"For D. C. Stokesberry and Mrs. Carrie Clark, supposed eloped. Man weighs 150 pounds, height 5 feet ten inches, hair red, eyes blue, large red mustache, 43 years old; on left hand first finger crooked and joint stiff, second finger end and part of nail cut off; thigh muscles of right leg have been badly torn.
"Woman, hair red, eyes hazel, medium build, age 25 years, weight 125 pounds, height 5 feet and 4 inches; scar on forehead about an inch long. Arrest and wire Laurel Boss, Sheriff, Chariton, Iowa."
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The players here were Carrie Josephine (Freel) Clark, age 23 going on 24; her husband, David Henry Clark, at 46 nearly twice Carrie's age; and David Clark Stokesberry, at 43, only a little younger.
David Henry Clark's first wife, Lydia, had died during August of 1898, leaving him with six children to raise. When Carrie married him on Feb. 4, 1900, she stepped into a family that included a stepdaughter and five stepsons ranging in age from 5 to 17. She then gave birth to three children of her own in quick succession, Ruth during November of 1900; Harry, during December of 1902; and little Carrie L., born during June of 1904, died in November of 1905.
D.C. Stokesberry, who may or may not have been married previously, had wed a young widow with four children named Mary (Blakely) Nickum in Chariton on May 15, 1903, but wedded bliss had proved elusive. They were divorced within a year and Mary launched into her third marriage --- to Oscar M. Kirkbride --- during November of 1904 --- leaving D.C. a "grass widower."
Everyone involved here, it would seem, was among the walking wounded.
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During the week that followed publication of the reward notice, David Henry Clark called on the Leader's Gittinger in his Chariton office, sounding conciliatory --- or so Gittinger reported in his edition of Aug. 16:
"David Clark, of Benton township, called at the Leader office Saturday in reference to the reported elopement of D.C. Stokesberry and Carrie Clark. He regrets the publicity the incident has aroused and is inclined to take a charitable view of the affair, giving his wife the full benefit of all doubts. It is his opinion she has gone to her people in Wyoming and does not intend to be vindictive further than to protect his own rights in the matter. He hopes she has been innocent of all criminal intentions, though seemingly guilty of an unpardonable wrong."
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But the search continued and on Sept. 13, The Leader reported the following under the headline, "The Elopers Found":
"Some weeks since, D.C. Stokesberry and Mrs. David Clark were missing from their homes in Benton township and it was asserted that they had eloped. A reward was offered for apprehension and the authorities have received word that they have been apprehended and are held at Los Angeles, California. They will be sent for and returned to Iowa to face the majesty of the law."
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The return to Chariton was reported upon in The Chariton Patriot of Sept. 27 under the headline, "Alleged Elopers Brought Home":
"County Attorney Wells and D.H. Clark returned Monday night from Los Angeles, California, bringing with them Clark's wife and D.C. Stokesberry, who it is said eloped from here some weeks ago. Clark and his erring spouse stayed together at the depot hotel Monday night and went to their farm in Benton township Tuesday. Stokesberry was placed in jail. When found in Los Angeles, it is said the elopers were employed at different places and were not living together.
"Stokesberry was arraigned before Justice E.H. Storie Wednesday upon the charge of adultery. At the close of the hearing the justice took the case under advisement and will render his decision Friday morning."
On Oct. 4, The Leader reported that "D.C. Stokesberry, the alleged elopist, has been bound over to await the action of the grand jury."
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The case came to trial during early November and ended, considering the amount of time and money invested in it by Lucas County, with a distinct thud.
The Patriot of Nov. 15, under the headline "D.C. Stokesberry acquitted," reported that "D.C. Stokesberry was tried in the district court this week upon the charge of maintaining adulterous relations with Mrs. D.H. Clark, with whom is it alleged he eloped to California last summer. The jury concluded there was not sufficient evidence to convict him, so brought in a verdict of not guilty."
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After that, David Henry and Carrie Clark remained together for the remainder of his life. He died on July 1, 1929, age 68, as the result of a stroke, and was buried by his first wife's side in the Sharon Church graveyard. Carrie outlived him by more than 30 years, passing on Dec. 21, 1965, at the age of 83. She, too, is buried at Sharon Church.
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David Stokesberry, following his acquittal, headed for the Pacific Northwest and landed in Oregon. He had a daughter there, Elizabeth, born about 1886 in Iowa, census records tell us, and married first to a Charles Clark and then to a Whitten.
Oregon census records for 1910-1930 show David working as a laborer and living single --- with his daughter during 1920, alone during the other years.
He died on June 17, 1942, age 79, at the home of his daughter near Turner in Marion County, Oregon, and was buried there two days later in Twin Pines Cemetery. Here's his obituary as published under Turner news in The Salem Statesman-Journal of June 30:
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"Funeral services for David Clark Stokesberry were held in the Turner Christian church. Rev. Gene Robinson, the pastor, officiated. He was born in Fayette county, Ohio, 79 years ago, one of a family of 16 children. Mr. Stokesberry was a pioneer of the Oregon country and a resident of the Willamette valley for more than 48 years. He rode horseback three times from Idaho to Forest Grove and walked twice from Des Moines, Iowa, to Spokane, Wash.
"Mr. Stokesberry had been a member of the Odd Fellows lodge since 1892. For the past several months he had been ill with heart trouble at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Whitten, in the Crawford district, and died there on June 17. Mrs. Stokesberry died in 1912.
"Interment was in Twin Oaks cemetery here. Besides the daughter, Mrs. Whitten, a grandson and a great-grandson, Lewis Clark and Dale Clark of Portland, survive; and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Nailer of Pasadena, Calif."
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David's death certificate, with his daughter as informant, states that he had been a resident of Oregon for 56 years (although not necessarily consistently). That, if accurate, would date his arrival to 1886, the same approximate year Elizabeth was born in Iowa.
Did he emigrate from Iowa with a young wife and child during the mid-1880s, then separate and roam for the remainder of his life, giving Chariton newspapers the opportunity to immortalize him while reporting upon a case of adultery in 1906? It's unlikely we'll ever know.
Did anyone ever collect the $50 reward offered for the apprehension of Carrie and David? Unlikely we'll ever know the answer to that one either.
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