Dr. Perry H. Talbott was among the most prominent citizens of Nodaway County, Missouri. In addition to being a skilled physician, Talbott was a state legislator, a writer, and a newspaper editor. But towards his family, Dr. Talbott was cold, distant, miserly and neglectful. Dr. Talbott was shot by an unknown assassin on September 18, 1880. In his dying breath, he blamed his political enemies, but the Nodaway County authorities believed the killer was someone closer to home. They arrested his two sons and held his wife as an accessory.