Appeal made on behalf of Louisiana man’s killer

 Editor’s note: Following is the second part of a story series by contributing writer Brent Engel.

 Arthur Barnes was not the only suspect who had a relative intervene after he and two others were arrested in the murder of Louisiana nursery worker Carl Shumaker.

The 22-year-old assailant gunned down the 35-year-old victim on a rural road near Elsberry on Feb. 17, 1925.

Shumaker was pursuing Barnes and two accomplices, who had stolen a car from nursey executive Clay Stark. The accomplices, 20-year-old Lonnie Clark of Louisiana and 18-year-old Clarence Baker of Quincy, implicated Barnes.

Anna Clark was Lonnie Clark’s mother and Baker’s grandmother. Investigators found the .45-caliber revolver used in the killing at her Louisiana home.

Accompanied by relatives and reporters, she visited the men while they were being held in Hannibal for questioning about a separate robbery. Lonnie’s father, Jeff Clark, could not attend because he was locked up for a prohibition violation.

“You’re not guilty of the murder, are you, Lonnie?” Anna Clark was quoted as asking.

“No, mother, I am not,” came the reply.

“Be a good boy, Lonnie, and tell the truth no matter what happens.”

Clark asked his mother to hire a lawyer and promised “if I ever get out of this, I’ll go straight.” Baker made the same promise as his “eyes were moist and his lips trembled slightly” when talking with his grandmother, The Quincy Daily Herald reported.

Anna Clark said she was surprised that Barnes was accused of murder.

“I thought he was a nice man,” she said. “He always seemed nice around the house. He had been there a good deal lately with the boys, and I thought he was good company for them.”

The Herald said the “pathetic” scene contrasted sharply with that of the packed Louisiana Presbyterian Church for the Feb. 26 funeral of Shumaker, who left a wife and three young children.

“The body slept ‘neath a wilderness of flowers – mute tribute to the esteem in which he was held,” the Herald said.

Burial was in Louisiana’s Riverview Cemetery. Interest in the case was so intense that the Elsberry Opera House was standing-room-only when a 75-minute coroner’s inquest was held the morning of March 4.

That afternoon, the suspects were charged with first-degree murder. Sentiments against them were strong.

“The case is being widely discussed and threats against the lives of the three men are made publicly,” The Herald said.

Yet another relative quickly got involved. Elsie Barnes defended her husband as a good man and a great father to their two children, ages one and two. The couple met in Chicago in 1920 and got married two years later.

“Young, pretty, and with two little ones to look after, the young wife knows not which way to turn,” the Quincy Whig-Journal said.

A startling new twist came when Annie Barnes claimed her grandson had been in Louisiana the day the car was stolen to look for his father’s killer.

Forty-eight-year-old Frank Barnes cheated death on Jan. 29, 1924. He and another man, Chilton Kelso, claimed they were feeding stock for a friend on a Mississippi River island near Louisiana. Authorities suspected they were really cooking up illicit liquor.

The temperature hovered around zero, and the two got their boat stuck in ice. To return to the Missouri shore, they had to crawl through the frigid, slushy water.

A month later, Barnes’ body was found on the railroad tracks near Louisiana. Investigators initially thought he’d been hit by a train. However, the victim had what would today be $3,750 in his pockets, so foul play from a bootlegging deal gone bad was suspected.

Elsie Barnes said moonshine was her husband’s downfall.

“He told me he was doing it so he could take care of me and the kids,” she said.

 

Next time: Standing by her man.

 

CUTLINE FOR PHOTO:

Stark Brothers Nurseries offered a reward as part of the investigation into the murder of employee Carl Shumaker. (Louisiana Press-Journal)