There is not a lot that can be found for his family history, a lot like Stella Campbell, who is also buried in this cemetery. Unfortunately, this may end up being common for the mining town.
1872
He is born in Rossland, British Columbia.
1906
Charles is living in Tonopah and works at the Montana mine as an ore-sorter. Outside of work, he was often spotted out on the town of Tonopah; his nickname was “Happy.” One article at the time notes he was a native of Scioto County.
“Thursday evenings often saw him amidst the glitter of casinos, drawn to the allure of dance-hall girls,” one article writes.
One Thursday night out was unfortunately his last.
I believe that this was August 9, 1906. One article notes that the last time he was seen by his friends was on August 12th, but in 1906 that was a Sunday; his body was discovered on a Sunday, so it seems like they mixed up the date he was last seen with the date he was found.
He wasn’t heard from on Friday or Saturday. Come Sunday, one of his friends discovered his body with “a bullet through his ear and a savage blow to his forehead.”
The main suspects were A.E. Bell & Jessie Case; it would seem Charles & Jessie were together until A.E. came along. One of Charles’s neighbors, a woman named Mrs. Harrison, told authorities that she witnessed an argument at his property between a man and a woman; the authorities took that to mean their suspects.
“Evidence pointed to a confrontation rather than a peaceful slumber, raising questions that the ensuing legal process struggled to answer definitively. Bell and Jessie, adamant in their innocence, challenged their detention through legal channels, but procedural obstacles kept them behind bars,” a podcast reported.
Outside of the suspected love triangle, money was another possible motive. Per a newspaper at the time, “Killed for his money as he slept in his lonely mountain cabin several miles from Tonopah. The decomposed body of Charles Smith, a former Scioto Countian, was found by neighbors Monday. The last seen of him alive was Aug. 12th. No clew has been obtained to the perpetrator of the crime.”
In either case, Mrs. Harrison, neighbor & key witness, suffered from failing health, “halting the trial and leaving many unanswered questions in its wake.”
His murder remains unsolved.
Where to find Charles
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