Sawv Elker Slaps ib Masher

Rosa los yog Rose Elker yug hauv St. Louis rau lub ob hlis ntuj 5, 1890. Phauj Rose yog kuv great-pog, Magdalena Elker, Leej muam yau. Rau hnub Saturday, Cuaj hlis 22, 1906, tus 16 xyoo Rose taug tau nws txoj hauj lwm hauv Plows khoom qab zib Hoobkas hauv St. Louis.

Phauj Rose taug txog 8 yog thaum sawv ntxov, when she started to cross the 18th Street Bridge. Cov me nyuam. Louis Dispatch tom qab reported that Aunt Rose was a pretty blonde. As she crossed the bridge, a young man threw his arms around her waist and hugged her. “Nyob zoo, honey. You look good to me.” The unknown man continued to squeeze her more tightly to him.

Aunt Rose told him “I’m not the kind of girl you think I am!” She punctuated her remarks with a hard slap to his cheek. The young man let go of her and walked off the south side of the bridge.

Aunt Rose was shaken up by experience but saw St. Louis Police Officer Murphy as she was exiting the north side of the bridge. She told Officer Murphy about what happened. Officer Murphy, aroused with a chivalrous spirit, escorted Aunt Rose back across the bridge with the intent of apprehending the miscreant. Txawm li cas los, the masher was smart enough to flee the area as quickly as possible. Aunt Rose described the young man as about 5’02” with a slender build and blonde hair.

Besides dealing with this disturbing incident, Aunt Rose lost both her parents in this same year. August Elker died in February 1906. Bertha Elker nee Lipke died on October 19, 1906 after a six month battle with cancer.

I don’t have very much information about Aunt Rose. She married a man named Marshall Tharp in St. Louis thaum 1910. They moved to Iowa prior to 1925. Ntawm tej taw tes, it looks like they settled in California. If I gather more information about her, I will add it here.

It’s amazing what you find about your family in newspaper archives. Koj yuav tawm ib saib los nug cov lus nug txog qhov no, los yog tej qho hauv tshooj nram qab no, ntawm kuv Facebook phab thiab Twitter profile.

Qhov chaw: St. Louis Dispatch tom qab, Cuaj hlis 22, 1906, p. 7 and September 23, 1906, p. 40

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