The construction of the railroad system in Southeast Missouri by entrepreneur Louis Houck and others provided improved transportation. This improvement serves as the background for one tale of a teenage Wayne County couple from 1916. Both lived in the now-extinct community of Chaonia, submerged later by the filling of Lake Wappapello. The name survives today in the resort and marina of Chaonia Landing, which lies about a half mile south of the site of the town.
Arthur N. Ives was a 17-year-old tie cutter in Chaonia, Wayne County, where he lived with his parents in 1916. The timber industry employed quite a number of men at that time and was the primary industry in the area. Ives began courting a neighbor girl, Cordelia or Dela Long, who was also the daughter of a tie cutter. The two had known each other for several years. The main complication, however, was that Dela was only 13 years old. Her father forbade Ives to visit her.
As sometimes happens when a parent forbids a relationship, the teens became determined to marry. They collected their valuables and met on Tuesday, February 15, 1916. Then they started to walk the track on the Hoxie branch of the Frisco Railroad to Mingo in Stoddard County. Darkness overtook them before they reached Mingo, and they stopped for the night. Dela was cold, so Arthur built a fire. They continued next morning and reached the Mingo station. There they bought tickets for Cape Girardeau.
The train arrived in Cape Thursday night, the couple bought supper, and Arthur treated Dela to a new pair of shoes. They became separated at one point, and a police officer noticed Arthur. The officer took him to the station. There he explained he had to look after Dela, and the couple had come to Cape Girardeau to get married. Using a photograph Arthur had in his pocket, the police located Dela within a few minutes. At the police station, she corroborated Arthur’s story. Initially she said her parents had agreed to the marriage, but she later admitted her father had denied Arthur permission to come to her house to call upon her.
The authorities sent Dela to the home of police matron, Mrs. William Uhl, for the night, and Arthur spent the night in the hold-over cell. Dela told Chief Hutson she would rather die than be forced to return home, but she would be willing to return to the home of her aunt and uncle near Chaonia.
Arthur declared that they originally intended to go to Morehouse in New Madrid County to be married. At this point, he became convinced it would do no good to attempt to get married in Cape and agreed to return to Chaonia. Accordingly, the authorities placed Dela on the Hoxie train to her aunt’s home that morning and sent Arthur back to his parents.
The teens were not to be denied, though. One month later they traveled to Scott County, where they obtained a marriage license. To get the license without parental permission, they lied about their ages, saying he was 22 and she was 18. They were then married by a Methodist minister in Benton. Both listed their home as Morehouse.
