MALLORY BODY REMOVED The body of S. H. Mallory, buried for seventeen years in the Chariton cemetery, which was recently taken from the grave, has been cremated and the ashes sent to Orlando, Florida, where the family resides. Mr. Mallory, at the time of his death, owned "Illion" (sic, Ilion), at the north edge of town, which has become known for its association with the things of the day in which he lived. Mr. Mallory was for many years a railroad contractor, a man widely known, and frequently were the doors of "Illion" opened to receive as guests men of state and national reputation. He was at that time president of the First National Bank of Chariton, which in later years became and is now known as the Lucas County National. The body was taken up from the local cemetery on June 9. A daughter, Mrs. Jessie O'Neal, of Orlando, was in Chariton and went with the body to Des Moines, where cremation took place on the following Friday. The monument which had been placed here was shipped to Orlando, where it will again perpetuate the memory of this man who was one of Chariton's foremost citizens. The Chariton Leader, Thursday, 24 June 1920, Page 1 Here's the rest of the story ... And I'm hampered because I can't find the long and detailed article about the suicide of Frank Crocker, who was cashier of Smith H. Mallory's First National Bank and entrusted by his widow and daughter with handling their financial affairs. As it turned out, he was both dishonest and an unskilled investor. The result, about 1907, broke First National, and the Mallorys, who were in Europe at the time, I believe. The first indication that anything was amiss at First National was Crocker's suicide, which took place in his grand old home south of square, now the Fielding Funeral Home. That collapse was cataclysmic for Lucas County, affecting an astonishing range of people (there was no FDIC at that time, remember). My maternal grandfather, William Ambrose Miller, then a struggling young English Township farmer, never got over it in the sense that he never trusted another bank. Ever. He did not have another bank account, anywhere, until the mid-1960s, when he became incapacitated in his 90s and his children cashed in a variety of his assets (bonds, etc.) and opened a checking account so that nursing home bills could be paid. Anyway, the crash placed the Ilion and its related farm, as well as other Mallory assets, in other hands and Mrs. Mallory (Annie) and her widowed daughter, Jessie, left Chariton for Orlando, Florida, where I believe both died. They were not impoverished: The 1910 census shows them living in a house Mrs. Mallory owned in Orlando with a resident servant. But it certainly ended the family's glory days in Lucas County. More articles related to the house itself, and hopefully the Crocker affair, will follow next week. Frank D. Myers