody being forgiven, there were no prosecuting witnesses at the trial, and the eloping couple were set free. They immediately got together again and skipped for a second elopement, leaving Mrs. Ellenberger here without any money. She had to go to work for a farmer in the country near Chariton to keep from begging or starvation.
The officers watched for the fleeing couple, and last Sunday Officer Clark, of Lucas, arrested Ellenberger there, and started to drive to Chariton with him handcuffed. Ellenberger's oily tongue here got in its work again, for he persuaded the officer to take off the handcuffs, claiming that they hurt his wrists. As soon as he was released he jumped from the buggy and fled. Mr. Clark fired five shots at him without hitting him, and then tied his horses and started to hunt him. He came to Chariton and got the officers here to help him, and they searched until late Sunday night. He was traced toward Cleveland, but could not be found, so the search was given up.
It is said that he is almost barefoot, and had poor clothing, so he must have had a damp time during Sunday night, when the rain fell almost continuously. They woman he skipped with was also said to be hard up for clothes and shoes. If they were both out in the rain Sunday night it may be that their ardor is cooled by this time and that they will be willing to return to their rightful spouses. A good soaking sometimes cures a hen that wants to set, and it might work a similar effect on eloping couples.
Later --- the officers have gotten track of Ellenberger again, and expect to capture him today.
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Despite a modestly diligent search, I was unable to find further reports regarding the parties involved in this domestic drama that had played out in several counties of two states. Was the unfaithful pair recaptured and brought to justice? I just don't know.
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