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Reno County: It Was All a Terrible Mistake

August 25, 2021 by Jim Potter 6 Comments

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(To listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)


 

· It Was All a Terrible Mistake

Hutchinson News, June 20, 1934, page 1 caption: Mrs. Dorothy Cunningham, 25-year-old wife of Sheriff Ed Cunningham and Jack H. Huffman, alias Meinhard Ernest, 23 itinerant musician, whose elopement was halted with their detention at Columbus Sunday. They went their separate ways yesterday, Huffman continuing east and Mrs. Cunningham returning home. She was reported to have arrived last night. (AP Photo).

It’s Thursday night, June 19, 1934, in Hutchinson, Kansas. Dorothy Swafford Simon Cunningham, 25, wife of Reno County Sheriff Ed Cunningham, age, 37, has just returned to town after running off with a saxophone player. Having been apprehended days earlier in Columbus, Ohio, Dorothy is welcomed by her father, Tom Swafford, 45.  

*

Tom opens his arms to greet his daughter, “Dorothy, we’re so glad you’re safe.”

“Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry; it’s all my fault,” said Dorothy, with tear-stained eyes, referring to her running off with a musician who had been working in an orchestra at Whatisit Club, a Hutchinson westside roadhouse, while Ed, her husband, the sheriff, was picking up a prisoner in West Virginia.

*

On the evening of June 13th, Frank Swafford, Dorothy’s brother, had accompanied her to the Whatisit Club. Later that night, he was the last known person to see Dorothy driving her Chevrolet Coach with Jack Huffman as a passenger. She told her brother that she would return after taking Huffman home, instead, she disappeared into the night.

The questions asked by family and the authorities were, “Where is Dorothy?” “Is she safe?” “Could Huffman have stolen Dorothy’s motor car and diamond ring?”

Once Dorothy’s disappearance had been recognized by friends and family, they searched for her in town before notifying the sheriff’s office. When authorities assumed Dorothy had been kidnapped by Huffman, who had been living at a nearby federal transient camp, they notified Sheriff Cunningham, and sent out a nationwide wire about the possible abduction.

Jack H. Huffman, 23, is wanted for car theft and kidnapping. He is described as six feet tall, blue eyes, and blond hair. The kidnapped party is Dorothy Cunningham, 25, five feet, five inches; blonde hair, brown eyes, at 126 pounds. The two are traveling in a 1932 Chevrolet Coach, Kansas license 6402.

After Dorothy and Huffman—whose real name was Meinhard Ernst—were apprehended in Columbus, Ohio, Dorothy told the authorities that she had not been kidnapped. She had left town on her own free will; the car belonged to her, not her spouse; and that she would never return to Kansas or her husband.

Ernst, the saxophone and piano player, said he and Dorothy had known each other six weeks. “I met her in a night club in Hutchinson. I was playing in the orchestra and Dorothy asked me to play a number for her. I knew she was married and her husband out of town, but I only learned later that he was the sheriff.”

Ed Cunningham was at a loss to explain his wife’s action. “She’s had a good home here, clothes, a car and about everything a woman would want. She had a nice savings account, and I can’t understand why she would pick up with a tramp like that,” referring to Huffman’s brief stay at the transient camp.

It was bad enough Ed’s wife had run off with a man; it was worse he was a tramp. The idea of a transient camp was valid, but too many of the people seemed to be living better than hard-working citizens, including the sheriff’s employees who had their wages cut while their work increased.

Ed agreed with the state director of the Transient Service, who said that an increasing number of clients believed that Kansas “is a land where the coffee tree grows and the sandwiches hang from twigs.”

*

Laura Swafford, mother of Dorothy, sat quietly in the darkness, listening to her husband and daughter, until she had to speak. “What about your Billie? He’s only six. He kept asking us, ‘When is mom coming home?’ We didn’t know what to tell him.”

“Mother, it was all a terrible mistake. I don’t know why I did it. I must have been crazy, leaving a home, a husband, and a son. I’ll make it up to Billie and Ed.”

“Ed’s not forgiving you,” said Laura. “He’s hired John Fontron to file suit for divorce. Your second marriage is over. As for Billie, time will tell if and when he trusts you again.

“Did you have your sister, Helen, participate in your night club visits to see the piano player?” continued Laura. “Because if you did, you may be helping wreck her marriage, too. Ed trusts his brother Paul, and this could destroy their relationship.”

“Helen hasn’t done anything wrong,” replied Dorothy. “It’s all my fault.”

“We’re glad you’re back,” said Tom. “You were crazy to leave, but you’re courageous to come back.”

*

Upon her return to Hutchinson, Dorothy had to face a community of people who would judge her as unworthy as a tramp. While she had to live with her choice of playing around, her former public paramour, Ernst, seemed immune from negative consequences. He took advantage of his free ride to Ohio.

Ernst was released from jail without criminal charges. He continued alone on his trip to Atlantic City, where he had a job waiting for him to play his saxophone and the piano. In his future, he would be judged for his looks, his clothes, and his music; not for romancing another man’s wife or for stealing the suit of clothes he wore at every performance.

At least his matched outfit didn’t belong to Sheriff Ed Cunningham.

*

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

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Comments

  1. Alex says

    Hmmm
    Sounds like a double standard…

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Yep!

      Reply
  2. Nancy Julien Kopp says

    What I want to know now is–did the sheriff divorce her or not? Or was it merely a threat? Her mother told her the marriage was over, but was it?

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      I can’t find the date of their divorce but I can tell you that in the next year’s Hutchinson City Directory – 1935 – (within 6 months of Dorothy running off), Ed was married to an Esther. So, I’d guess it all happened pretty quickly after hitting the newspaper headlines.

      Reply
  3. Marilyn Bolton says

    Well, Jim, this chapter is certainly the “juiciest” one to date! Dorothy could have written a book on Dim Bulb/Nitwit.

    mob

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Dorothy had been married to Ed about three years and should have know that the sheriff had the “wire” to find her. What a mess.

      Reply

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Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a… Read more “Larry Kruckman, anthropologist”

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Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental… Read more “Morgan Penner”

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Retired police officer Potter’s novel centers on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to… Read more “Sean McArdle, Winchester, England”

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I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller… Read more “Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist”

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Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

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I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters… Read more “John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement”

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I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

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Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

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