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Sarah Jane Salyer was the youngest child of Kelsey Norman Salyer and his 3rd wife Dochia Wilson, around 1907 in Missouri. Her father was a 59 year old farmer, her mother a 39 year old home-maker. Her next oldest living sibling was her brother Devere, born about 1890. She had several older siblings and half-siblings from her father's earlier marriage. [1]
Sometime in 1927 she finished stenography school and became a stenographer for an up and coming young lawyer, Dale Moberly. About 18 months into her job, Dale Moberly divorced his young wife and 3 daughters (ages 5, 2 and 1) to marry Sarah Jane.
This was not Mr. Moberly's first encounter with a young woman - he had married his wife when she was 17 and their first daughter was born less than 9 months later. (It is possible Miss Salyer was, or told him she was, with child; one of the only reasons a young lawyer with political plans would leave his wife and publicly endanger his career).
Two weeks into their marriage, newspaper articles tell the sad story of how Miss Salyer's first marriage ended. She and her new husband were driving in the country around Piney, Missouri, visiting his land. Although it was the time of the Great Depression, his investment in land rather than stock had meant he was doing well financially.
At some point he suddenly pulled the car over, took his shotgun out of the trunk, announced he was going to kill himself and marched off into the woods where he shot himself in the stomach.
His young wife drove their car to town and found his friends and doctors who followed her back to the area where this had happened. It had become dark - she couldn't recall exactly where he was, but with shouts and flashlights, they found him - he was not yet dead. They carried him back to her father's house, where he lay dying for a few more hours.
He made a death bed statement that he had shot himself, that she had nothing to do with it. He also stated that his property and money was to be left to his three little daughters, not to his wife or ex-wife.
His ex-wife was not allowed to visit him, though she tried. Years later she told one of her grand-daughters that he had come to her shortly before this and asked if he could return to her and the children, and she'd said yes.
Sarah Jane remained in the area. There was no child from this marriage. She did not remarry until 1945, when she married John Leist.[2] She never had any children. She died December 7, 1993, almost the 64th anniversary of her first husband's death.
Year: 1910; Census Place: Lynch, Texas, Missouri; Roll: T624_826; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0105; FHL microfilm: 1374839
Enumeration District : 0105; Description: Lynch Township [7][8][9][10]
Note: I sent away and have several old newspaper articles in the Springfield Missouri area from Dec 9, 1929 about the "suicide" which I have scanned and uploaded elsewhere, but can't find at the moment.
Spouse: D.E. Moberly
http://www.newspapers.com/image/31057529/
Mrs. John Leist the former Sarah Jane Moberly (left) whose marriage took place Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the First Christian Church. Sunday News and Tribune, Jefferson, Missouri
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