The Life Insurance Cure

1900

Result of a Dying Bachelor's Plan For a Novel Funeral

"I don't know that life insurance is a cure for disease," said the retired life insurance solicitor, "but I know of an instance which makes it look that way. In the town where I first began business was a bachelor of about 50 years, who was quite alone in the world and had some years before taken out a $5,000 policy on himself for the benefit of a maiden sister, who had died a year before the events of this story. He kept his policy going, however, because it was a good way to save money, and one day he was taken down with some kind of fever. He grew worse day after day, until one day the doctor told him that he would in all likelihood be dead within the next 24 hours.

"This suggested his life insurance money, all he had to leave, and he immediately began to talk with the doctor on the subject of a proper disposal of it. He concluded after some thought that the best thing to do with it was to blow it on a tremendous big funeral for himself, including a banquet for all the people he knew. This was an entirely new idea for a funeral, and when the doctor left him that night to the care of his nurse his mind was entirely occupied with his funeral. He talked to the nurse about it, and when the nurse made him stop he lay and thought about it. In fact, he became so much interested in the details of his funeral that he quite forgot about having to die to make it possible.

"In the morning when the doctor came he found his patient in a wild perspiration and his pulse beating in much better fashion than it had been doing for some days. He also found the general condition of the patient much improved. He was greatly astonished and at once began to ask questions. The patient told him with eager interest of a lot of new things he had thought of for the funeral and some that bothered him a good deal and said he had been thinking of it all night. Then the doctor laughed and told him he guessed the funeral would have to be postponed, for he wasn't going to die just then anyhow. Nor did he, and he isn't dead yet, but he is married and has his policy paid up for his wife's benefit." - Chicago Inter Ocean.

Elephants' Tongues

1895

"Only a few of the many people who have thrown peanuts into the elephants' mouths," said Head Keeper Manley of the zoological gardens to a Philadelphia Record man, "have noticed that the tongue is hung at both ends. A tongue hung in the middle is a human complaint, but elephants have a monopoly on those hung at both ends. The trunk suffices to put the food just where it ought to be, and the tongue simply keeps it moving from side to side over the grinders. When a peanut gets stuck on the elephant's tongue he raises it in the middle, like a moving caterpillar, and the shell cracks against the roof of the mouth, to then disappear down a capacious throat."


Didn't Want to Sneeze

A whimsical old Englishman who died over a century ago left a will in which he stated what he wished done at his funeral. His first request was that sixty of his friends be invited, accompanied by five of the best fiddlers to be found in the town. Second, he wished no tears to be shed, but, on the other hand, insisted that the sixty friends should be "merry for two hours," on penalty of being sent away. And, finally, that "no snuff be brought upon the premises, lest I have a fit of sneezing." — Harper's Young People.


A singed cat dreads the cold.

Displays His "Happy Family"

1915

Printing Firm's "Zoo" Proves Real Attraction

PERRY, Oklahoma, Dec. 16. — In the front show window of the Southern Printing Company's office here is a "Happy Family" that attracts the attention of hundreds of people. Living happily together and eating from the same dishes are many beautiful canary birds, guinea pigs of different kinds, squirrels, white and spotted rats, horny toads, and a pair of beautiful Persian kittens. It is a sight worth looking at.

Back of the office is a garden of beautiful flowers, and cages in which are tame possums, pet coons that will follow visitors around like dogs, over a hundred guinea pigs of many kinds, pigeons and other birds and animals. "Wish you could all enjoy them with us," is the company's message to Blade readers.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 7.


1910

A Funeral in Japan

Tokyo, Japan. — In Japan a funeral procession is supposed never to go out of the front gate of a house, the back gate being generally used, and if there is no back gate an arch or ring of bamboo is held by two men within the front gate and the bier passes through that. After a funeral salt is sprinkled on the threshold and the house is swept out.


Natural Antipathy

Work kills a few men, but that isn't why so many are afraid of it.

"Silk Hats For Hire"

1910

Sign In Old Dickens' Quarters, London, Forced to Go Under Modern Pressure

London. — Among the landmarks of London that have disappeared of late are some old shops in Houghton street, Kingsway, the district that Dickens loved. The irruption of the house-breaker into this little thoroughfare has done more to disturb old buildings to make way for modern office blocks — it has displaced an old world little man, Christopher Clark, whose business for years has been one of the queerest in all London.

Till the London county council laid reforming hands on the dim little shop it bore in the window the notice:

Gentlemen's Silk Hats
Lent on Hire for Weddings
and Funerals.

The old man seemed strangely out of place in the daylight that had been let into that hitherto dingy bypath of the metropolis as he stood by the door a day or two before closing the shop for the last time and retiring as an old age pensioner. A big white apron enveloped his bent form and he peered suspiciously at the questioner who asked him how he fared.

Gradually, however, he thawed and admitted that he was eighty-four years old. "Certainly, I have had a good business. This used to be a good street for trade. Lawyers used to use it as a route to the courts, but all those changes are taking the life out of London. Folks now get underground like moles when they want to move about the city. And every messenger boy who wants to, sports a cheap tall hat.

"What sort of customers? Most respectable customers I have always had. If a silk hat was wanted for some special occasion I would supply a good one for a shilling a day — a hat no man could fail to be proud to go out in.

"A shilling a day, mark you" (the old man lovingly polished a shining specimen of his head gear with his sleeve), "and the hat to be returned to me in the condition in which it left the shop. Should a client require a hat for more than a day a reduction would be made. There was no fixed charge. There were times when a man positively had to have a silk hat, and — well, I was not too hard on the man whose fortune was small."

"No, trade latterly has not been always brisk. It has sometimes happened that more than a month has passed before a client has come in here to hire a hat, though sometimes I might have as many as four in a day. It used to be very different. Not even a funeral is conducted decently nowadays Everything is rush and tear."

And the old man sighed as he thought of the former days, when times were good and Londoners jogged comfortably along, with the silk hat as their badge of respectability on special occasions.

Doctor Resuscitates Girl at Her Funeral, Sits Up in Coffin

Wisconsin, 1883

Sitting Up in Her Coffin

At Black River Falls, Wis., the sensation of the day is the return to life of a young lady who to all appearance had been dead three days.

Miss Lina Richmann, the daughter of a wealthy German, had been very sick for some weeks and died, as was supposed. Her body was prepared for burial, when it was suggested by some one that the appearance of the young lady's face did not indicate death; but on the fourth day the funeral services were held.

While the ceremony was in progress Dr. Baxter, of Milwaukee, looking at the face of the supposed corpse asked that the services be interrupted long enough for him to attempt resuscitation. This was done, and he succeeded so well that the woman arose in her coffin with a terrible shriek. The scene was highly exciting. Men turned pale with horror, women fainted, and it was a long time before anything like quiet was restored.

Friends are continually calling to see and congratulate one whom they never thought to see again in this world. She says that while in a trance-like condition, she realized with unspeakable horror that she was being prepared for the services but could not speak or make any motion.

—The Hopewell Herald, Hopewell, New Jersey, Nov. 7, 1884.

Mourning Customs Around the World

1874

The usages regarding mourning have varied much at different times and in different countries. Among the Jews, the duration of mourning for the dead was generally seven days, but sometimes protracted to thirty. It consisted in tearing the clothes, smiting the breast, weeping, going barefoot, cutting off the hair, etc., etc., etc.

Among the Greeks, the period of mourning was thirty days, except in Sparta, where it was limited to ten. Among the Romans, the color of mourning for both sexes, was black or dark blue, under the republic; but under the empire, the men only wore black, the women white. Men also wore this mourning a few days, women a year, when the relation was a very near one.

In modern Europe the ordinary color for mourning is black; in Turkey, violet; in China, white; in Egypt, yellow; in Ethiopia, brown. In Arabia the men wear no mourning. The women stain their hands and feet with indigo, which they suffer to remain for eight days, during which time they abstain from milk, on the ground that its color ill becomes their gloom.

In the Feejee islands, after the death of a chief, a general fast until evening is observed for ten or twenty days, the women burn their bodies, and fifty or one hundred fingers are amputated to hang above the dead man's tomb. The Sandwich Islanders paint the lower part of their faces, and knock out their fore teeth.

The Wrong Coffin — His Mother-in-Law and The Admiral

1878

The Wrong Coffin

A gentleman, who had been spending the winter at a village between Perpignan and Toulon, France, started for Marseilles, having under his charge the remains of his wife's mother, who had expressed a desire to be buried in the family vault near the sea.

On arriving at Marseilles he went with the commissioner of police to receive the body from the railway officials, but noticed that the coffin was of a different shape and construction from that which he had brought from home. It turned out that the officials had sent on to Toulon the coffin containing his mother-in-law's body, believing that it held the remains of a deceased admiral, which were to be embarked for interment in Algeria, while the coffin awaiting delivery was the one which should have been sent on.

The mourner having requested the railway officials to communicate at once with Toulon by telegraph, proceeded thither himself with the coffin of the admiral, but the dispatch had arrived too late. He ascertained when he got there that the first coffin had been duly received, taken on board the State vessel which was waiting for it, and dispatched to Algeria.

He at once called upon the maritime prefect, and explained the circumstances of the case, but though a dispatch-boat was sent in pursuit, the other vessel was not overtaken.

Acting upon the principle that an admiral in hand is worth a mother-in-law in the bush, he declined to give up the remains then in his possession until the authorities should produce the other corpse. He consoled himself doubtless with the thought that full military and naval honors had been paid to his wife's mother, for the remains had gone out of harbor amid the thunder of fort and fleet. — New York Tribune.

Funeral Customs – Old Fashioned Woe Being Replaced

1903

Funeral Reforms Needed

Old Fashioned Parade of Woe Gives Way to Better Customs

It accorded with old beliefs, remarks the Brooklyn Eagle, that a funeral should be a scene and occasion of gloom — absolute, hopeless gloom. The front room, with its dismal ornament, its black hair cloth furniture chairs and "sofy," its framed wedding certificates, its wreaths of flowers preserved from other funerals, was reduced to darkness by the lowering of the shades and closing of the blinds, so that guests fell over one another's legs when they entered and fumbled their way to the chairs. The deceased was dressed in black, nailed into a black coffin that rested on a black bier, and all the company dressed in the blackest things they could dig up from their wardrobes. No light, no air, no color, and from the minister little comfort. His voice creaked for the occasion. Then the company went away in darkened carriages to a bleak burying ground where the last rites were as dismal as might be.

This was the Yankee way. Some other people did differently. The wakes held over the remains were comforting to the survivors and added much to the reputation of the departed for hospitality. And the German fashion of going to a hotel after a burial and ordering unlimited beer proved that there was still a few solaces left on earth. Americans reverence their dead too much to make a funeral a scene of festivity; but they are mitigating the gloom of these occasions to a degree. Flowers and music take the edge from grief, and it is no longer necessary to darken the windows. White is more and more used in place of black for dress and decoration, and in placing the body in the casket — or, better, on a couch — there is avoidance of the stiffness of attitude that suggests a pose before the old fashioned photographer.

Reform in these matters comes, in part, through the holding of funerals in other places than the home. Some undertakers have mortuary chapels as part of their establishments. Cemeteries have buildings for a similar purpose. Mount Auburn, in particular, has a beautiful little chapel, near the gate which replaces the gothic structure in the middle of the grounds, now become a crematory. In this chapel, with its organ, carved oak roof, stained windows and electroliers in the form of funeral torches, the bier is so easily movable that it can be turned by a single hand: hence much of the struggle to place and carry away the casket is foregone.

But what especially marks the difference between the funeral here and the home funeral, between the now fashion and the old, is the lack of mourning emblems and the presence of plants and palms. The chancel is a mass of green — kentias, rubber trees, oleanders, and smaller plants, in rows and groups, so that the casket, with its usual burden of flowers in the center, suggests a great bloom itself in a whorl of leaves than the depository of a dead body. The clergyman delivers his address from a pulpit at one side, and if he is a wise clergyman it is a hopeful and encouraging address; in preference to the old fashioned threnody. When that is over there is music form the organ — a fine instrument — and the company files out into the sunlight. It is far better than the old fashioned funeral — that type of absolute woe.

Probably Hobo Burglars Stocking Up for Winter

Lisbon, Wisconsin, 1911

BURGLARS AT WORK

Raiding Stores in Northern Portion of The County—Schroeder Loses $100

Lisbon, Nov. 21.—Last Friday morning when Frank Schroeder went to his till he found that it had been smashed and emptied during the night and about $20 in cash taken. On further investigation he found that he was the loser of shirts, pants, coats, jewelry and watches. The loss will be hard to estimate, bit he is sure that $100 worth of goods were taken. It looks like hobos' work — just stocking up for the winter.

The long-needed electric bell is now installed at the Soo crossing in Templeton. This is one of the bad railway crossings as it is less than fifteen seconds sometimes from the time a train appears under the N.W. bridge until it crosses the highway, and the heavy grade of the N.W. road obstructs most of the noise and sound of the train and whistle, which may be sounded north of said crossing.

Mrs. Sarah and Miss Luella Bonham and Miss Winnie Campbell left Wednesday for a few weeks' visit with relatives and friends in Missouri.

Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Brown and Mrs. E. Gerken left last week Thursday for Decatur, Ill., where they will visit their sister, Mrs. Chester Christman. They expect to return this week.

Fred Stier returned Thursday from Sheldon, where he was deer hunting. He brought home one of the choicest does that ever came to this town.

George W. Elliott left Friday for Leona, where he will visit his brother, R. S. Elliott, M. D., and also to look for deer. We hope he will escape the buck fever.

There is nothing doing at the big well at the N. W. depot. The drill is stuck at the depth of 690 feet, where it has been for over a month. Charles E. Weaver, James and Robert Booth returned from Sheldon Tuesday. Charles and Bob each had a deer. Jim got a skunk.

H. W. Abel drove to Colgate Sunday, where he attended the funeral of Mrs. J. Busse.

Rev. Mr. Kaper went to Juneau last week to attend the dedicatory services of a new church on Sunday. Dr. Rollins conducted services here in his stead. The Ladies' Missionary society will meet next Wednesday with Mrs. George McKerrow. Don't forget the big fair and chicken pie supper this afternoon and evening in the M. E. church parlors.

—The Waukesha Freeman, Waukesha, Wisconsin, November 23, 1911, page 5.

Man Blows Off Head with Shotgun, Temporarily Insane

Waupaca, Wisconsin, 1912

BLOWS HEAD OFF WITH A SHOT GUN

George B. Rhodes Suicides While Temporarily Insane

RELATIVES ARE SUMMONED

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet, 227 North Main Street, Called to Waupaca by News of Sad Tragedy.

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet, 227 North Main street, were called to Waupaca Monday by the suicide of their son-in-law, George B. Rhodes, who took his life early in the morning by blowing the top of his head off with a shotgun.

According to a message received from Waupaca this morning, Rhodes, who has been employed as a sexton at the Riverside cemetery there for several years has been despondent of late and it was the verdict of the coroner's jury that he took his life while suffering from a fit of temporary insanity induced by despondency.

Sunday afternoon Rhodes dug a grave in the cemetery. Monday morning he arose at 5 o'clock, without arousing other members of the family, lighted the fire in the kitchen of his home and then left the house. Shortly after 6 o'clock his body was found back of an outbuilding.

Physicians who examined the body testified at the inquest that Rhodes placed the mouth of the muzzle of the gun against the back of his head and reached around to pull the trigger. The top of the head was literally blown off. The shot gun that was used had been left at the house by a friend.

Rhodes was formerly engaged in the barber business. He leaves his wife and two children. According to Waupaca dispatch he was confined in an asylum years ago because of mental disturbance, but was released later and pronounced cured.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes were visitors in Fond du Lac on several occasions.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 5.


RETURN FROM FUNERAL.

Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Sweet and Roy and Clifford Sweet have returned from Waupaca where they attended the funeral of George B. Rhodes, who committed suicide in that city ten days ago. The funeral was also attended by Eugene Sweet, of Berlin; Ross Sweet, of Rhinelander; John Rhodes, of Rhinelander; and Mrs. James McCallister, of Hancock, Wis.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 24, 1912, page 1.

Note: A couple mistakes in the headline fixed, not called to WAUPUN, and not M. B. Sweet.

Here's George B. Rhodes' cemetery information: Lakeside Memorial Park, Waupaca, Wisconsin. Lot #529-L, Space 2, born 1863, died 1913, age 50. [They say 1913, but it would appear he died in 1912.]

Keep It Grave, Watching Out for Flippant Epitaphs

1922

Censored Tombstones
By Frederic J. Haskin

WASHINGTON. D. C., May 29.— Censorship is now being carried to the very grave. The latest thing in censors, according to a serious minded trade journal which keeps up with tombstone news, is a censor of epitaphs. This official has been appointed in an unnamed English village and entrusted with the job of seeing that graveyard solemnity is not violated by flippant quips and epigrams on the tombstones.

English vicars for a number of years have supervised to some extent tombstone sentiments. It may seem strange that now, when epitaphs are no longer indulged in by poets or poetasters, there should be any great need for a special guardian of tomb- stone dignity. But the dangers it seems, are in the epitaphs which have been perpetrated in the past. Graved on old, moss grown, tottering stones, the verses of a century or two ago oftentimes express sentiments regarding death and the dead that are flippant, irreverent, and in short, unsuited for public perusal in this highly regulated age.

Our attitude toward tombstones undoubtedly has changed. It is not so much that we think more solemnly of death; but rather that we think less of it. The churchyard is seldom the graveyard any longer. Few people think of visiting the cemeteries outside the city when they set out for a Sunday afternoon stroll. Decidedly, the dead are not so much with us as they were a few centuries, or even a few generations, back.

Tombstones Topics of Talk.

Then, tombstones were a live topic. A man expected to have an epitaph written about him, and if there was any fear in his mind that his relatives would not make a good job of it, he wrote the label for his stone himself or hired a professional to write one.

Ben Jonson, Milton, and Pope wrote epitaphs. Shakespeare wrote his own epitaph in a four-line verse of warning to any who might wish to disturb his bones. To dash off a witty epitaph for a friend or enemy was a parlor trick with which kings and courtiers whiled away a dull afternoon.

Thus when Charles II casually asked Rochester to write his epitaph, the courtier thought a minute and produced the following famous lines:

Here lies our mutton-eating king,
Whose word no man relied on;
Who never said a foolish thing,
And did a wise one.

The king took no offense, but set his brains to work and composed a second stanza:

If death could speak, the king would say,
In justice to his crown,
His acts they were the minister's,
His words they were his own.

Even if a man was inadvertently misplaced, he had to have a tombstone and an epitaph, as is shown by the following in an English churchyard:

Underneath this sod lies John Round,
Who was lost in the sea and never was found.

Rhyme of Free Verse.

Epitaphs were correct style and everybody had them. Those individuals whose outstanding deeds and characteristics could not be squeezed into rhymed couplets were gloriously immortalized in free verse. Lady O'Looney's epitaph is a good example:

Here lies the body of
Lady O'Looney,
Great nice of Burke, commonly
Called the sublime,
She was
Bland, passionate, and deeply religious;
Also painted in water-colors,
And sent several pictures to the exhibition.
She was first cousin to Lady Jones,
And of such is the kingdom of heaven.

But those days are gone. Poets no longer specialize in epitaphs. Henpecked husbands get even by some other means than by writing sarcastic verses to go on tombstones. The epitaph, which started off well in this country in the graveyards of Massachusetts, is practically defunct.

Still, the possibilities of epitaph reform, even in this country, should not be overlooked. Like England, we have ample material which should be of interest to censors in our old New England churchyards. The verse which is said to have started the agitation in the English village is on an old stone. We quote it now. In future, it may be permissible to designate it only by four rows of dots:

Here lies the body of Mary Ann Lowder
Who burst from drinking a seldlitz powder,
Called from this world to her heavenly rest,
She should have waited till it effervesced.

Danger of Levity Less.

The danger of the public catching the idea that death is not to be taken seriously is less now, to be sure, than it might have been a few decades back when promenades in the graveyard were a popular outdoor sport. Still, the old grinning, chuckling epitaphs are there, legible under the grime, to corrupt anybody who strays into their neighborhood.

Take the following, for instance, out in Iowa, written on stone for dignified and sober-minded middle westerners to read:

Beneath this stone our baby lays. He neither cries nor hollers He lived just one and twenty days And cost us forty dollars.

Or consider that admired and copied verse by some unknown English poet:

Here lies my wife,
Here lies she.
Hallelujah!
Hallehujee!

The effect of such epitaphs on the public is obviously demoralizing. In the future we may have a national censor of epitaphs to see that covers are made for all epitaphs which do not conform to the national regulations for tombstone literature. Or possibly the epitaph official will gather together a collection of forbidden tombstones and keep them in a locked and guarded graveyard museum.

Anyway, the English village may expect to go down in history as the pioneer in the crusade for preservation of tombstone dignity.

—The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, Nebraska, June 7, 1922, page 2.

Lafayette's Ashes Buried With Dog

1911

ASHES BURIED WITH DOG

Lafayette's Funeral at Edinburgh Witnessed by Tremendous Crowd

Edinburgh, May 15.—Lafayette's unurned ashes were buried between the paws of the embalmed body of Beauty his favorite dog, in the Edinburgh cemetery. A royal funeral could not have been larger.

The chief mourner was Lafayette's second favorite dog, which rode alone in a curtained auto.



Farmer's Fatal Over-Exertion

Akron, O., May 15.—While plowing on his farm Newman Adair, a prominent farmer of Summit county, was overcome by the heat and expired within a few hours.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1911, page 2.

Yap to be Given to Jap?

1920

Senate Asks Confirmation of British Announcement

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 25. -- A resolution asking President Wilson for information as to the recent announcement by the British foreign minister that the island of Yap, in the Pacific Ocean, was to be given to Japan, was adopted by the Senate without debate. It was offered by Senator Lodge. The island is the focal point, it is said, for three Pacific cables, vital to American business interests in the far east.


Pallbearers Form a Union

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 25. -- An application for charter has been made to Romans Hailey, clerk of the County Court here, by R. H. Bumpass of Mason, Fayette County, and others, for a new labor union, to be known as "The Independent Pallbearers Society." The application is being held up, pending investigation of the purposes of the organization.


Not Prince, Mere Mr. Smith

But Man Mistaken for Wales Writes an Autograph

LONDON, England, March 25. -- The Prince of Wales seems to have doubles in England.

In the company of two officers, a man entered a moving picture theater the other day. A lady sitting near the door arose, bowed and presented the eternal autograph book. The man took the book and with a serene countenance wrote "J. J. Smith," and handed back the volume with a gracious bow.

It was not the prince.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 1.

Railroad Workers: Sick Children and Some Die

Huron, South Dakota, 1909--

Among the Railroad Workers

Happenings in Shop and Home

Engineer Vance has been on sick list for some days.

E. G. Ball has been constructing cement walks at his residence, 611 Frank.

Miss Linnie Kesler was quite sick the last of last week.

The Infant child of Conductor Gross, who has been quite ill is said to be entirely out of danger.

Little Howard Rilplogal, the infant son of Walter Riplogal is under the care of Dr. Foxton. He is suffering from bowel trouble, as are so many little ones this weather.

Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Ball, parents Mrs. G. R. Dickson and E. G. Ball are visiting at the Dickson home. They arrived Monday evening from Egan, S. D., where another daughter lives. During the last year Mr. and Mrs. Ball have traveled in the southern and eastern portions of the United States and after a short visit here will probably tour the western states.

No. 16 came running two sections this morning, owing to the many Elks en route to their convention.

T. F. Keater has been laying for several days.

Mr. Joseph Thorsness has taken a 30-day leave of absence and gone to North Dakota, where he will, perhaps run a threshing engine.

Harry, the little nephew of Mr. Koerner (the foreman of the Co. blacksmith shops) was drowned while fishing with a crowd of little boys Monday forenoon. Harry has made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Koerner for two years since the death of his mother and they have come to look upon the boy as almost their own. He was a bright and winning little fellow and will be missed by his little playmates. The sympathy of all is with Mr. and Mrs. Koerner in this affliction.

Margarette Adell Dickson, only daughter of George R. and Margarette B. Dickson, passed away Saturday morning, August 14th, aged seven months and four days. The little one was suffering with ilio-colitis aggravated by the intensely hot weather and the fact that she was teething; she lingered but a few days after the illness manifested itself. All that loving hearts and helpful hands could do, all that medical science could lend was taxed to the uttermost but the mission of the little life had been fulfilled and the angels whispered softly, in her ear — "Child, thy Father calls thee, stay not here," as they gently bore her, robed in shining white to their blissful realms of light. At two o'clock Sunday afternoon funeral services were conducted at the home by Rev. Rifenbark, who spoke most beautifully from the text — "Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The choir rendered "Sometime we'll understand" and "Safe in the arms of Jesus" while a friend sang "Beautiful Baby hands." Sympathizing friends filled the house with blossoms and beautiful floral emblems were received from both the B. of L. F. & E. and Prairie Rose No. 5.

God never does nor suffers to be done aught but what we ourselves would choose if we could see the end of all events as well as He.

Mr. and Mrs. Geo. R. Dickson wish to tender their heartfelt thanks to the friends and neighbors who assisted so kindly, and aided in so many ways during the last illness of their beloved little daughter and especially to express sincere gratitude to Prairie Rose lodge, to the B. of L. F. & E., and to Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Eldridge, Mrs. Thorsness and Mr. Kester particular for their untiring efforts in her behalf.

--Weekly State Spirit and Dakota Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, August 19, 1909, page 1.


DEATH OF BABY GIRL.

Seven Months Old Child of Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Dickson Died Suddenly This Morning.

Margarette Adell Dickson, aged seven months and four days, the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Dickson died suddenly this morning at 8:35 o'clock of ilio-colitis. The little one was taken sick on Monday morning, but yesterday was thought to be improved and today appeared to be almost recovered, when at eight o'clock she was taken with convulsions and died in a short time. She was a happy natured child and one that everyone loved, and the sincere sympathy of all will be extended to her parents.

The funeral services were held from the house at 617 Frank street at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon. Four young ladies acted as the pall-bearers.

--Weekly State Spirit and Dakota Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, August 26, 1909, page 4.

Comment: Even though the article of the 26th says she died "this morning," obviously the funeral was a Sunday past, and the first article says she died August 14. So it just took a little while to get this formal obituary in the paper.

Aged Shoemaker Dies of Apoplexy

1913--

AGED SHOEMAKER DIES OF APOPLEXY

McGREGOR, Iowa, Oct. 8.—Joseph Jacob Winterlin, who has been a shoemaker in Iowa for fifty years, died here of a second stroke of apoplexy shortly after midnight last night. He was born in Schleisingerville, Wis., April 13, 1849. He served his apprenticeship as shoemaker at Milwaukee. Soon afterwards he came to Elkport, Iowa, where he worked at his trade for a number of years. While in Elkport he married Miss Margaret Astfolk. From Elkport the family moved to Elkader and in 1896 to McGregor. He leaves a widow and seven children, Charles Winterlin of Davenport; Joseph and George Winterlin of St. Paul: Mrs. F. Vonesh of Janesville, Wis., and Anna, Will and Ben of McGregor.

--The La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin, October 8, 1913, page 4.

Man Charged With Insulting Women

Centralia, Washington, 1913
----------
CHARGED WITH INSULTING WOMAN

A warrant was sworn out Thursday by Justice Jones at Morton for the arrest of S. W. Jordan for alledged discourtesies applied to the wife of R. L. Shepherd, a brakeman living in West Morton. Owing to the absence of Jordan no hearing has as yet been secured. Public sentiment in the town is divided in regard to the matter.

--Daily Chronicle-Examiner, Centralia, Washington, August 16, 1913, page 6.


The Letters Undertakers Get
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Chehalis, Washington, 1921
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The Sticklin Undertaking Company reports that every week letters continue to arrive from all parts of the country asking for pictures and descriptions of the young boy who was killed in the Chehalis railroad yards in August, following the night of the Palmer Bros. circus being in the city, and whose remains were buried here. Only a few days ago a woman came from Portland to look at the pictures of the boy, hoping against hope that it might be her lost son. A letter arrived a few days ago from a small California town, asking for information. Evidently none of us realize how many aching mother hearts there are in this country, yearning for news of an absent son.

--The Chehalis Bee-Nugget, Chehalis, Washington, October 28, 1921, page 4.

Funeral Arrangements for Mrs. Annie Scripture

Denton, Texas, 1918
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FUNERAL ARRANGEMENT FOR MRS. ANNIE SCRIPTURE

Mrs. Annie Scripture, former well Denton woman and wife of R. C. Scripture, died at 5 o'clock Sunday morning at the family home in Dallas. She had suffered a nervous breakdown six weeks ago and this, with complications caused her death.

Before her marriage Mrs. Scripture was Miss Annie Brown and was born at Salisbury, N. C., in 1862. She was married in the 80s, making their home here. Ten years ago to the day the family moved back to Dallas from this city, and had lived there since. Surviving her besides Mr. Scripture is her daughter, Mrs. H. Hargraves Brown of Salisbury. N. C. A nephew, Francis Scripture, was an adopted son, who is employed in government work at Penniman, Va.

The funeral arrangements are held up pending the arrival of Francis in Dallas. Her daughter, Mrs. Brown, was with her mother when the end came.

--Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, Texas, November 11, 1918, afternoon issue, page 8

Scripture family

Farmer Admits He Shot 8 To Death

Family of Seven and Chore Boy His Victims.

Slayer Is Sentenced to Life Term in Prison -- Has Wife and Six Children.

WASHBURN, N. D., May 20 - Henry Layer, a farmer, has confessed to the killing of Jacob Wolf, his wife and five children and a chore boy, Jake Hofer, on the Wolf farm, three miles west of Turtle Lake, N. D., on April 22, it was announced here by J. E. Williams, State's attorney for McLean County.

Ill feelings of long standing, culminating in a quarrel over injuries administered to Layer's cattle by Wolf's dog, was responsible for the crime, according to Layer's confession.

Gets Life Sentence.

Layer, who is married and has six children, and who owns a farm one and a half miles from the Wolf place, was arrested at his home. He was arraigned before Judge W. L. Nuessele in District Court and sentenced to life imprisonment in the State penitentiary.

According to his confession, Layer said he went to the Wolf farm shortly before noon on Thursday, April 22. Layer said an argument followed. Wolf demanded that Layer leave.

Layer refused and Wolf went into the house and returned with a double barreled shotgun. Layer grasped the gun and attempted to wrest it from Wolf, he said, and the weapon was discharged twice.

One of the shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other Hofer, 12-year-old chore boy, Layer said. By this time Layer had taken the gun away from Wolf, went into the sitting-room, obtained a handful of shells from a bureau drawer and hurried outside. Wolf was running toward the barn and Layer fired, the charge striking Wolf in the back. Layer then shot Wolf in the back as he lay on the ground.

Hides the Bodies.

Layer said he ran to a barn and shot two of the girls while they pleaded for mercy.

Attracted by the screams of three little girls in the house, Layer shot two of them and killed the third with a hatchet.

After the seven members of the family and Hofer had been killed Layer went to the barn, covered the two bodies with hay, and dragged Wolf's body into the shed and buried it under a pile of hay. He then went to the kitchen, opened the cellar door and threw in the bodies of Mrs. Wolf, three children and Hofer.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, May 22, 1920, page 3.

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FARMER CONFESSES TURTLE LAKE MURDERS

HENRY LAYER TELLS OFFICERS THAT QUARREL OVER COW CAUSED HIM TO SLAY EIGHT NEIGHBORS

Signed Confession Made by Murderer in Early Morning Hours; Describes Horrible Details of Crime

(By Staff Correspondent)
(Bulletin)

Sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for life, Henry Layer, self-confessed slayer of eight persons at Turtle Lake, N. D., April 22, started serving his prison term at 4 o'clock this afternoon, less than 48 hours after he was arrested. Layer was brought from Washburn, where he pleaded guilty before Judge W. L. Nuessle in district court, to Bismarck by automobile and committed to the state penitentiary here.

At no time during the brief trial or the trip to Bismarck did the slayer express the slightest concern over the eight persons he murdered exactly three weeks ago. Given every opportunity to change his plea or repudiate his confession, and warned by Judge Nuessle of the seriousness of the charge to which he confessed and later plead guilty, Layer stoically refused the services of a lawyer and only asked that "let it be over with as fast as possible."

Washburn, N. D., May 13. – Henry Layer early this morning confessed to the killing of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wolf, their five small daughters and the chore boy, Jake Hofer, on the Wolf farm three miles from Turtle Lake, N. D., on April 22.

Ill feeling of long standing culminated in a quarrel over injuries administered one of Layer's cows by Wolf's dog.

Layer went to Wolf's farm home shortly before noon, and heated words, followed by Wolf's demand that Layer leave the place immediately, were the events leading up to the murder of the eight people, according to Layer's confession to the authorities.

Used Shot Gun
When Layer refused to leave the place Wolf went into the sitting room, got his double barreled shot gun and loaded two shells into the breech. Layer grasped the gun and attempted to wrest it away from Wolf. The struggle took place in the entrance to the kitchen during which the gun was discharged twice.

Two Deaths Accidental
Layer claims in his confession that one of these shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other the thirteen-year-old chore boy.

By this time Layer had succeeded in wresting the gun away from Wolf, the murderer darted into the sitting room, got a handful of shells from the bureau and hurried back to the kitchen entrance.

Wolf was running towards the barn and Layer fired the shots striking Wolf in the back. Wolf fell to the ground and Layer ran up to him and placed the muzzle of the gun against the wounded man's side and fired again, tearing a huge hole in Wolf's body.

Frightened Girls Run
Two of the smaller daughters, frightened at the fighting and seeing their mother and the boy fall dead in the kitchen, ran into the adjoining bedroom and escaped from the house, running to the nearby cow shed. Arrested by the screams of two girls, Layer rushed into the barn, firing one shot which cut a furrow in one of the girls' head.

The shot splintered the wall. Layer jammed the muzzle of the shotgun against the head of the other girl, who also was screaming and pleading for mercy, and pressed the trigger. He then placed another shell into the gun, put the muzzle against the head of the first child shot, who was now dead, and fired again.

Deliberately Kills Three
The three little girls in the house were screaming. Layer returned to the kitchen and deliberately killed the children, two of them with the shotgun, placing the muzzle against the curly heads and the third with a smashing blow of a hatchet.

After seven members of the family and the chore boy had been killed, Layer went to the cowshed, covered up two bodies of the girls with hay, dragged Wolf's body into the cowshed and covered it with hay.

He then went to the kitchen, opened the trap door leading into the cellar and dumped the five bodies into the basement.

Taking the gun which he broke in order to better conceal it, he went to a nearby slough, threw part of the gun and some shells into the water and by a circular route returned to his home. He did not say anything to his wife and five young children. While at the slough he washed his hands and removed all traces of blood from his clothing.

Bismarck Chief Praised
The solution of the mystery, which had been baffling the authorities, handicapped as they were because no clue had been left by the murderer and two days had elapsed between the time the murders were committed and the bodies were found, was in a large measure due to Chris Martineson, chief of the Bismarck police department, who has been working on the case together with Sheriff Ole Stefford of McLean county constantly since the murders were discovered. Chief Martineson was the first to suspect the guilty man, who was finally arrested Tuesday and by more than eight hours of continuous examination last night, forced the confession from his lips.

Murderer Not Worried
Layer has failed to show any concern over his revolting deed. Within ten minutes after his confession had been obtained the murderer was sleeping soundly on his cot in the county jail at Washburn. His memory on many of the details connected with the eight murders is very vague and he told the authorities he did not remember killing the youngest child with an ax, but supposed he did it.

The murderer acknowledged that the only reason he did not kill eight months old Emma Wolf, the sole survivor of the dreadful tragedy, was because he did not know she was in the bedroom, where she was sleeping during the time the horrible deeds were committed.

Goes Back to Field
After returning home from the scene of the murder, Layer resumed his plowing, his farm being one half mile from Wolf's property. He plowed all day Friday and Saturday morning. When a neighbor told him Saturday that the Wolf family had been killed he went to the Wolf farm and was there all Saturday afternoon and most of the evening, volunteering information about self evident details concerning the killings.

A morbid curiosity overcame his better judgment on Sunday morning and he went to the Wolf farm at daybreak to see the bodies of Wolf and the two little girls in the cowshed.

Even though Wolf's face and part of his arm had been eaten by hogs, Layer failed to show any sign of a strain, although he had been warned by Chief Martinson's appearance.

Attended the Funeral
Layer, accompanied by his wife and one of his daughters attended the funeral of his eight victims the following Thursday.

The coffins were placed in a row in front of the Wolf farm house. Layer, watched by the authorities, insisted on lifting the lids off each of the coffins and gazed into the faces of the persons, five of whom were between three and thirteen years of age, whom he had horribly murdered. During the funeral services, Layer continued to maintain his calm demeanor.

The authorities watched his every move for a suspicious action. They were doomed to disappointment, however, for Layer failed to show as much feeling as the hundreds of other farmers present.

Kissed Children Farewell
Obtaining a number of depositions from people living in the neighborhood of the Wolf farm, the authorities tightened the yoke around the suspected man. Finally, sufficient circumstantial evidence had been obtained to indicate that Layer had committed the crime. On Tuesday afternoon the authorities went to Layer's home and told him he would have to go to Washburn with them. After hitching up a team of horses for his wife, who was afraid to spend the night on the Layer farm, he kissed his wife and each of the children farewell.

The murder was placed in jail at Washburn and continued to maintain that he was innocent of the Wolf murders.

Wednesday night Chief Martineson started a vigorous cross-examination. Layer was forced to gaze at pictures of the revolting murder scenes, together with that of baby Emma.

Strain is Too Great
The strain proved too great for the murderer and after several hours of this mental torture, Layer broke down and said he was the murderer. The confession, according to the police, was wormed out of him piece by piece until the entire story had been told. Layer is an American, farmer, 36 years of age and has lived near Turtle Lake for several years. He divorced his first wife. His eldest child, a girl, is about 12 years old, the authorities believe.

--The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, May 13, 1920, pages 1 and 3.

Comment: I corrected a few obvious typos and things, but left the spellings of Martineson or Martinson.

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HENRY LAYER, MURDERER OF EIGHT, DIES

Man Who Killed Members of Wolf Family Succumbs to Heart Attack

SENTENCED FOR LIFE

Slayer, Who Confesses Crime Was Model Prisoner, Authorities Say

Henry Layer, confessed slayer of Jacob Wolf, wife, five daughters and the Wolf family choreboy, Jacob Hofer, on the Wolf farm, three miles from Turtle Lake, on April 22, 1920, who was serving a life sentence for the murders, in the state penitentiary here, died in the prison hospital at 3:10 this morning.

Layer was operated on for appendicitis in the St. Alexius hospital about ten days ago. He was taken to the prison hospital Wednesday. Heart trouble developed and a blood clot formed. Heart trouble was given as the cause of death.

Although Layer confessed and pleaded guilty to the crime, he later repudiated the confession and said that he admitted the murders only after being given the third degree.

Chris Martineson, Bismarck chief of police, who is given credit for solving the crime, declared today that third degree methods were not used to get a confession from Layer. "The first lead came from Layer himself," Chief Martineson said. "It was at the Wolf farm after the murders. Layer was roasting Wolf, declaring Wolf's dog killed one of his sheep. His actions were suspicious the morning the bodies were found and at the funeral. We suspected him from the first and he was constantly under surveillance. We placed him under arrest after more than a week of work on the case and after questioning him for a few hours he broke down and confessed the crime."

Chief Martineson was called in on the case by state and county officers.

The murders were the most cold blooded and fiendish in the history of North Dakota. Ill feeling had long existed between Wolf and Layer over injuries administered to one Layer's cows by Wolf's dog.

The Wolf and Layer families were neighbors, and according to Layer's confession, he went to Wolf's farm about noon on the day of the murders, and heated words, followed by Wolf's demand that Layer leave the place immediately, were the events leading up to the killing of the eight people.

When Layer refused to leave the place Wolf went into the sitting room, got his double barreled shot gun and loaded two shells into the breech. Layer grasped the gun and attempted to wrest it away from Wolf. The struggle took place in the entrance to the kitchen during which the gun was discharged twice.

Layer claimed in his confession that one of these shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other the 13 year old choreboy.

By this time Layer had succeeded in wresting the gun away from Wolf. The murderer darted into the sitting room, got a handful of shells from the bureau and hurried back to the kitchen entrance.

Wolf was running towards the barn and Layer fired, the shots striking Wolf in the back. Wolf fell to the ground and Layer ran up to him and placed the muzzle of the gun against the wounded man's side and fired again, tearing a big hole in Wolf's body.

Two of the smaller daughters frightened at the fighting and seeing their mother and the boy fall dead in the kitchen, ran into an adjoining room and escaped from the house, fleeing to a cowshed. Arrested by the screams of the girls, Layer rushed into the barn, firing one shot which cut a furrow in one of the girl's head. Layer jammed the gun against the head of the other girl, who was pleading and screaming for mercy, and pressed the trigger.

The three little girls in the house were screaming. Layer returned to the kitchen and deliberately killed the children, two of them with the shot gun and the other with a hatchet.

After seven members of the family and the choreboy had been killed, Layer went to the cowshed, covered the two bodies of the girls with hay, dragged Wolf's body into the cowshed and covered it with hay. He then went to the kitchen, opened the trap door leading into the cellar and dumped the five bodies into the basement.

The crime was not discovered until two days after the murders, when John Kraft, a neighbor, called at the Wolf farm and found the members of the family dead.

The only member of the Wolf family that escaped the murderer's fury was the youngest girl just passed her first birthday. Mr. Kraft found the little tot in her cradle. She was almost famished and in a weakened condition. The little girl is living with her aunt, a sister of her mother, near Turtle Lake.

The murderer acknowledged in his confession that the only reason he did not kill the baby was because he did not know she was in the bed room where she was sleeping during the time the horrible crime was committed.

Layer was sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for life and arrived at the prison here on April 13, less than 48 hours after he was arrested. Layer was a model prisoner, prison authorities said today. He acted as head man in the laundry.

Layer's mother and brother were called here by his illness and visited him in the prison hospital last night.

Layer was 40 years of age and was a native of Russia. He was divorced from his first wife but his second wife and several children survive.

No funeral arrangements have been made, but it is expected his mother will take charge of the body. An autopsy will be held late this afternoon.

--The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, March 21, 1925, pages 1 and 3.

Fall On Mourners; Hurt One

Guests Drop Through Ceiling and End Funeral Feast.

Hamburg, Pa., May 24. - Three women and a boy plunged through the floor of a second-story room in the home of William Kauffman in Center township yesterday and fell on the dining-room table below at a time when the table was surrounded by guests. One of the diners, Mrs. Elias Balthaser, was bending over the table at the time and one of the women fell on her neck, causing probably fatal injuries.

Kauffman's little daughter had just been buried and the funeral party returned to his house for dinner. Pastor D. P. Derebrich and a dozen others were gathered around the table. A number of women mourners were assembled upstairs.

There was an old trap door in the dining-room ceiling, and the weight of some of the portly mourners caused it to give way. Those who fell through were little injured. The tableware they broke filled two large clothes baskets.

--The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, May 24, 1909, page 9.

Comment: Derebrich maybe should be Deberich or Derberich. It's interesting in the last paragraph that the mourners upstairs are specifically called portly. And the note on how much tableware was broken.