Sheriff's Son Took a Powder
His Widow Is Resurrected, and the Woman Left Behind Suffered a Lonely
Heart
Divorce in Topeka, KS and Bryan, OH
1870's
By
Pamela Pattison Lash
"He said he was seeking a new home for them." This
genealogical detailing concerns a Williams County, OH sheriff's son who left his
wife and daughter on the pretense of looking for a new home. What he didn't tell
was that this home would not include them.
"He said he was seeking a
new home for them." This
genealogical detailing concerns a Williams County, OH sheriff's son who left his
wife and daughter on the pretense of looking for a new home.
What he didn't tell was that this home would not include them.
Elon Langle, b 25 Dec 1835, OH, the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Langle,
was a lawyer in Bryan, OH. His
father Daniel brought the family to Wms Co c. Sept 1841 and built the
"Mansion House", one of the first public houses in Bryan.
Daniel was the Sheriff between 1849-1852 and was responsible for
conducting the duties of his office during the sensational David Schamp murder
trial and subsequent hanging of the convicted murderer, Andrew F. Tyler.
Sheriff Langel built an enclosure fence prior to the hanging to afford
Tyler a private execution but the night before the hanging a mob tore down the
fence and Tyler's execution became a public affair.
Langel's family was recorded in the 1850 Bryan, Pulaski Twp federal
census p84B as Daniel Langel 45 PA, Elizabeth 40 OH, John 18 OH, Thomas 16 OH,
Eli 14 OH, Joseph 11 OH, and Anson L. 9 OH.
Wife Elizabeth died c. 6 Oct 1855 and was buried in the Williams Center
Cem. Daniel next married Mary
Johnson, 8 May 1856. She died c.12
Jan 1865 followed by Daniel c. 7 Apr 1865 and both were buried alongside first
wife Elizabeth.
Elon Langel married Sarah Elizabeth Shouf, 29 Oct 1855, Hillsdale Co, MI
(Lib B #387/456) and they became parents of daughter Carrie b. 5 Apr 1857.
Sarah Shouf, b. 13 Oct 1836, Polk, Ashland Co, OH, was the daughter of
Pennsylvania natives John Breckenridge and Nancy A. Franks Shouf.
The Shouf family settled in Wms Co c 1854 and consisted of the following
known children: Lovina Jane Price, Sarah E. Langel, James Van Buren Shouf,
Solomon B. Shouf, Peter L. Shouf, John H. Shouf, Nancy Ann Cowhick, Lemuel O.
Shouf, Mary J. Watson, and William A. Shouf.
Many of this large brood were found living with or near the parents in
the 1860 Bryan, Pulaski Twp federal census records.
Sarah Shouf Langel's brother Van Buren Shouf was a printer and manager of
an early "Democratic" newspaper published in Montpelier, OH.
Another brother John H. Shouf had an ice business in Bryan along with a
brick making enterprise. Elon
Langel and family were enumerated in the 1860 Bryan, Pulaski Twp federal census
p69, with Elon 24 OH listed as a lawyer, along with wife Sarah E 24 OH, and
Carrie 3 OH. How and where he
obtained a law degree is not currently known, but a small article in The
Bryan Democrat, 25 Feb 1864, p3 c1, stated,
“Elon Langel, attorney at law and justice of the peace, has removed his office
to Stern’s Block, upstairs.”
According to Journal 7 p568-569 and Roll 22 case number 30 - 16 May 1871
of the Williams County, OH Civil and Criminal Records, Sarah E. Langel desired
an after-the-fact divorce from errant husband Elon.
It seems that since Sept 1867 in Madison Twp and 5 Sept 1868-May 1869
Elon had committed adultery with a Bertha Green at the Downer or American Hotel
in Bryan and the Pacific House in Council Bluffs, Iowa where a clerk, William
Fisher, of Bryan, OH said he registered the couple as EE Earle and wife.
The couple left for Sioux City, Iowa and returned to the hotel two days
later. Elon left his family on 1
June 1869 stating that he was seeking a new home for them in Topeka, Kansas.
Sarah later learned that Elon had filed and was granted a divorce from
her in Topeka on 31 Oct 1870. According
to the Marriage Records of Shawnee, KS, "Elin" Langel married Bertha
Lynch, 24 Jan 1871(V1 #1181); thus Elon, technically in Ohio, had committed
bigamy.
According
to the 1870 Bryan, Pulaski Twp federal census p36, Sarah Langle was listed as
being 33 OH and daughter Carrie 13 OH. Sarah, whether she had learned of this
marriage or not, wanted her own divorce decree, the Bryan real estate valued at
$5,000, plus alimony and child support; Elon had threatened to “take Carrie
away from Sarah.” Sarah called
the following witnesses to support her claims: Mary E. Welsh, Benjamin R.
Willett, John B. Jones, Henry W. Ayres, David King, and Frank Fisher. At the
time of the Williams Co divorce Carrie, the minor daughter, was granted lawyer
John A. Simon, as her guardian but on 8 Dec 1871 Sarah requested and was granted
the position herself. Sarah's
parents died within this decade, JB Shouf (Dec 1811-5 Apr 1876) and Nancy (June
1809, Fayette Co, OH - 31 Oct 1880) and were buried in Fountain Grove Cem. in
Bryan.
What happened to the errant husband?
Elon Langel's obituary (Bryan Democrat,
25 Apr 1878) stated that he died on 15 Apr 1878 @42Y in Topeka, Shawnee Co, KS,
of consumption; he was buried in the Topeka Cemetery. (Cemetery
Records of Burial 1859-1880, p49).
A grave in Floral Grove Cem, Pioneer, Madison Twp plus two obits (Bryan
Press and Bryan
Democrat, both 15 Sept 1881) state that
Elon had married Bertha Green, and fathered a son, Frederick Elon Langel, b.17
Dec 1878; the son died 8 Sept 1881 @2Y 8M 21D of cholera, the only son of his
widowed mother. Other details of Elon's life in Topeka have not been discovered
to-date. Note that son Frederick was born after his father’s death.
Our story takes an interesting twist from the account of a resurrection
in the Bryan Press,
23 Nov 1882. Mrs. Pettit of Ft.
Wayne, IN "came to life after having been supposed dead for several hours.
She died in the afternoon and was prepared for the grave but sometime in
the night signs of life startled her watchers.
She speedily recovered and was delivered to her overjoyed husband."
Mrs. Pettit was formerly a Wms Co, OH resident and the second wife of
Elon Langel. Allen County, Indiana
marriage records show that Bertha Langel married William L. Pettit on 5 Oct
1882.
What happened to the first Mrs. Langel?
Sarah Langel is found living with her married daughter Carrie and
son-in-law James McNamara in Toledo, Lucas Co, OH, in the 1880 federal census as
Sarah 44 OH, James McNamara 35 IR, Carrie 23 OH, and James McNamara, Sr. 63 IR.
The Bryan Press, 5 Mar 1925,
stated that Sarah E. Langel, "widow" of Elon Langel had lived for
years in Toledo; at the age of 88Y she died there and was buried in Woodlawn Cem,
survived by sister Mary Watson of Toledo, and brothers John H. and William A.
Shouf of Los Angeles, CA. Once
again the use of "widow" is misleading without the divorce records to
keep things straight. Carrie Langel
McNamara is not listed as a survivor nor are any grandchildren.
This detailing takes a painful turn from an article in the Bryan
Democrat, 9 Jan 1879 p9, which deals with
Sarah Shouf Langel's sister, Melvina Price, her brother-in-law, Abe Price, her
brother James Shouf, and several of the Price children.
It seems James Shouf had been living in the Washington Territory and had
traveled from there to hook up with the Price family, late of Iowa, in the
southern Oregon Territory. The
article stated that these relatives were rumored to have been murdered by
Indians of that area. Sarah Shouf
Langel certainly had her share of grief.
