Newspaper Articles

The Bee, Danville, VA, July 23, 1923
Sam M. Shiflett of Harriman, Tenn. is 23, and already has been elected city judge. He probably is the youngest jurist in the country. Shiflett served overseas during the war. He is a graduate of Cumberland Law College, Lebanon, Tenn.

The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA,  Jan. 1, 1933
Morris Shot By Shifflet Near Nimrod Late Yesterday Afternoon
Two men and two women were the center of a heated argument at University Hospital late last evening when they brought Everett Morris, 29, of Nimrod, Greene County, seriously injured to the hospital. Morris had been shot through the abdomen by a man named Shifflett last night at about five o'clock. His condition, which warranted an operation lasting three hours, was called serious by attendants at the hospital. No details of the shooting are available, but it is reported that Morris is the man who assaulted a boy about two weeks ago, making it necessary for him to become a hospital patient. It is thought that Morris' assailant, who fired the shot from a pistol a short distance, was seeking revenge for the earlier attack, though whether it was made at the hands of the injured boy could not be determined. At an early hour this morning, Morris seemed fully conscious, able to converse with patients in the ward where he is detained, but running an abnormal pulse.

The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, Jan. 19, 1933
Morris Succumbs After Operation
Everett Morris, 29, of Nimrod, Greene County, died at 1:45 A A today in University Hospital as a result of wounds inflicted by a man named Shifflett. He was brought in a serious condition to the hospital Tuesday afternoon by two men and two women, who argues continuously about the shooting, even when in the hospital. It is understood that the shot was fired at a distance of about 5 paces. Late this morning, no disposition of the body having been arranged, and no authorities from Green County having put in an appearance, the dead man remained at the hospital, where it is understood an autopsy will be performed.

Greene County Record, Greene Co., VA, Thu., Jan 19, 1933
EVERETT MORRIS SHOT FIVE TIMES BY EARLY SHIFLETT
Everett Morris, 25, was shot five times by Early Shifflett, 16, Tuesday afternoon near Nimrod post office. Morris, desperately wounded, was rushed to the University hospital. According to reports of the shooting Morris blamed Shiflett with telling his whereabouts to Sherif Melone, who had a warrant for him. He threatened the youth and was advancing upon him when Shiflett warned him to approach no closer. Morris did not heed the warning and to stop him Shiflett drew a revolver and shot him in the leg. Even this did not stop Morris. Shiflett then with good aim sent the four remaining bullets in the gun into Morris' body. One bullet pierced his bladder and kidneys. Shiflett, who bears a good reputation, recently stayed with his sister, Mrs. Harris Frazier, in Stanardsville. When he returned to his home in Bacon Hollow he went with Sheriff Melone, who had papers to serve in his community. Morris, it seems, blamed Shiflett with revealing his whereabouts, when, as a matter of fact, he was absolutely innocent of doing so. Mr. Melone never mentioned to the youth he was looking for Morris. Shiflett surrendered to Sheriff Melone. As the jail was crowded he was held in nominal custody.

Greene County Record, Charlottesville, VA, Jan. 26, 1933
PRELIMINARY HEARING FOR EARLY SHIFLETT
Early Shiflett will be given a preliminary hearing in magistrates court Friday in Stanardsville on the charge of killing Everett Morris, who died Jan. 19, 1933, at the University hospital from wounds inflicted by Shiflett. The shooting was reported last week. Shiflett is in the custody of Sheriff R. A. Melone at the officer's home. Morris was a son of Mrs. John Morris, of Bacon Hollow. He is survived by two children, several brothers and sisters. His funeral was held Saturday at the home place. Rev. H.S. Knight conducted the services.

Greene County Record, Greene Co., VA, Feb. 9, 1933
EARLY SHIFLETT FREED ON KILLING EVERETT MORRIS
Early Shiflett faced the magistrate court in Stanardsville Thursday of last week, charged with killing Everett Morris, who died in a Charlottesville hospital Jan. 19 from pistol shot wounds inflicted Jan. 17, by the defendant. Particulars of the homicide were published that week in the Record. The presiding magistrates were Justices K. M. Mitchell, Ernest Powell and Jesse Ewell. The commonwealth was represented by Commonwealth's Attorney J.E. Parrott, while Hon. John S. Chapman looked after the interests of the defendant. A large crowd was in attendance. The evidence threw no additional - - - - - . The court following the hearing the testimony and the statements of the attorneys, after deliberation, decided it was a plain case of self-defense and discharged the defendant from custody, after imposing upon him a fine of $20 and costs - $7 - for carrying a concealed weapons. The fine and costs were promptly paid.  NOTE - Article was very difficult to transcribe due to being on fold of
paper, and the ink being smeared.


The Daily Progress, Charlottesville VA, Oct. 29, 1937
Funeral Services For Slain Woman Scheduled Sunday
Eugene Batten Remains in Custody Here On Murder Charges

Walton Will Answer Warrant Of Assault
Witness Tells of Shooting Tragedy on Old Barrack's Road

The body of Mallie Crawford Douglas, slain Albemarle County woman lay in an undertaker's parlor here today pending burial Sunday, while her confessed sweetheart murderer, Eugene Batten thirty-four year old truck driver awaiting trial behind the bars of Albemarle County jail.
The person believed to be the third man in the love triangle which resulted in the fatal shotgun shooting of Mrs. Douglas on a highway two miles north of here Wednesday was in a cell close to the one which Batten was incarcerated. He is Jessie Walton, twenty-five.
Walton was arrested by Deputy Sheriffs Abbott Smith and W. C. Cook yesterday afternoon on a warrant in which he was charged with feloniously assaulting Batten with a knife in a fight prior to the murder.
Although Walton was lodged in jail on a felony charge, officers were speculating today on other possible theories as to be the method in which Batten received his injuries. He was slashed on the left arm and the left side of his neck.
Story Narrated
The story of the tragedy was told today by Sol Davis, thirty-five a boarder at Mrs. Douglas' home on the Barracks Road five miles northwest of Charlottesville. Davis was an eyewitness to the shooting.
Batten, according to Davis called at the Douglas home Wednesday afternoon and asked Mrs. Douglas what she was doing at the front gate talking to Jessie Walton and Charles Chisholm.
"I was in the back yard," said Davis, "when Mallie went into the house, after talking at length with Batten, wiping tears from her eyes. She came out, followed by Batten and got into her car, which was parked in the driveway.
"Mallie called to me to Come, Quick, and as I approached, Batten called to Mallie to bring her gun."
Davis stated that the woman called to her nephew, Lawrence Davis, to bring the gun and that as the youth stepped out of the building, Batten jumped out of the vehicle and tore the weapon from his hands.
"All four of us got into the car," Davis explained. "and we started for the store to buy some groceries with board money I had just paid Mallie. We had gone but a short distance when Batten brought the car to a stop and told Mallie to get out."
Pleads For Mercy
As the woman walked to the rear of the car, Davis said he heard her cry out "Oh Eugene, don't do that!"
"Mallie called to me to get the gun from Batten, and I ran between them," Davis said. She cried out a second time. "Eugene please don't shoot me," and started running down the road towards the filling station. Before I could advance further, Batten fired. Mallie threw up her arms as she fell, batten then walked up and threw the sawed off shotgun at her.
When I ran up she exclaimed, Oh, Lord have mercy on my soul, somebody is going to pay for this,"
Seen yesterday at the Douglas home, Mrs. Lutie Riley, mother of the slain women said she had feared the worst for some time and had ordered batten to stay away from the house.
"Why, a month ago," she said, "Batten came to the house and poked his shotgun in the window. I ran out and took the gun from him and hid it.
The mother broken by grief burst into tears as she talked about her daughter. She was born, she explained, after the death of her father Journey Morris a native of Greene County.
The mother has been widowed three times. her second husband was Ezekial Crawford, also of Greene. Her last husband Fredrick Riley died two years ago. All of her children were of the first union.
The slain woman married Phillip Douglas, fourteen years ago, but the couple had been estranged for the past nine years, though her divorce was not granted until this summer.
The cause of Mr. Douglas' death still remains a mystery. he was found lying unconscious along the road side in Greene County and was brought to the University of Virginia Hospital where he died of pneumonia.
Trial Undetermined
Sheriff J. Mason Smith said today that no date for preliminary hearing has been set for batten. The official indicated that the initial trial might be waived. In that event the case would be sent directly to the Albemarle Circuit Court for a grand jury hearing.
Batten had not arranged for an attorney today. It was believed by county officials that the circuit court would be asked to appoint a lawyer.
Funeral Sunday
The funeral of Mrs. Douglas, nee Mallie Jean Morris, will be held at 2:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon from the Dunkard Church at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, know as "The Pines." The funeral party will leave the Hill & Irving Funeral Home at 1:30 o'clock and will proceed to the church where the service will be conducted by the pastor, Rev. Henry Knight. Burial will be in the churchyard where lies buried Mrs. Jane Morris, grandmother of the girl and Ezekiel Crawford, second husband of Mrs. Lutie Riley

The Oakland Tribune, Oakland CA, Fri, Jan. 20, 1939
MRS. SHIFLETT RETURNS TO HUSBAND AFTER ELOPEMENT
SAN JOSE, Jan. 20. -- Mrs. James Shiflett is back with her husband today, and Lesile W. Veitch, 65, will soon be without a wife. Mrs. Shiflett eloped to Reno and Married Veitch several days ago. She explained today that a nervous breakdown suffered recently had caused her to forget her married state. "I'm so sorry," she said. "It's all like a terrible dream. I just can't believe it. It isn't like me at all" "Ill stand by you." Shiflett said. Shiflett said proceedings would be started at once to annul the Reno nuptials. He said his wife probably had "a lapse of memory." Meanwhile Veitch, a wealthy San Jose man who gave five women here automobiles for Christmas because he wanted to "make them happy." was at his home, wondering at the latest unfortunate turn of events. The Reno elopement was his first marriage.

The Oakland Tribune, Oakland CA, Fri, Feb. 28, 1939
San Josean, Who Eloped With Another's Wife, Will Try Again
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28. -- (UP) -- Leslie W. Veitch, wealthy San Jose rancher, who recently figured in a taxicab elopement to Reno that ended in annulment because the bride already was the wife of another man, took out a license here today to marry Mrs. Josephine Nevis, divorcee. Veitch gave his age as 64, Mrs. Nevis said she was 26. She gave her address as Rural Route 2, Box 302, Capital Avenue, San Jose.
DODGING PUBLICITY
"We will be married by a judge, Veitch told the license clerk. "We came here to avoid publicity." Veitch spent 147.70 on taxi fare last January 16 to elope to Reno with "Mrs. Ethyle M. Knight." 48, only to discover after the wedding that the new Mrs. Veitch was the wife of James Shifflett, railway conductor, San Jose. Mrs. Shifflett and her husband became reconciled and her marriage to Veitch was annulled in the Santa Clara Superior Court February 2. Veitch said he was unaware that his bride already had a husband.
NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
Shifflett said Mrs. Shifflet's elopement with Veitch was the result of a nervous breakdown, "I still love her," Shifflett said, "There is no ill will between us." Veitch is known in San Jose as "Santa Claus," because he said he gave new automobiles to five San Jose woman "just to make them happy.

The Reno Evening Gazette, Reno, NV, Mar. 1, 1939
VEITCH TO WED HE ANNOUNCES
LOS ANGELES, March 1. (AP) -- Lesile W. Veitch, sixty-four, who eloped from San Jose, Calif., to Reno, Nev., in a taxicab last month with Ethyl M. Knight, forty-six, only to have the marriage annulled, appeared at the license bureau here Tuesday with Josephine Nevis, twenty-six, also of San Jose, and filed notice of intention to wed. Veitch's marriage to Mrs. Knight was annulled February 1 in San Jose. She and James Shifflett, railway conductor and her husband of two years, announced they would continue to live together. The retired San Jose businessman, who paid 147.50-cab fare for the Reno elopement and estimated his forty-six hour honeymoon cost him $900, said he wanted no fuss over his new matrimonial plans.

The Oakland Tribune, Oakland CA, Fri, Mar. 23, 1939
WIFE FIGHTS MOVE FOR ANNULMENT
SAN JOSE, March 23. -- Mrs. Josephine Neves Veitch, 26 today sought means of a demurrer to halt the annulment suit filed last week by her husband, Lesile W. Veitch, 64. Mrs. Veitch alleges her husband's complaint does not contain sufficient facts to warrant action. Veitch charges in his suit that when he and Mrs. Neves married in Los Angeles. February 24 she refused to consummate the marriage by being a wife to him. Shortly before the Los Angeles marriage Veitch had won an annulment from Mrs. Ethyl Knight Shifflett Veitch, whom he wed in Reno after a whirlwind elopement, only to find on returning to San Jose that she was legally married to James Shiflett, local railroad man.

Greene County Record, Greene Co., VA, Oct. 27, 1939
John Shiflett Of Bris Hurt While Possum Hunting
John Shiflett, 55, of Bris, was under treatment at University hospital this week for injuries received Saturday night when he was struck by a falling tree.  The injured man and a group of friends were 'possum hunting, it was said, when one of the men chopped down the tree in which the animal was hiding.  Shiflett, who was standing nearby, was struck and knocked unconscious.  At the hospital it was reported he suffered cerebral concussion, a fractured right leg and a broken vertebrae

The Algona Kossuth County Advance, Algona, Iowa, Oct. 9, 1958
Ottosen Girl Married To Humboldt Youth
Ottosen – Paulette Dee Kampen, daughter of the Fred D. Kampens, Ottosen, and Gerald A. Shiflett, son of the Russell Shifletts, Humboldt, were married Sept. 22, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Livermore. The double ring ceremony was performed by Father P. M. Strum. Mrs. Tom McKenna, organist, accompanied Mrs. pearl Kramer and Mary Kay Lenertz. Given in marriage by her father, the bride wire a gown of white nylon shadow lace over bridal satin with a fitted bodice and a scalloped Sabrina neckline. It had short sleeves and bouffant ballerina-length skirt with scalloped hemline. Her fingertip illusion veil featured a Swedish crown. Mrs. Merel Ludwig, sister pf the bride was matron of honor. Her dress was brown. Janice Silbaugh, bridesmaid, sister of the groom, wore bittersweet, Beverly Kampen, sister of the bride, was junior bridesmaid and wore gold. Sherman Silbaugh was the best man, Paul Kampen, groomsman, and Ronald Silbaugh, junior groomsman. Ushers were John Kampen and Warren Hoskins. Scott Kampen, brother of the bride, was ring bearer. Inez Hunter, cousin of the groom, was flower girl. Mrs. Kampen wore a dress of bronze silk and cotton with black accessories. Mrs. Shifflett wore navy with white accessories, and Mrs. Jessie Silbaugh, grandmother of the groom, wore navy with pink accessories. A reception was held in the church for 200. Peggy Kampen and jean Shiflett lighted candles. Phyllis Zeman registered guests. Carolyn Du Bois, Judy Baas and Diane Struthers opened gifts. The four-tiered wedding cake was iced in white with decorations of fall colors. Mrs. H. D. benson cut the cake assisted by Mrs. Lester Wehrspann. Mrs. Kermit Fowler and Mrs. J. D. Moser poured. Audrey Odland and Wanda Worster served the punch. Dining room hostesses were Mrs. Alvia McIntosh, Webster City, and Mrs. Sherman Silbaugh, Humboldt. Waitresses were Bernice Dasen, Lois Sundermeyer, Roselyn Rolland, Alona Kinne and Virginia Kampen. Mrs. H. J. Nielson, Mrs. Mike Coyle, Mrs. De Vere Newton and Margaret Holt were kitchen hostesses. Their wedding trip was to Lake Okoboji and southern Minnesota. The bride attended twin River High School and the groom is a graduate of the Bradgate High school. He is employed at the Gunder Mfg. Co. at Dakota City. They will be at home in the Deittrich apartments at Dakota City.

The Syracuse Herald Journal, Syracuse, NY, Nov. 2, 1968
MEDAL WINNER, T. Sgt Gordon L. Shiflet, new advertising and publicity NCO at USA Recruiting Detachment, 103 at Hancock Field, accepts the Air Force Commendation Metal From Detachment Commander Capt. Joseph K. Scheitle. CM. Sgt. Frederick Smith, operations supervisor, looks over the award presented for Meritorious service as an instructor in recruiting school at Lackland AFB, Tex. Sgt. Shiflet, resides with his wife and two daughters at 119 prior Drive, Camillus.

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