TRACING A TRAGIC INCIDENT
By Joanne Skelton
In beginning genealogy we are advised to “listen” to family tradition and do research to discover whether it is true. But often we find some of the more interesting stories by just doing research. I have been trying to use the approach that I research the whole family, including all the children and grandchildren of each direct ancestral couple. With the large size of some of the families, this gives numerous opportunities to discover these stories.
One of my discoveries came while researching one of the grandchildren of my third great-grandparents, Thomas and Sarah (Lollar) O’Neal. Their son, Commodore Perry O’Neal, known as Perry, was my second great-grandfather. His youngest sister was Rebecca, who married Alexander Monroe. Both families had come to Oregon in the Creswell area by 1880.
Following the whole family approach, I researched the easily available basics: the published Lane County Marriage Records at Cottage Grove Genealogical Society Library and my subscription on-line for census records and the Oregon death index. Finding possible names to research, I obtained copies of some of the family death certificates from a trip to the Oregon State Archives in Salem.
One of Rebecca’s daughters was Rachel, born in December 1871 in California and married August 29th, 1889 to J. O. Stoops, a son of an early Pleasant Hill area settler. The 1900 census showed them as Oscar J. and Rachel Stoops with four children, living in Springfield, Lane County, Oregon. When I checked Rachel’s death certificate for her death on October 17th, 1905, I found that she had died in Marshfield, Coos County, Oregon and the cause of death was “killed by J.A. Armitage.” What did this mean? More research seemed necessary.
A trip to the Knight Library at the University of Oregon at Eugene was the next step, since all of the known surviving newspapers from Oregon have been microfilmed and are available there. Checking first in the published inventory of available newspapers, I found that there was a paper from Marshfield for that time period. However, when I looked at the Library I found that it was not there that particular day. Was my trip wasted? I decided to check the newspapers from Eugene to determine if any mention of the “killing” was in it.
The October 18th edition of the Morning Register had it on the front page with the headline: “DOUBLE TRAGEDY AT MARSHFIELD: Both Victims Were Residents of Eugene Several Years Ago, J. A. Armitage Kills Mrs. J. O. Stoops, With Whom He was Infatuated, and Then Ends His own Life---Was Under Peace Bonds for Threatening Woman.” The article gave some of the details. It stated that Mr. Armitage had taken a rifle and revolver and broke into the Stoops home through a window. Mrs. Stoops and her children had taken refuge upstairs. Having taken a gun with her, she shot Mr. Armitage when he came up the stairs, wounding him. He continued up the stairs and grabbed her and shot her with his pistol. He had dropped the rifle and Rachel’s thirteen year old daughter picked it up and hit him on the head to try to save her mother. After he had killed Rachel, Mr. Armitage left the house and went back to his home where he shot himself. The article related that he had been bound over a few weeks before in the sum of $800 to keep the peace because he had threatened Rachel’s life. It also gave the details that Rachel left a husband and five children and Mr. Armitage left a wife and grown family at Eugene.
Then I wondered if a coroner’s inquest had been held. The County Records Inventory on the website for the Oregon State Archives stated that Coos County had inquest records that included 1905 at their Courthouse in Coquille. Since I was already planning a trip to Coos Bay the first weekend in November for a genealogical conference I decided to try to include a side trip to Coquille. I telephoned the County Clerk’s Office at the Courthouse and asked if those inquest records would be available for researching. The person who answered the telephone did not know at first, but asked someone and said it was possible. She asked for the names and said she would check and let me know if they had them, so I would not have to make a special trip for nothing. It was a few days later that there was a message on my voice mail that the records were there and they would have them for me when I arrived on Friday, November 5th.
Reading the inquest record for Rachel Stoops was a sad experience. It was held later in the evening on the same day that she was killed.
Her husband was called as the first witness. He verified her identity as the 32 year old daughter of Rebbeca O’Neil and Alexander Monroe. He stated that she had told him that Mr. Armitage had threatened her life two months before, in August. Then their fifteen year old son, Frank, was called, but he had been at school so could not give any information about what had happened.
I found the testimony of their daughter, thirteen year old Lulu, the most troubling. She and her mother and the two year old baby were the only ones at home that afternoon. Lulu stated the following: We were up stairs and mama was sewing, and first we knew was when we heard him break in the window, and then mama got up and creamed[sic—screamed] and she grabbed for her gun and ran to the stairs and he was headed up the stairs and mama shot at him and then he fell backwards down the stairs and then he got up and came up the stairs again and she had shot at him as he was coming up and then she grabbed a chair and hit him over the head with a chair and then he commenced to shoot at her and then I picked up his gun and I hit him over the head with it three times and he grabbed the gun away from me, and he started down stairs and then mama fell, and I did not know anything more about him, until I heard a man say he heard him over there and that he was dying….I ran to the window and hollowed to Mrs. Margelt to come that mama was shot and she said she would go and get Mrs. Richardson and she went for her and they came down and Mrs. Richardson was the first one to the house and then Mrs. Bargelt came and then Mr. Carter came. She explained that Mr. Armitage had got into the house through the window, breaking it in. When asked what he said after he had broken in, she said: “When he started up the stairs, he said, Now I’ve got you.” She continued her story: he took his pistol out of his pocket after he came upstairs. He grabbed hold of her [Rachel] and had his arm around her neck and then he commenced to shoot her but I am not sure where he shot her. They questioned Lulu about whether he had tried to do anything to her after her mother had been shot. She told them He started to shoot me, but he must have been too weak I think…He pointed the pistol at me, he tried to pull the trigger but he could’nt. Then Mr. Armitage left.
J. O. Stoops was recalled as a witness and explained that he had left the previous day to go up the Coos River and was there when he received the news about his wife. The Stoops family had lived at Marshfield for three years as had Mr. Armitage. They had known each other, being neighbors, before moving there.
Next, some of the neighbors were called to testify. Then Lulu was called again to clarify her testimony. When asked what she said during the incident, Lulu answered: No sir nothing was said, I was screaming all the time.
The inquest concluded with the testimony of the City Marshall and the doctor who examined the body. The verdict of the jury at the inquest was: “Rachel Stoops.came to her death by gunshot wounds inflicted by James A Armitage, in her home in Marshfield Oregon between the hours of 3 and 4 oclock P.M. on the 17th day of October 1905.”
At a later trip to the Knight Library, a weekly Marshfield newspaper was available, so I found and copied another story of this murder. Their headline on page one of the October 21st paper (taken from Wednesday’s Daily): “SHOCKING DOUBLE TRAGEDY. J. A. Armitage Kills Mrs. J. O. Stoops and Then Himself.” On page five was a second article (taken from Thursday’s Daily): “ELEVEN SHOTS WERE FIRED. More Particulars of Tuesday’s Ghastly Tragedy.”
From research I discovered a story of a tragic incident. It appears that Rachel was involved in a case of stalking. She had obtained a type of restraining order against her adversary, but as sometimes happens today, a hundred years later; this did not prevent her death. Now, for me anyway, Rachel will not be forgotten.
SOURCES
Myers, Jane and Arlene Smith, compilers, Lane County Oregon Marriage Records 1880-1889, Vol. III Cottage Grove, Oregon: Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, 1980.
Morning Register, Eugene, Oregon. 18 October 1905
Weekly Coast Mail, Marshfield, Oregon. 21 October 1905
Oregon. Coos County. Inquest Record. Rachel Stoops, October 17, 1905. Coos County Courthouse, Coquille, Oregon
THIS ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN "TREES FROM THE GROVE", QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE COTTAGE GROVE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, VOL 20, NO. 1, JAN-MAR 2007
Copyright 2007 Joanne Skelton