Marshall County in Iowa

Marshalltown in Marshall County

Maude Stubbs Lambert

Homicide

Maude Stubbs Callies Lambert
22 YOA
Marshalltown, IA
Marshall County
February 4, 1902

By Nancy Bowers

Maude Stubbs Callies Lambert, 22, was found dead in her Marshalltown residence on Saturday, June 28, 1902.

Beside her lay a small dog, also dead.

Suicide or Homicide?

State Chemist of Iowa, Floyd Davis, examined Maud Lambert’s stomach contents and stated there were “unmistakable evidences of poisoning.”

A coroner’s jury in mid-July returned a verdict of death by poison, but concluded it would never be known if Maude Lambert was murdered or committed suicide.

The Life of Maude Lambert

Maude Lambert was born in September 1878 in Marshalltown to Rebecca Deeter and Joseph Stubbs, a Maryland-born carpenter. She had two older brothers, William W. Stubbs and Adelbert Stubbs.

On New Year’s Day of 1900, Maud married Edward Frederick Callies. The couple was listed in the 1900 Census as living in Titonka in Kossuth County.

Listed with them was a four-month-old boy named Delbert Callies, who was noted as the “adopted son” of Edward Callies. It appears Maud was pregnant when she married Edward and that he was not the father.

Because she was referred to by newspapers at the time of her death as “Mrs. Lambert,” it is likely Maud had married again.

Information Needed

Questions and information about the 1902 death of Maude Lambert should be directed to the Marshalltown Police or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.

Sources

• “Evidence of Foul Play,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, July 14, 1902.
• “A Marshalltown Murder Mystery: Suspicious Death of a Young Married Woman — Indications Point to Case of Poisoning,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, June 28, 1902
• “Mysterious Murder Occurs,” Des Moines Daily News, June 28, 1902.
• “The Mystery Unsolved,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, July 18, 1902.
• “Neighborhood News,” Monticello Express, July 24, 1902.