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| Find a Grave photo by Kris |
Any student of history can tell you that despair and the human condition never have been strangers, a fact of life among our Iowa pioneer forebears then, just as it is now. So there never was any doubt that young Louis Henry Long, then 23, had shot and killed himself on that late January morning back in 1886 at the home of his brother, Willis, three miles east and a quarter mile north of Belinda in Lucas County's northeast corner.
And it's still true, too, that sometimes the letter of the law and what seems humane collide, which it did in this instance --- and what now seems a minor drama was recorded for posterity, in some instances with bitterness, on the pages of Chariton newspapers published at the time.
Young Louis, a native of Pennsylvania, son of George (died 1868) and Mary Long, had arrived in Lucas County about a year earlier to live and work on the farm with his older brother, Willis, who had moved west about 1880 and on April 13, 1884, married Mary Elizabeth May, whose brother, George, went on to become the leading merchant in nearby Columbia. Their first daughter, Edith, was born about a year later. The Long boys had no family other than themselves in Iowa.
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According to accounts published at the time of his death, Louis was a personable and hard-working young man who "made friends fast and many." But the winter of 1885-86 was harsh and bitterly cold, Louis froze his feet while doing chores and at the time of his death was confined to his brother's home, recuperating. As a result, according to those reports, he was "despondent."
Mary Elizabeth and baby Edna had gone off to spend the day with her parents on the Thursday morning, Jan. 29, that Louis died. Willis planned a business trip into Columbia that morning, so asked Louis to bake the bread then rising in the kitchen, telling him that he would return home in about three hours.
When Willis returned home, however, he "found his brother lying on the bed, cold in death, with a gun lying on a chair in front of the bed, with the barrel resting on the bed on his left side, the ball passing through the left breast, killing him instantly."
Friends and neighbors of the Long boys probably knew that in the instance of a death like this, the law required them to contact the county coroner --- Dr. Theodore P. Stanton of Chariton, elected the previous November --- and arrange for him to conduct an inquest. But Chariton was a considerable distance away, it was bitterly cold, the roads were not in good condition and they were anxious, for Willis's sake, to move this sad story to a rapid conclusion.
So instead, they contacted Mr. Irons, the neighborhood justice of the peace. He empaneled a jury of neighbors who reached the obvious verdict of suicide, brief funeral services were held and Louis's remains were interred in the Columbia Cemetery.
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The Chariton Democrat's Belinda correspondent, identified only as "Lucky Boy," picks up the story of what happened next in a dispatch from Pleasant Township dated Feb. 2 and subsequently published:
"But hold!" cries a small soft voice of none other than that of Dr. T.P. Stanton, coroner of Lucas county. "Them people out there haven't got sense enough to hold an inquest, so we will go out there and have the body taken up and hold the proper inquest, viz., a coroners inquest. Besides, there is a chance to make about fifteen or twenty dollars. We don't care anything about the feelings of the family so (long as) we get our money."
And here the most heathenish crime that could be committed by a man having a heart in him was witnessed by the friends of the deceased. The above party --- Mr. T.P. Stanton accompanied by Capt. McCormick and constable Leech --- made their appearance here; meeting Mr. Long on his way to Chariton, they told him that they had consulted the proper authorities, viz., county clerk, county sheriff C. Mitchell and Capt. Gardner, and that they advised them to hold an inquest over the body that had been buried two days before.
Convincing him by their hellish tongues that he would be implicated in the crime if the proper course was not taken, Mr. Long, rather than have any trouble about the matter, had the body taken up, and they held a coroner's inquest over the body, bringing in the same verdict as the former Jury. Now, gentlemen, what I want to say is, that we are done with you in this part of the county. We have no business for you whatever. You can't get a vote in Pleasant township.
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Coroner Stanton was given space in subsequent editions of both The Democrat and The Patriot to present his side of the matter, which he did at considerable length, commencing, "In vindication of myself, and those who assisted in my election last fall, I would like a little space in your paper. The editor of the Democrat takes particular pains in denouncing the actions of the County Coroner in his last issue."
After citing the law at length, Dr. Stanton continued, "In the case of Lewis Long, in Pleasant township, of which so much has been said, I learned of the shooting after he was buried, not having had any direct notice in regard to the case, and found that a Justice had been called and an inquest held. I might state that this has been a custom in some two or three other suicides in the edge of Marion county. The weather was cold, the roads bad, and the travel somewhat difficult, so I proceeded to inquire of those who made it a business to direct people aright, as to whether the inquest was legal, or if it could be made so, and found that in order to do my duty as Coroner (for which I have been qualified and given bond), that it would be necessary for me to hold another inquest.
"On Monday morning, Feb. 1, 1886, in company with A.U. McCormick and Constable Leech, I proceeded to the scene of the tragedy, caused the body to be disinterred, returned and placed in the same position as first seen after death. This being done, we proceeded to hold an inquest and the jury returned a verdict the same as the previous one. The cost of the inquest will be paid out of the estate of the deceased, so that the county is at no expense. (signed) T.P. Stanton, County Coroner."
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Dr. Stanton served many additional terms as county coroner and built a reputation as one of Lucas County's leading physicians, although it seems likely that few in the Belinda neighborhood consulted him during the years immediately after Louis Long's death.
Willis Long lived a long and productive life in Pleasant Township, passing at the age of 82 on Dec. 17, 1940, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Frank Crawford, in Knoxville. He and Mary Elizabeth are buried in the graveyard that once served Oakdale M.E. Church southeast of Columbia where Lucas, Monroe and Marion counties meet.
Louis Long's tombstone in the Columbia Cemetery remains legible, although time has washed the sorrows of his passing from our collective memory.
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