I’m still working on the descendants of Sarah Ann Tapscott,
who married William M. Sanders. One of their children was Edward F. Sanders,
who was born 22 Nov 1861, near Glenns Valley in Marion County, Indiana.
Edward’s story is intriguing, with most of the intrigues
arising as a result of his first marriage, involving people other than Edward,
and centered around the year 1899. It is said that Edward lived his entire life
in Marion County, Indiana, where he was born. He did live most of his life there, but he
lived a few years in rural Marshall, when his father moved there about 1877 after
his mother, Sarah, had died. It was in Clark County that on 27 Dec 1887 he
married Emma Lucy Tingley, the sister of Edward’s sister-in-law Alfaretta.
Emma and Edward’s marriage was short-lived. Around 23 Dec
1896 in Marshall, Emma was granted a divorce after Edward failed to appear for
a hearing. He may have been back in Marion County, Indiana, where he would live
most of the rest of his life.
And now we get to the intrigues.
On 8 Nov 1899 in Clark County, Emma married J. W. Smith. J.
W. was Jacob Warren Smith, a local
homeopathic physician. The doctor went
by “J. W.” professionally, “Jacob W.” in his early life, and “J. Warren” in
later years, making family history research difficult.
The year 1899 ended with Dr. Smith marrying Emma (Tingley)
Sanders, but it began with being shot four times, later being tried in Kentucky
for murder, and then being divorced from his first wife. What a year! The story
was told by the Clark County Herald.
On 1 Jan 1887 in Clark County Jacob W. had married Rosanna (Ulery)
Soward, the widow of Michael Soward. At the time J. W. was not a doctor, so
Rosanna used the money she received from her late husband to send Smith through
medical school. But Rosanna’s son Guy was not happy about his heritance being spent
and he became increasingly angry at his stepdad. Then on New Year’s Eve, 31
Dec 1898 things came to a head. At his home in Martinsville, where he had his
office at the time, Dr. Smith encountered Guy and the new year started with a
bang. Five bangs in fact, as Guy emptied his revolver at his stepfather. Dr.
Smith was hit four times, in the hand, the arm, and twice in the back, but the
injuries turned out to be minor.
 |
| Clark County Herald, 10 Aug 1899, |
Guy was arrested. The Herald reported “Young Soward
has been rather on the wild order for several years. It is related that he was
very fond of riding his horse at breakneck speed when just outside the city
limits, firing his revolver as he rode, cowboy fashion.” Eventually, Rosanna would
also be indicted for attempted murder. The family situation forbad domesticity and
Dr. Smith moved from Martinsville to Marshall, living at the Marshall House
hotel and setting up his office first above Ferry's drug store and then over
Beamer's grocery. Rosanna, threatened with a charge of attempted murder, developed
a plan to turn the tables—transform the victim into an accused.
When Smith was a boy of sixteen, he had killed a seventeen-year-old boy, Henry Craig, in Bath County, Kentucky. Though there are differing tales
about how it occurred and what happened afterwards, it appears that, under
indictment for murder, Smith left Kentucky, going to Ohio, Kansas, Missouri,
and his original home in Seymour, Indiana, before ending up in Martinsville,
where he met and married a well-to-do widow who paid for his education, Rosanna.
Unfortunately, Dr. Smith told his wife about what happened in Kentucky, providing
Rosanna a way to distract her accusers. In August 1899 Rosanna traveled to
Kentucky and told her story. But officials there were not eager to spend money
traveling to Illinois to bring Smith back for trial. So Rosanna actually paid
for their travel, twice since two trips were needed owing to a problem with the
original warrant. On 9 Sept 1899, a warrant for Smith’s arrest was delivered to
the Marshall sheriff, and Smith was conveyed to the city jail in Owingsville,
Kentucky, the seat of Bath County.
In a nutshell, Smith was tried, beat the charges, and
returned to Marshall, where both Roseanna and Guy had now been indicted for his
attempted murder. On 7 Nov 1899, Guy Soward was allowed to enter a plea of
guilty to the charge of assault and to that of carrying concealed weapons. He
was fined $50 on the first charge and $25 on the second. It was at Dr. Smith's
request that this leniency was shown. At the same court Dr. Smith was granted a
divorce from Roseanna. Less than twenty-four hours later, he married Emma
(Tingley) Sanders, apparently the woman with whom he had “conducted himself
improperly” according to charges related by the Herald.
