Marshall Lloyd CHEUVRONT - In Agony

Advertisements in vintage newspapers used testimonials to sell various products, from sarsaparilla and celery compound, to cures for all kinds of ailments such as rheumatism, cancer and kidney problems. When reading these old advertisements sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what the heck the touted medicine will do since many of the ailments mentioned are not familiar. When you think about it, even in modern times, we are still bombarded with television infomercials for cures for different health problems. The majority of cure-alls sold today are for weight loss, not salt rheum (eczema). We also get hit hard with viagra commercials; it could be, that in 100 years, people will ask "What the heck is viagra?"

While searching in old newspapers for information about my husband’s family, I came across a distant cousin, M. L. Cheuvront, who had written a testimonial for Hood’s Sarsaparilla Cure. His testimonial letter was featured in an advertisement found in newspapers in many states including Hawaii, Kentucky, and Missouri. The ads featuring Cheuvront’s glowing recommendation were published from about 1894 until 1896 under the heading “In Agony.”

Here’s what he wrote in the advertisement:

“Hood’s Sarsaparilla is an excellent medicine. I had eczema in my left leg for fifteen years. Part of the time my leg was one mass of scabs, and about every other week corruption would gather under the skin and the scabs would slough off. The itching and burning sensation made me suffer indescribable agonies. I spent a great deal of money for different remedies but did not get relief. About a year ago, leading physicians advised me to take Hood’s Sarsaparilla. I did so and have taken five bottles. Now all the sores, scabs and pain have vanished and I am enjoying perfect health. I think Hood’s Sarsaparilla is second to none and gladly recommend it to all suffering humanity.”

Marshall Lloyd Cheuvront was born about 1851 in Lewis County, Virginia. He was the son of James M. Cheuvront and Mary E. Parr and a great-grandson of Joseph Cheuvront who was born in Strasbourg, France and came to America in 1774. I dug deeper and discovered that M. L. Cheuvront met an untimely death just a few years after he wrote his testimonial for Hood’s Sarsaparilla.

On the evening of July 22, 1897 Mr. Cheuvront was strolling in the park in Shelbina, Missouri when a jealous husband, who believed Cheuvront had been following his wife, shot him three times. Mr. Cheuvront lingered overnight, but died at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. He was 46 years old and left a wife and two sons. According to a newspaper article the shooter was a man named Tol Smock.

Tol Smock’s full name was Allan Tolbert Smock. He was married to Miss Edna Pearl Swift of Shelbina Missouri on November 14, 1894. In a description of the shooting, Mrs. Smock was described as “fair of face.” Mr. Cheuvront was described as a “citizen of good character, inoffensive and peaceable,” and “very deaf.”

The Kansas City Journal reported on August 11th that “Druggist Smock, who killed M. L. Cheuvront at Shelbina, Mo., because his wife said he followed her, has been refused bail and remanded to jail to await the action of the grand jury. Public sentiment is strongly against Smock.”

A summary of the trial of Mr. Smock and the outcome is written in the book, General history of Shelby County, Missouri, published by Henry Taylor & Co., 1911:

“Mr. Smock took change of venue and his case was tried in Macon county, December, 1897. J. H. Whitecotton, of Paris, Mo., was leading attorney for the defense and Prosecuting Attorney Cleek had valuable assistance. A good many witnesses were sworn on both sides. The state sought to prove that Mr. Cheuvront was a man of unquestionable christian and moral character. The jury hung after a hard fight on both sides, four standing solidly and determinedly for conviction. The trial was taken up again at the Macon Circuit court and all the witnesses re-examined, and the defendant found guilty of manslaughter and punishment fixed at six months in jail and a fine of $100. The Macon Times-Democrat said this among other things concerning the verdict: "The verdict is an outrage upon this community and it is just such mockery as this that disgusts the people with juries and courts and causes them to take the law into their own hands and mete out justice."

Tol Smock ended up with a lenient six month sentence for murdering Marshall Lloyd Cheuvront, but his story didn’t end happily. He committed suicide on July 20, 1921, by swallowing carbolic acid poison. His occupation listed on his death certificate was Physician and Druggist.

Apparently the use of carbolic acid as a means to commit suicide was a problem in the early 1900s as documented by this interesting news article from 1904:

Sources and More Info:

Internet Archive, Ebooks and Texts Archive, The Library of Congress, General history of Shelby County, Missouri:
http://www.archive.org/details/generalhistoryof00bing

Library of Congress Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Missouri Digital Heritage, Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/