Robbing roosts results in two years in the state pen

"Larceny of poultry" is not a crime that leads many to a state penitentiary these days --- but a century ago, roost raiders were more of a threat. Lucas County's master chicken thief, young James R. Rouse, 26, met his fate during early July, 1922 --- a century ago. His apprehension was reported upon in The Chariton Herald-Patriot of July 6 as follows:

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J. R. Rouse, Union township farm hand, is being held in the county jail here to await the action of the grand jury on the charge of chicken stealing brought against him in his preliminary hearing in justice court last Friday.

Rouse, it is stated, made mysterious journeys during the night time, often carrying a chicken coop with him on his travels. Suspicion was placed on him and finally fixed when Frank Carson identified certain chickens sold by Rouse at Derby as being of his own flock. Other flocks had been suffering loss in the neighborhood as the result of Rouse's night rides, is the complaint.

Bond was fixed at $500. This amount has however not yet been produced. That Rouse covered no small part of his neighborhood southwest of Derby is to be concluded from the fact that Sheriff Lyman drove between 300 and 400 miles getting information on the case.

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Two months later, Mr. Rouse's case came to trial by jury in Lucas County District Court, he was found guilty --- and sentenced. Here's the report from The Leader of Sept. 26:

The Leader does not know the following to be a classical proverb but it is a truism just the same, "He that robbeth the hen roost shall gather no eggs." This has been illustrated in a recent case in Lucas county. Young James Rouse decided there was more money in the feather than in the foolishness of honest toil, so set himself a chicken coop on the back of his Ford and raided the county by night, robbing the roosts and disposing of his ill gotten wares in the several towns where he could  find a market. Naturally he was apprehended and had to answer the offence. A jury in the district court found him guilty of this special crime and on Saturday Judge Seneca Cornell sentenced him to the state reformatory at Anamosa for two years. Too often an idle brain hatches out evil intentions."

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Prison records show that Mr. Rouse, with time off for good behavior, was released from prison on March 15, 1924, and returned home to Lucas County.

During the years the followed, he learned a useful trade --- that of barbering; married Ester Tickel; and settled down in Chariton where he worked as a barber until retirement.

A veteran of World War I, he died at Veterans Hospital in Des Moines at 73 on July 29, 1969, and was buried in Goshen Cemetery. Ester lived to the age of 101, passing during October of 2012, and was buried by his side.