David W. Stark

David W. Stark (c. 1879 - c. 1941) was a member of the Missouri Legislature in the early 20th century. He was a farmer in West Line, Missouri.[1][2][3]

Political life

In November 1910, Stark was elected as a Democrat to the Cass County seat in the Missouri House of Representatives.[4]

On Monday, May 20, 1911, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat printed a story headed "Drunken Democrats Turn Assembly Into a Sunday Debauch; Liquor-Fired Mob Breaks Up Senate Session; Carouse Is in Celebration of Game Warden."[5] In it, the Globe said:[6]

The Sunday session of the House terminated late in the afternoon in a fist fight and near riot. Kirby J. Smith of Ava, Missouri, a clerk in the office of Game Commissioner Tolerton . . . was assaulted upon the floor of the House by Representative David W. Stark of Cass County.

The St. Joseph News-Press reported that Stark "struck at" Smith and then "grasped him by the throat and pushed him, scrambling and fighting, to the rear of the hall. . . At last someone tripped Stark, and the two sprawled on the floor, and the other representatives" pulled Stark off.[7]

Stark filed a suit against the Globe the next month, alleging libel and asking for $150,000 in damages.[8] The newspaper paid him $2,500 to withdraw the suit.[9]

Stark served two terms in Missouri's House of Representatives, and in 1916, he was elected to its Senate. He himself voted in Freeman, Missouri.[1][10]

Personal life

Stark's family lived in Cass County, Missouri, since the early 1850s.[11]

A marriage license was issued to Stark and Martha Ingels of Jackson County on May 16, 1910.[12] In 1917, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that Stark was one of nine senators who "have their wives on the pay roll of the General Assembly as clerks or stenographers at $3.50 a day."[13]

About 1921 or 1922, Stark became "mentally unbalanced" and was admitted as a private patient at the Nevada Hospital for the Insane. In 1928, his private funds having been exhausted, his expenses at the hospital were taken over by Cass County.[3][11]

In 1941, the Missouri Senate held a memorial service for eight former senators, including Stark, who had died "since the last session of the General Assembly."[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "How Stark Won Out," Warrensburg Star-Journal, August 11, 1916, Page 3
  2. ^ "Democrats Have 32 Majority in Assembly; Half Senators Lawyers," The St. Louis Star, January 3, 1917, Page 6
  3. ^ a b Butler Weekly Times, cited in "Former State Senator a Patient at the State Hospital No. 3
  4. ^ "Missouri Democrats Gain," The Jefferson Democrat, November 17, 1910, Page 1
  5. ^ "Legislature Scores the Globe-Democrat," Twice-a-Week Democrat, March 24, 1911, Page 1 No copy of the original Globe article is available.
  6. ^ "The Globe-Democrat's Version," The Shelbina Torchlight, March 24, 1911, Page 2
  7. ^ "Fist Fight Jars Quiet of Sabbath," St. Joseph Gazette, March 20, 1911, image 8
  8. ^ "Two Suits Against the Globe-Democrat," The Southwest Mail, April 14, 1911, page 3
  9. ^ Centralia Courier, quoted in "He Punished the Vilifier," Monroe City Democrat, April 23, 1914, Page 3
  10. ^ "David W. Stark," The Lexington Intelligencer, June 23, 1916, Page 1
  11. ^ a b "Parole for Truth," The Kansas City Times, December 29, 1928, Page 1
  12. ^ Jackson County Recorder of Deeds
  13. ^ "The Donkey Loaded Down," The Neosho Times, February 8, 1917, Page 3
  14. ^ "Memorial Services for Eight Deceased Missouri Senators," Springfield Daily News, May 29, 1941, Page 7