Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-07-28
DUBUQUE GIRL
ALMOST ABDUCTED
Uncle of Clara Viola Stumpf
Appears in Boat.
Child is Daughter Of Former Grant
County Citizen.-Heiress to
Small Estate.

The Chicago and Dubuque papers
have been devoting columns of space
to the attempted kidnapping of little
Clara Viola Stumpf, of Dubuque, last
Wednesday. The little girl is the
daughter of John E. Stumpf, citizen
OF Jamestown at one time, and now
deceased, and Mrs. Elizabeth Lochner
Stumpf- Sherman of Dubuque. A
few years ago Mr. and Mrs. Stumpf
became estranged and divorce re
suited. Mr.. Stumpf put Elizabeth
in the hands of her paternal aunt.
Mrs. Louis w. 0'Connell of Chicago,
and after his death the Illinois courts
appointed the O'Connells as her legal
guardians.
On June 1st. it is alleged that
Mrs. Sherman. who had married
again to a Dubuque man by that
name, went to Chicago and abducted
the child from the Shakespeare school
in that city, taking her back to
Dubuque. She and her husband also
obtained an order from the local
courts appointing them as custciians
of the child and she has remained
there since that time Last We'd
nesday her uncle, Mr.. O'Connell, ac-
companied by two other men appear
ed at the Sherman home in Dubuque
in motor boat. The Sherman
home is located on the river shore.
They called Mrs. Sherman and Viola
out in the yard and attempted to
take the child with them. After
considerable struggling, the attention
of several millers working nearby
was attracted and they prevented the
men from carrying out their design.
The party later pulled away in
their boat for the upper river.
0'Connell was in Lancaster later in
the day and also in Dickeyville. A man
representing himself to be O'Connell
called the Office of the Dubuque
Times-J ournal over the long distance
telephone from Dickeyville and said
that he wished to present his side
of the case.
He stated that he considered him
self and wife 10 be Viola's lawful
guardians, and that he felt he was
acting within his rights and the
child's best interests, in attempting
TO take her back to Chicago. That
the promise to care for and educate
the little girl had been made to her
father on his death-bed, and that his
motive in taking her was to simply
carry out an obligation
The city dailies enlarge upon the
land in the Mississippi supposed to be
worth $4,000. and picture little
Clara as child heiress, but an inspec-
tion of the papers at the Grant county
courthouse, giving the inventory of
the estate, fail to bear out this
romantic conception. The island be-
longed to her father John Stumpf
and is located in the town of James
tewn. 1t consists of about 40 acres
of land and was appraised by Fred
A. Skemp and Albert Vogt the ap-
praisers of the estate, at valuation
of $1,000. The record also shows
that Stunts personal property
amounted to S521.55 making the
total value of the estate providing
the island is salable, at $500. The
island was fitted up at one time for
athletic meets but it is doubtful if
it has very much value.
The part of the story about one of
the men in the party hailing from Lam
caster is all moonshine and this prob
ably was conceived through the fact
that the estate is still in the hands of
the Grant county courts. The Dubuque
authorities are loud in their regrets
that the men escaped without deten-
tion but il is pretty evident that
there was no serious effort made to
detain them and that the case has
other angles than that of straight
abduction.
Well it's good story at any rate
and that's what the big papers are
looking for.