100 Years Ago: Myrtle Stiles Walks Out, Husband Pleads for Her to Return Home

ALTON - Myrtle Stiles walked away from her life on Tuesday, September 8, 1925: her 42nd birthday. Her husband, Elmore, reported her missing to the police the next day. He was very anxious to get in touch with anyone who could give him an update on his wife’s whereabouts. An article in the Alton Evening Telegraph on September 10, 1925, told of the disappearance and quoted Mr. Stiles as having said that for the past year or more, Mrs. Stiles had been in poor health and on several occasions threatened to leave her family.

The Stiles family had lived in Alton for the past five years after moving to the area from Hardin (Calhoun County). They lived at 1209 1/2 Belle Street. Elmore was at work at the Bluff City Brewery Company ice plant when his wife departed. She took many of her clothes with her. Their oldest daughter, Vera, came by the house on Tuesday evening and found the children (11, 6, and 4) in bed and her mother gone.

Myrtle was still away almost a week later. She had not been heard from by her family. An article in the Alton Evening Telegraph titled “Husband Still Seeks Tidings of Mrs. Myrtle Stiles” printed a plea from Elmore to Myrtle. “Stiles says that if his wife will come back, no matter what are the circumstances, she will be welcomed and need make no explanations.” Elmore hoped that through the columns of the newspaper, he could get word to his wife, personally or through friends, to let her know she was wanted back home. “Mr. Stiles thinks that his wife merely became wearied of steady work in the home and decided to go off on a bit of adventure for herself, but he says she did not realize what a hole in the family her departure made, or she would not have done it.”

At some point, she came back. There are no articles in the Alton Telegraph announcing her return, but she is listed as being in the household on the 1930 Census, and there is a 50th wedding anniversary announcement for Elmore and Myrtle in 1952. She is smiling in the accompanying anniversary photo.

Myrtle Vinnie Rush married Elmore Stiles on December 31, 1902. She was 19 and he was 27. Their first baby was born the next year, and they would go on to have seven children in all between 1903 and 1921. In 1918, three-year-old James and nine-year-old William died within three days of each other. The other children: Vera, Mannie, Isabella, John, and Constance (Connie) all lived to adulthood and had families of their own. Myrtle and Elmore also raised their grandson, Mannie L. Tully. Elmore died on July 14, 1954, and Myrtle died April 25, 1973. They are buried in Hardin Cemetery with James and William.

A note from Lacy: Figuring out the tone of this article was very difficult. I wanted to write about Myrtle because the complexities of women’s lives during this time period are often dismissed or forgotten. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a woman’s obituary and realized at the end that I still know nothing about her. I wish that there had been a follow-up, because I don’t know why Myrtle left, where she went, when (and why) she came back. I try not to speculate in my articles, but this one almost requires it. Was she depressed (the deaths of two of her children could have been a factor), fed up with not having adequate support, or did she just need a short break from everything? I hope that she found what she needed. If anyone in the family still lives in the area, reads this, and knows more of this story, please contact me at the library, and I will write a follow-up article (if you’d like me to). I think we all deserve to have the stories of our lives told fully.

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1800-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

“Elmore A. Stiles.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), July 15, 1954.

“Fieldon Couple Will Celebrate Golden Wedding.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 24, 1952.

“Husband Still Seeks Tidings of Mrs. Myrtle Stiles.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), September 14, 1925.

“Mr. and Mrs. Stiles.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 16, 1952.

“Mrs. Myrtle Stiles Missing From Home On Belle Street.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), September 10, 1925.

“Stiles.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), April 26, 1973.

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