1925: Stoddard County couples plan real-life 'wife swap'

Stoddard County was abuzz over a “love tangle” in 1925 when two farming couples mutually decided to divorce and remarry each other’s spouses. The plan was set back when a relative’s complaint sent all four to jail.

In other news from this date, a high-speed chase ended in a rollover accident 1950, and string of arsons in Mark Twain National Forest claimed a life in 1975.

100 years ago

March 6, 1925

• Two Bloomfield couples lived about 80 years too early for the reality show “Wife Swap.”

Curt and Cora Wallace, married seven years, and Otis and Nellie Cravens, married eight years, are at the center of “a most remarkable love tangle.” The Daily Republican reported the two farm families met a year ago when the Cravens moved in next door. All four mutually fell in love with each other’s spouses, and decided in February to amicably separate and remarry.

“We just lost our hearts for each other,” Otis Cravens said. “I fell in love with Cora, and Curt found that he loved Nellie. The two women decided their love for the other’s men had developed, and they no longer cared for their real husbands.”

All four stated they were simply “mismatched” with their original spouses but remained “good friends, and hold no grudge whatsoever.”

This wouldn’t have made the papers, except both families sent their children to stay with grandparents during the legal proceedings, and Curt Wallace’s mother called the police on the arrangement. All four were arrested on adultery charges and gave press interviews from the Stoddard County jail.

Nellie Cravens stated, “I think it is wrong for the law to keep us from correcting that bad mistake of marrying the wrong person.”

Cora Wallace agreed. Both women reportedly protested standing next to their legal husbands for police photos.

The couples intended to plead guilty in court, pay whatever fines were necessary, then divorce and remarry as planned.

In another bizarre twist, the couples may also swap children — both Nellie Cravens and Cora Wallace will likely take one child from their first marriages with them. The Cravens have two children, and the Wallaces three.

• A Greenfield man’s pocket money was revealed to be treasure. John Wilson received an odd-looking “penny” as change two years ago. He recently sent it to experts for evaluation and learned the coin is actually a French gold piece dated to 1226. The 699-year-old coin is “valued very highly,” according to reports.

75 years ago

March 6, 1950

• Two teens were charged with robbery this morning after a 90 mph car chase.

A purse and cash were reported stolen after a March 4 burglary in Poplar Bluff. The next day, highway patrolmen spotted three men standing near a car with Louisiana plates on the side of Highway 67. One man jumped in the car and sped off when the troopers turned back to investigate.

The fleeing car turned onto Highway 60 and fled west to Cane Creek, where it missed a curve, crashed through a fence and rolled five times. The driver suffered only bruises. He was identified as Thomas Milton Jones, 18, of Ellsinore. The missing purse and money were discovered in the wreckage.

Jones said the car belonged to his brother-in-law, who was visiting Ellsinore. He also named Harry Lee Lewis, 17, of Route 3 as his accomplice.

50 years ago

March 6, 1975

• A U.S. Forest Service employee died in the line of duty yesterday. Forestry technician Paul H. Garland, 46, of Doniphan succumbed to a heart attack while battling a forest fire on Turkey Knob. He and his crew operated in dense smoke for 30 minutes and had the fire contained when Garland went into cardiac arrest. The fire was the 12th arson in Mark Twain National Forest this week.

Garland was a U.S. Navy veteran who served eight years with the Forest Service. He’s survived by his wife and three children.