D.C. Sutton arrested for Bigamy — Georgia — 1878

[Quote from The Field and Fireside (Marietta)]: 

"D. C. Sutton has been delivered up by his bondsmen to the sheriff of this county and is now in jail at this place."

[Source]: D. C. Sutton (untitled item), The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 25 July 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-07-25/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_566x817_from_197,5012_to_942,6087/

 (accessed 23 January 2022). 

 _______________________________________

[D. C. Sutton Back in Jail in Marietta]: 

"The Marietta Journal says D. C. Sutton, 'the alleged bigamist,' who married Miss Young, of this place, and having a wife and several children in Chattooga county, and who was out on a bond of $1,000, was delivered up by his bondsman (his father-in-law) last Monday, and lodged in jail in Marietta, to await trial in November."

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, , Georgia) 1877-1886, 27 July 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1878-07-27/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_592x817_from_37,4054_to_660,4914/

 (accessed 22 January 2022).

Obituary of Belle (Sutton) Cobb, 1898

Obituary of Mrs. Belle (Sutton) Cobb

Facts: 

Name of Deceased: Mrs. Belle S. Cobb

Relationships: 

Wife of Mr. J. P. Cobb, Jr., of Ellijay

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Sutton of "this place" [Mount Vernon, Montgomery, Georgia]

Date of Death: January 28 [1898]

Place of Death: "Atlanta, where she had gone for medical treatment"

Survivors: Husband, parents, three small children

 

[Source]: "Death of Mrs Belle S Cobb," The Montgomery Monitor (Mt. Vernon, Montgomery, Georgia) 1886-current, 03 February 1898, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053231/1898-02-03/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_614x817_from_136,1674_to_883,2668/

 (accessed 25 January 2022). 

D. C. Sutton Switches from Dahlonega Signal to Dawsonville News

D. C. Sutton Switches Jobs

[Quote from the The Ellijay Courier, January 1886]:

"Mr. D. C. Sutton, formerly of the Dahlonega Signal, paid us a pleasant drop in one day last week. He has retired from the editorialship of that paper and will probably assume control of the Dawsonville News."

News Item

[Source]: D. C. Sutton (untitled item) in The Ellijay Courier (Ellijay, Gilmer, Georgia) 1875-189?, 14 January 1886, page 3, (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85027055/1886-01-14/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_274,4838_to_1125,6048/

 (accessed 23 January 2022).

Obituary of D.C. Sutton

"D. C. Sutton Dead.
  "Macon, Ga., Aug. 16.—D. C. Sutton, aged 76, at one time editor of The Montgomery Monitor and a well known newspaper man throughout the state, died at the residence of T. E. Burch here yesterday morning. He had been in declining health two years or more and had spent his last days with Mrs. Burch, his daughter, who resides at 600 Main-st., East Macon. Mr. Sutton resided at Ellijay, Ga., some time before coming to Macon. He is survived by his wife and six children, one of them being Edward L. Sutton, now connected with The Atlanta Journal. The body was carried back to Mount Vernon this morning, where the funeral and interment took place."

[Source]: "D. C. Sutton Dead" (dtd. Macon, Aug. 16), Atlanta Georgian and News (Atlanta, , Georgia) 1907-1912, 16 August 1909, Image 2), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053728/1909-08-16/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_614x817_from_1781,1830_to_2363,2605/
(accessed 23 January 2022).
   

D. C. Sutton Found Guilty of Bigamy. Penitentiary.

Two articles describe the bigamy trial and outcome of D. C. Sutton, of Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia. The first one says he was sentenced to four years. The second one apparently is correct: two years, six months. In later stories (1880) he was pardoned and released after two years in prison (six months short of his full sentence). The trial took place in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia.

D. C. Sutton Found Guilty of Bigamy, November 1978:

Article

The wife here is called Miss Nina Young. Contradictory evidence; each party had witnesses. D. C. Sutton was found guilty, sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.

[Source]: D. C. Sutton (untitled) in The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 28 November 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-11-28/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_864,1718_to_1559,2707/
(accessed 23 January 2022).
__________________________________

This story says the sentence was two years and six months.

Article

[Source]: D.C. Sutton (untitled) in The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 28 November 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-11-28/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_562x817_from_271,5504_to_1037,6617/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

D. C. Sutton is Captured and Returned to Jail, 1878

D. C. Sutton Captured

[Quoted from The Field and Fireside, October 1878]:

"D. C. Sutton has been captured and returned to this place, and now has plenty of leisure to ruminate upon the chances of another escape."

Article

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton (untitled item) in The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 03 October 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_578x817_from_325,4282_to_1072,5337/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

___________________

The capture (above) occurred in Alabama, near Mr. Shamblin's.

Article

[Reference]: Sutton (untitled) in The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 03 October 1878, page 3 (digital image 3).
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_230,3712_to_943,4727/
(accessed 23 January 2022). 

D. C. Sutton Escapes from Jail, 1878

D. C. Sutton Escapes, September 1878

D. C. Sutton, charged with bigamy, and several other prisoners, escape from jail by sawing through the bars.

Article

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in untitled, The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 12 September 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-09-12/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_935,2191_to_2409,4288/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

______________________

Another article about the escape, this one with a description of D. C. Sutton:

Article

[Extract]: 

Age: 45 years
5'9"
125 lbs.
Heavy beard on face (sandy color)
Small, black eyes
(Clothing described)

Escapee is from Chattooga County, formerly of Walker County

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, Muscogee, Georgia) 1877-1886, 12 September 12, 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1878-09-12/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_592x817_from_17,3706_to_755,4725/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

D. C. Sutton, Arrest, Bail, Revocation of Bond

Quote from The Field and Fireside

"D. C. Sutton has been delivered up by his bondsmen to the sheriff of this county and is now in jail at this place."

[Source]: D. C. Sutton (untitled item), The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 25 July 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-07-25/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_566x817_from_197,5012_to_942,6087/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

_______________________________________

D. C. Sutton Back in Jail in Marietta

"The Marietta Journal says D. C. Sutton, 'the alleged bigamist,' who married Miss Young, of this place, and having a wife and several children in Chattooga county, and who was out on a bond of $1,000, was delivered up by his bondsman (his father-in-law) last Monday, and lodged in jail in Marietta, to await trial in November."

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, , Georgia) 1877-1886, 27 July 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1878-07-27/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_592x817_from_37,4054_to_660,4914/
(accessed 22 January 2022).

_____________________________

From the above stories, it appears that D. C. Sutton jumped bond or had his bail revoked and was re-arrested. When Nina (Young) Sutton first located him, he was in Walker County. From there, he and his first wife and family moved to Summerville. He ran ads as a lawyer in Summerville. In his reply to the bigamy charge in Cobb County, his defense was "mistaken identity." Perhaps he wanted her to think that D. C. Sutton of Walker County and D.C. Sutton of Summerville, Chattooga County, were two different people; or perhaps he was promoting his law business as a way to shore up his prominence in Summerville to better fight the charge in Cobb County.

Public Notice Shaming D. C. Sutton, Summerville, Georgia, 1878

A public notice appears in The Summerville Gazette in 1878, concerning "the revolting offense committed by Mr. D. C. Sutton, a citizen of this place, involving the ruin of his sister-in-law..." The piece asks for patience, sympathy, and prayers for his wife ("a lady of refinement and culture") and his innocent children.

There are no details as to the ruin of his sister-in-law. It might have involved his bail-jumping, rather than anything else, but that is just my speculation. The sympathy for his wife and family has to do with a bigamy case. 

D. C. Sutton was a prominent citizen of Walker County Georgia, with a wife, Drucilla, and a number of children, the eldest born about 1858. In 1878, a woman in Atlanta accused him of bigamy. He had gone by the name of A.D. Sutton. Under that name, he married Georgia Cornelia "Nina" Young in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia, in 1875, and moved her to Chattanooga, Tennessee, later deserting her. She received word that he had been murdered at Sand Mountain, Alabama, but later discovered him living in Walker or Chattooga County, Georgia. Around that time, he had moved his first wife and family from Walker County to Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia, and ran display ads there for his services as an attorney.

Cobb County, Georgia, prosecuted him on the bigamy charge and won. D. C. Sutton spent the next two years in prison at Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia.

Public Notice

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in a notice "To The Public,"
The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Ga.) 1874-1889, 25 July 1878, page 2 (digital image 2), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-07-25/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_578x817_from_2949,364_to_3937,1760/
(accessed 22 January 2022).

D. C. Sutton of Summerville in Bigamy Case, 1878

D. C. Sutton, of Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia, (formerly of Walker County, Georgia, and before that, of Marietta, and of Chattanooga) was charged with bigamy. According to the article, his name, originally, was A. D. Sutton, of Marietta. He had married a Miss Lena Young on 5 December 1875 at the Episcopal Church in Marietta. He and his wife left that day for Chattanooga. "Afterward, Mrs. Sutton, strange to say, entered the Columbia (Tenn.) College as a student, and her liege lord left her, reporting that he intended to return to the United States Coast Survey party near Sand Mountain, Alabama."
    Mrs. Sutton stayed in college a few months and returned home to her parents. Her husband sent word that he would come home, but never did. His wife received a letter saying her husband had been murdered on Sand Mountain.
    Later, according to the complaint, a man named D. C. Sutton, who fit the description of the woman's  husband, was found living in Lafayette, Walker, Georgia, married to another woman.
    Cobb County court filed suit against him for bigamy. D. C. Sutton denied that he was A.D. Sutton, but "submitted to arrest and gave the necessary bail." 

Case called: Tuesday, Marietta. Sutton appeared with a number of witnesses. Defendant claimed mistaken identity. Case continued till next term; defendant paid $1,000 and $500 for the new bills (against him). He returned to Chattooga County, "where in the last month he moved his family from Walker County."
   "If Sutton establishes his innocence this case will rival that of the two Dromios in the play."

Article

[Source]: D. C. Sutton in "Is He a Bigamist or Not?" (citing the Marietta Journal), The Macon Telegraph and Messenger (Macon, Macon, Georgia) 1873-188?, 24 March 1878, page 2 (digital image 2), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85038493/1878-03-24/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_605x817_from_2627,4577_to_4713,7393/
(accessed 23 January 2022). 

D. C. Sutton, Attorney at Law, Summerville, Georgia

D. C. Sutton placed display ads under "County Directory: Professional Cards," advertising his services as Attorney at Law in Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia, at his permanent address. The ads ran for over a month. Ironically, at the same time, he was accused of bigamy. In 1878, Cobb County, Georgia, prosecuted him on the bigamy charge. He was found guilty and spent the next two years in prison in Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia.

Here is a reference to one of the display ads:

[Reference]: Sutton ad, The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 14 March 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-03-14/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_2882,932_to_3573,1916/
  (accessed 23 January 2022).
   

D. C. Sutton in Montgomery County, Georgia, 1900s

"Ed L. Sutton of Clarkston visited relatives here this week."

"Mrs. T. E. Burch and children of Dublin are visiting the family of Col. D.C. Sutton in our town."

"Miss Eula Sutton of Clarkston is visiting her parents, Col. and Mrs. D.C. Sutton, here this week."

On the same page appears an obituary for Miss E.  May Sutton, a teacher at South Georgia College in McRae, and daughter of Col. and Mrs. D. C. Sutton.

[Source]: D. C. Sutton in "Local and Personal News Items," The Montgomery Monitor (Mt. Vernon, Montgomery, Georgia) 1886-current, 19 April 1900, page 5 (digital image 5), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053231/1900-04-19/ed-1/seq-5/print/image_570x817_from_183,283_to_1419,2054/

 (accessed 23 January 2022).

[Research note: Clarkston is in Dekalb County, Georgia.]

C. H. Sutton Obituary via Clarkesville, Walker County Messenger

C. H. Sutton Death in Clarkesville, Georgia

Walker County Messenger

"Clarkesville, Ga., Dec. 30.—C. H. Sutton, of this place, one of the oldest attorneys in the state, died here this evening at 2 o'clock. He was 79 years of age and had been practicing law in Clarkesville for about fifty eight years."

[Date of death: 30 December 1901.]

Obituary

[Source]: Sutton (untitled mention), Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia) 187?-current, Thursday, 16 January 1902, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1902-01-16/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_551x817_from_2093,2172_to_2749,3145/
(accessed 21 January 2022).

C. H. Sutton Obituary by Nero, Walker County Messenger

C.H. Sutton 

Obituary

Walker County Messenger, 1901

"Died at his home in Habersham county at 2 p. m. on December 30th, 1901, Mr. C. H. Sutton of Clarkesville, Ga., in the 80th year of his age; two daughters survive him (both single), also two brothers, Mr. D. C. Sutton of Montgomery county, Ga., and Mr. J. C. Sutton of Catoosa county, Ga. The bereaved have the sympathy of many friends."
[Signed]: "Nero."

Obituary

[Source]: Nero, C. H. Sutton in "At Rest," Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia) 187?-current, 09 January 1902, page 5, (digital image 5), Georgia Historic Newspapers Georgia Public Library Service University System of Georgia.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1902-01-09/ed-1/seq-5/print/image_543x817_from_2679,3346_to_3366,4378/ (accessed 21 January 2022).