Transcribed and original article from the Sheldon newspaper, January 1892.

Death of F.L. Dolloff

Between the hours of 1 and 2 o’clock last Sunday afternoon the people of Sheldon were startled and shocked as they had seldom if ever been before by the report that F.L. Dolloff, the well-known jeweler, had committed suicide. The report spread rapidly, caused considerable excitement, and was soon confirmed.

Ed Scott and Will Winslow, two of Starrett Brothers’ clerks, went into the store a few minutes after 1 o’clock to fix the fire and in a small room on the second floor in the northwest corner of the store, which is occupied by Al Haag, another clerk, as a bedroom, discovered Mr. Dolloff’s dead body lying upon the floor. The dead man’s head weltered in a pool of blood, and at his feet lay a revolver. A gaping wound on each side of the head just above and in front of the ears told unmistakable of the terrible work that had been wrought by the weapon nearby.

The two clerks referred to immediately reported their discovery to Mr. O C Starrett and Marshal Frisbee. Dr. F.L. Myers was summoned, but a brief examination by him proved that his services were of no avail. The poor man was beyond all human aid and had evidently been dead about one hour.

Mr. Dolloff was last seen alive about fifteen minutes past twelve. He had come downtown after his mail. He visited the post office, and had conversed briefly with several friends. There was at that time nothing in his manner or appearance to indicate that he contemplated taking his own life, and yet several persons who met and merely passed the time of day with him noticed that he appeared very pale and acted nervously. He was often in poor health and suffered more or less from nervousness. Subsequent developments proved conclusively that the act of self destruction was deliberate, and that it had been premeditated for at least one hour before it was carried into execution. The deceased had entered the store, fifteen minutes after twelve, borrowing a key for the purpose from Al Haag. His two overcoats were found on the counter, and upon one of his own showcases was a note to his wife, written with a lead pencil on a piece of pink wrapping paper, on top of which were three glass paper weights. The note referred to is touching, and reads as follows:

My poor wife: May heaven be kind to you, and both of you forgive me for what I am about to do. Break the news gently to mother. I only am to blame for this. I ask forgiveness from those upon whom I have brought trouble. O, the anguish of this hour!

The handwriting plainly betrays the nervousness of the writer at that moment. The curtains had been pulled together in the archway after the dead man had ascended the stairway leading from the main store room to the bed room where he was found, and the weapon he used…a .32 caliber Smith & Wesson – contained three cartridges, one of which had been discharged. The night before it contained but one cartridge, showing that after entering the room he had put two more into it before – the fatal shot. He had also removed his seal skin cap and placed it on the bed. The ball, which had passed through the skull from the right to the left side, had hit the wood partition between the bedroom and clothing department of the store, and was lying on the floor near its victim’s head. Death was instantaneous. The body lay upon the left side and there were no signs of a struggle or any suffering.

Coroner Algyer was summoned from Primghar by telegraph, and the result of the inquest which he and jury he empaneled held upon the body is shown in the following: The Coroner’s Jury Verdict State of Iowa O’Brien County. An inquisition (undecipherable) Sheldon, O’Brien County, Iowa on the 10^th day and 11 days of January AD 1892, before David Algyer esq Coroner of said county, upon the body of F. L. Dolloff, there lying dead, by the jurors, whose names are hereto subscribed. The said jurors upon their oaths (undecipherable) that said FL Dolloff came to his death by a pistol shot, inflicted by his own hand. In testimony whereof, the said jurors have hereupon set their hands this day and year aforesaid. (Jurors named listed, undecipherable)

The remains were turned over to J F Stone, undertaker, and prepared for burial in accordance with the wishes and directions of relatives.

The motive which prompted Mr. Dolloff to commit this rash act can only be conjectured or surmised. He was a fine workman, prospering in business, and was well liked by everybody. He was popularly regarded as a fine fellow, and it was generally supposed that he was a happy and upright man. Of the scandalous features of this unfortunate affair perhaps the least said the better. We deem it sufficient to say in this connection that the deceased became involved in a social scandal. It is alleged that last Friday evening he was found in the company of another man’s wife, under embarrassing and compromising circumstances, by the husband who, it is said, had for some time been suspicious that his wife and the suicide were guilty of social improprieties. Undoubtedly this discovery unnerved him, and the remorse of conscience which he suffered in consequence led him to the act of suicide as his only escape from public humiliation and contempt. Many believe him to have been indirectly the victim of a designing woman, and too proud and sensitive to rally from the shame and disgrace of an inevitable exposure. We dismiss this phase of the tragedy without further comment, leaving additional details to the discussion and gossip of the community which has been profoundly impressed by the terrible affair and cast into universal gloom in consequence of it.

The wife of the deceased was so overcome by her husband’s untimely and tragic death that she was complexly prostrated and unconscious from the effects of the nervous shock from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday evening. His aged father came here from Boone, Iowa, his sister and husband from Sioux Rapids, to attend the funeral. His mother was rendered too ill by the event of her son’s death to leave home. To all of these the community tenders its sincere sympathy.

The funeral took place at 10 o’clock today from the Congregational Church Rev. G L Hanscom officiating and was largely attended. Business was almost universally suspended. The floral display testified to the esteem in which the deceased had been held by members of the band to which he belonged and other associates and friends and spoke eloquently of the universal sympathy that is felt for the relatives whom this shocking tragedy has plunged into the deepest sorrow and affliction. Mr. Dolloff was 28 years of age and came to Sheldon from Boone about three years ago. He was a pleasant fellow and a young man of much promise.

This is one of the saddest affairs that has ever occurred in our town and we earnestly hope that nothing like it will ever happen in our midst again.