A Tragedy and a Mystery

When I started researching our family, one of the things I started with was obituaries. But I didn't start with the most recent and work my way backward like you're supposed to. I started with the William and Mary Felton who are buried in St. John's cemetery. I knew they were ours because of the census records and I started with Mary because her death date was Halloween. What I found was treasure, shock, and a mystery.

Mary died in 1889. The newspapers at that time listed items as they were reported. So, you had a notice about Maude Smith coming back from a visit with her sister in Chicago, followed by John Timons having a bull for sale, followed by Anna Miller died yesterday at her home.....

Finding obituaries -- until about 1920 usually takes some digging. To see the headline  Felton Barn Burns  made my heart stop for a second.

I don't know what kind of "spinal fever" she may have had that no one else in the family caught. But the biggest mystery of all is the daughter who pulled her out. There is no daughter of an age close enough to be the one who rescued her. Their son, August,  was the right age, but that is not a daughter. I've checked other papers and they don't mention how the daughter was recovering. Other obituaries don't mention how anyone pulled their mother or aunt or grandmother from a fire.


There were a couple of follow up articles. One mentioned that her funeral was so well attended, the funeral procession was several carriages long. Another said that Ohio Farmers paid William's claim even though it was "his wife who started the fire".

Why was this kept secret? William of William and Hazel was not yet born. But William of William and Clara were married. Did no one ever ask about their grandparents?  Was she never spoken of after this?

So, our crazy has a history.

Can anyone add to this? Did you ever hear of this?  Do you know who may have pulled her out?

In the meantime, I'll keep researching.