1879a Jan-Apr

61.

Mrs. JAYNE, aged 98 years, the oldest inhabitant of Kalamazoo county, was burned to death Wednesday, at her home in Augusta. The old lady was blind and while in her room alone her dress caught fire from the stove and she was burned to a crisp before being discovered by the family. She was a most remarkable woman and at her extreme age could recite a large portion of the Bible from memory.

Friday January 31, 1879

Giles ADRIANCE, of Grand Rapids, was accidentally killed Thursday morning, by the falling of a heavy door from the dry-kiln of the Phoenix Furniture Works. He was 55 years of age and leaves a family.

Friday January 31, 1879

Edward P. CARROLL, of Emmet, St. Clair county, while drunk, fell down stairs on his face and suffocated, on the 18th.

Friday January 31, 1879

A little daughter of Edward HYDORN, of Grand Rapids, was accidentally killed by some frozen snow falling upon him from the roof of the house.

Friday January 31, 1879

Lucien POBERT, of Gore, Huron county, went to Port Hope with a load of wood on the 20th, and was found dead by the side of his team where he had driven to unload. Heart disease is supposed to be the cause. He leaves a wife and seven children.

Friday January 31, 1879

Hon. Andrew ROBISON, of Sharon township, Washtenaw county, died on Tuesday, aged 76 years. He a member of the Legislature of 1859, and of the Hon. John J. ROBISON of the present Legislature.

Friday February 7, 1879

Miss Hattie SKINNER, of Cambridge, Lenawee county, committed suicide by swallowing arsenic. It is said to be a case of unrequited love.

Friday February 7, 1879

George WILBUR and Henry KILDUFF, of North Plain, Ionia county, got into a quarrel, when both drew revolvers, and KILDUFF was shot dead. They were about 16 years of age.

Friday February 7, 1879

Charles GREINER, of Manchester, committed suicide Thursday by shooting himself in the mouth with a revolver. Alleged cause, financial difficulties.

Friday February 7, 1879

A little daughter of Owen ROBERTS at Port Huron broke through the ice Thursday and was drowned.

Friday February 7, 1879

John BIDGOOD, a ship carpenter, while at work on a steamer at Grand Haven, fell through the hatchway and was killed.

Friday February 7, 1879

Frederick SCHNEIDER of Ann Arbor committed suicide by hanging. Drink.

Friday February 7, 1879

George GRAHAM, a brakeman on the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw road, has been killed by the cars at West Bay City.

Friday February 7, 1879

John McBRIDE, of Lake Township, Huron county, fell on the ice while carrying a pole on his shoulder, and the pole struck his neck in such a way as to inflict fatal injuries.

Friday February 7, 1879

D. H. DAVIS, a dealer in musical instruments at Dowagiac, died suddenly under circumstances which lead to the belief that he committed suicide by poison.

Friday February 14, 1879

J. S. HEATH, of New Boston, Wayne county, committed suicide at Kalamazoo, Friday by shooting himself in the head. He had gone there to get married, but the proposed bride’s father interfered, with the above result.

Friday February 14, 1879

The Hon. Uzziel PUTNAM, of Pokagon, died Monday morning, aged 52 years. He was the first white child born in Cass county, and had always lived within 80 rods of his birthplace. He had represented his county in both branches 

62.

of the Legislature, besides holding many other offices of public trust.

Friday February 14, 1879

Gotieb E. RIVARD, a lad 16 years of age, was instantly killed by a falling tree at Sebewaing on Monday.

Friday February 14, 1879

By an accidental explosion of blasting powder at the Champion Iron Mine, Marquette county, a few days since. Samuel BENNETT and John RUTTER lost their lives, and John DANIELSON and Joseph FRAMBOC, were seriously injured. Both of DANIELSON’s eyes were blown out, and it is thought he cannot recover.

Friday February 21, 1879

Reuben HOOVER, of Flushing, Genesee county, was killed by the cal_ near Buffalo. He was 22 years old and unmarried.

Friday February 21, 1879

Herman JOHN was killed near Port Hope on Monday by a tree falling on him. He leaves a wife and three children.

Friday February 21, 1879

David WHALEN was killed by a falling tree in a lumber camp in Clare county on the 11th. He was 42 years of age, and came from Washington county, New York.

Friday February 21, 1879

An explosion occurred Thursday morning in the chemical works of R. H Emerson & Co. At Jackson, demolishing the establishment and fatally scalding the engineer Henry KREGER.

Friday February 21, 1879

Chas. LEWIS was killed in a logging camp in Sheridan, Montcalm county, on the 10th, by a log rolling upon him and crushing his head. He leaves a wife and three children.

Friday February 21, 1879

Garry SPEAR, a farmer of Casnovia, shot himself through the head with suicide intent Sunday, he lived but a few hours.

Friday February 21, 1879

Miss Pearl MERRILL, working at the Potter House, Potterville, died early Monday morning from the effects of poison taken during the previous night.

Friday February 21, 1879

Minerva GRIMES, a young woman of Grand Rapids, Has committed suicide by taking morphine. All efforts of the doctors to preserve her life were unavailing.

Friday February 28, 1879

James LEE and Joseph DELORMER, aged 19 and 20 respectively, while skating half a mile outside of Loud’s dock on Lake Huron, were drowned at dark Tuesday night. The bodies have been recovered.

Friday February 28, 1879

Mrs. A. O. MILLER, the Michigan actress, died at Chicago, of consumption, last week.

Friday February 28, 1879

Amos E. FORBES, a fine young man, the son of a widow lady, of Dayton, Newaygo county, was instantly killed by a falling limb on the 13th.

Friday February 28, 1879

S. S. LISCOMB, a citizen of Charlevoix for the past eight years , but who recently went to Jackboro, Texas, with the intention of settling there, was killed by a vicious horse on the 16th. He leaves a wife and four children, who are at Charlevoix.

Friday February 28, 1879

Jas. MONKS, in the employ of the Wagar Lumber Company, was instantly killed at a railroad crossing near Sheridan, Montcalm county, on the 17th. His deafness prevented his noticing the approach of the train. He was an old and respected citizen of Ionia county, having resided in Keene, near Saranac since 1837, engaged in farming. He was 70 years of age, and leaves a large family.

Friday February 28, 1879

Peter THOMAS, aged 53, a miner at the Atlantic copper mine, near Houghton, Lake Superior, was instantly killed by a wall of falling rock on the 14th. His son was also seriously injured.

Friday February 28, 1879

Last summer there were rumors afloat that W. A. MORRISON, of Albion, had been killed by Indians, but it has only been recently that they could be verified. Letters have now been received stating that his body had been found on a road leading from Fort Scott. Indian territory, scalped and badly burned. He had left the fort a day or two previous with considerable money, intending to go south, and whether he was killed by Indians or by robbers is not known. He was identified by documents and letters found upon his person, so that there seems to be no doubt that the sad news must be true.

63.

Friday February 28, 1879

Mrs. L. R. FISKE, wife of the President of Albion College, died Tuesday morning.

Friday February 28, 1879

In an altercation at Evart Tuesday afternoon Charles IRVING shot and killed C. E. St. JOHN, of Ashtabula, O.

Friday March 7, 1879

Safford EDDY, a well-known citizen and a brother of Rev. Dr. EDDY, of Detroit, died at Grand Rapids Wednesday morning.

Friday March 7, 1879

A man named George SUTTON was found dead on the tracks of the Detroit, Hillsdale & Southern Railroad, about one-half mile west of the depot in Hillsdale, Wednesday morning. SUTTON lived at Bankers, where he had been in the employ of the railroad company, and where he had a wife and two children.

Friday March 14, 1879

An old lady named Mrs. TRUMBELL, over 70 years of age, living in a secluded locality known as Willow Run, four miles west of Battle Creek, was burned to death in a shocking manner Tuesday. Her husband keeps a small stock of groceries for sale in an old building known by farmers as the "stone jug". While he was absent leaving his wife alone, it is supposed her clothes took fire from the stove. She was discovered by her husband lying on the floor near a chair, which was on fire, her clothes burned off and her body terribly burned.

Friday March 14, 1879

Ira D. NICHOLS, of St. Johns Co-operative Company, an old and well-known resident, was killed Wednesday by being caught by a belt he was putting on the main shaft at the company’s works, and being wound up in the machinery.

Friday March 14, 1879

On the 7th. Michael McELROY, a farmer of Odessa, Ionia county, shot and killed William SNYDER, a neighbor. The affair was the result of an old feud. McELROY is in jail.

Friday March 14, 1879

A little son of E. G. SCOTT, of Kinderhook, Branch county, fell through the ice Monday and drowned.

Friday March 14, 1879

Dr. Peter MARTIN, of Charlotte, an old citizen, died Sunday, aged 77. His wife died on Thursday last.

Friday March 14, 1879

Geo. ACRES, a farmer in Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo county, hung himself on the 7th. Troubles with his sons, leading to financial difficulties and despondency, are said to be the cause of the deed.

Friday March 14, 1879

A man by the name of SNYDER, living in the northeast corner of Woodland Township, Barry Co., was shot Friday afternoon and instantly killed by a man named MANCELROY. The difficulty was over a small piece of land which SNYDER was living on and had possession of.

Friday March 21, 1879

Eben J. CHURCH, aged 35, a farmer, of Clayton Bay county, was felling a tree on Friday last, when a limb from another tree fell and struck him on his head. He died Monday.

Friday March 21, 1879

A young girl by the name of Emma AVERY, living at Galien, killed herself by taking strychnine Saturday evening last. She was only 17 years old.

Friday March 21, 1879

Roger WALKER, who lives three miles north of Dexter, was seriously injured, while chopping down a tree on his place, Wednesday. He failed to get clear of the tree as it fell, and was struck by it and his skull crushed in. He is not expected to live.

Friday March 21, 1879

Henry VANDLING, residing four miles south of Vicksurg, committed suicide by taking laudanum Wednesday night. Domestic troubles are alleged as the cause.

Friday March 21, 1879

Wm. M. RUMSEY and Charles DARRELL, of Tomkins, Jackson county, had a dispute over the possession of a house which the latter occupied. RUMSEY, revolver in hand, demanded admittance, and on being refused, forced his way into the house, when he was shot and instantly killed by DARRELL. The latter was arrested and is in jail.

Friday March 21, 1879

The Hon. Franklin MUZZY, of Niles was struck with paralysis Thursday night, and died at noon Friday. He was a man of marked ability, a law student of William Pitt Fessenden’s and had represented Berrien county in the state Senate, and was Mayor of Niles four terms.

Friday March 28, 1879

Myron HELLER was killed by a freight train at Rives Junction Tuesday night. He was a brakeman on the Jackson, 

64.

Lansing and Saginaw Road, but had been on the train only a few days, and was unused to the work of switching.

Friday March 28, 1879

A Jackson girl named Almora LYON took five grains of morphine Tuesday night, and died in consequence next morning. She did not meditate suicide, but took the drug for the purpose of inducing sleep.

Friday March 28, 1879

Mrs. Naomi SMITH, of Somerset, Hillsdale county, was thrown from a carriage Tuesday evening and instantly killed. Mrs. HINKLEY and her little daughter were thrown out at the same time and both severely if not fatally injured.

Friday March 28, 1879

Edward CASEY, a young man of Greenville, died on the 7th from an overdose of morphine taken to relieve quinsy.

Friday March 28, 1879

Thomas BROWNELL, for 22 years Superintendent of the Poor for Kalamazoo county, died Friday night.

Friday March 28, 1879

A young boy named STRUNK died on the 18th of trichina, caused by eating raw ham. Another member of the family, which resides at Prairie Creek, Ionia county, is not expected to live.

Friday March 28, 1879

Mrs. Hiram TAYLOR, of Northport, was killed by falling in a well on the 18th.

Friday March 28, 1879

Col. A. W. WILLIAMS, formerly of Lansing, died on his ranch near Los Angeles, California March 11, aged 55.

Friday March 28, 1879

A Frenchman by name of Isadore CASS, committed suicide Sunday night, at Cheboygan by jumping from the abutment of the Third Street bridge. Liquor was the cause.

Friday April 4, 1879

John G. OPFEL, a German peddler of Niles was killed Tuesday afternoon near Galien, being run over by a railroad train when walking on the tracks.

Friday April 4, 1879

A dispatch from Sebewaing says that the residence of John BANG was destroyed by fire Tuesday night, and his two children, who were sleeping in the house, burned to death. Their parents were absent at the time. No further particulars.

Friday April 4, 1879

Patrick GORMAN, of Tallmadge, Ottawa county, probably the oldest man in Michigan, died Friday. The evidence is said to be indisputable that he was 110 years old.

Friday April 4, 1879

A Frenchman by the name of Isadore CASS committed suicide at Cheyboygan on the 24th by jumping into the river. Drunk.

Friday April 4, 1879

The daughter of Mrs. Lowell HINKLEY, of Jerome, Hillsdale county, who was hurt in the accident on the 17th, in which her mother was injured and Mrs. Naomi SMITH killed, died on the 22d, after great suffering. Mrs. HINKLEY remains in a critical condition.

Friday April 4, 1879

Deramius AIKEN, of Charlotte, shot his wife at the Union depot, Grand Rapids, Saturday night, inflicting fatal injuries. One bullet passed through her windpipe and two through the shoulders. The murderer escaped.

Friday April 4, 1879

About 7:30 o’clock Saturday night the eastbound passenger train on the Grand Trunk Railway was thrown from the track between Smith’s Creek and Ridgeway. The brakeman, named WILSON, was instantly killed by being jammed between the tender and the first car. The fireman, Thomas COWAN, was so badly scalded that he died at 8 o’clock at night. The engineer, B. C. WALTERS, was also badly scalded in endeavoring to save COWAN, but his injuries are not of a fatal nature. The train was running at a rate of 30 miles per hour, and the locomotive and train, excepting the Pullman sleeper and Mr. HANFORD’s special coach, were rolled over into a ditch. Some maliciously inclined persons removed a fish plate, and when the train ran over it the track spread , which overturned the train.

Friday April 4, 1879

John HAIRE, living near Sebewa, accidentally killed himself while hunting Saturday. He was getting over a fence when his gun was discharged, and the charge of small shot penetrated his skull, near the ear. His two motherless little children found his body hanging over the fence.

Friday April 4, 1879

Andrew DEVINE, of Martin, Allegan county, was killed at Blanchard, Isabella county, on the 29th, by a falling tree.

65.

Friday April 11, 1879

A horrible accident occurred March 16 near Northport, by which Mrs. Hiram TAYLOR lost her life. It seems that she was living alone with her child, about a year old, her husband being in the lumber wood this winter. Mr. E. P. TAYLOR, her father-in-law, happening to pass by the house at dusk heard the child crying very hard. On entering the house the mother could not be found, nor any trace of her except a water pail standing by the well, which is over 30 feet deep. The neighbors were soon aroused and her dead body discovered in the well. It is thought that death was instantaneous, and that the accident happened some hours previously, while she was endeavoring to draw water from the well with a rope and pail.

Friday April 11, 1879

Mrs. Samuel JEFFERS, of Muskegon, committed suicide by swallowing strychnine. She said she was driven to it by poverty.

Friday April 11, 1879

Fred. MILLER, the young man who was run over at Lapeer, Saturday morning, by the morning express, going south, and had both legs amputated above the knee, died Sunday night.

Friday April 11, 1879

A family named CARRUTHERS, living near Otsego, have been singularly afflicted. Within a few days five of the family have died with the diphtheria, and the father is lying dangerously ill with the same disease.

Friday April 11, 1879

Philip RUNYON died at Fenton on Wednesday from the effects of a blow on the head with an iron scale weight in the hands of his father-in-law, James LACY. LACY is under arrest.

Friday April 11, 1879

Oliver CUMMINGS, an old resident of Sturgis, committed suicide by drowning himself in a cistern on the 3d. The act is supposed to have been occasioned by despondency over recent losses of property.

Friday April 11, 1879

Joseph E. SHAW, a prominent and widely known business man of East Saginaw, died Friday of apoplexy, aged 67.

.

Friday April 18, 1879

A laundry girl at Sweet’s Hotel, Grand Rapids, named Mary LEET, was almost instantly killed by being struck on the head by the descending elevator.

Friday April 18, 1879

The mutilated body of Benjamin YOUNG was found near East Saginaw Tuesday. It is supposed to be a case of murder but as yet there is no clue to the perpetrators.

Friday April 18, 1879

James MORGAN, a woodsman, suicided Wednesday on the railroad about three miles southwest of Alleyton, Newaygo county, by kneeling in the middle of the track ahead of an approaching extra freight train. No cause is known for the action as the deceased when last seen was in his right mind. His parents reside in Detroit.

Friday April 18, 1879

Alvah BRAINARD, the first white settler in Genesee County, has just died at Grand Blanc, aged 73. He settled there fifty years since, was the author of a book on pioneer reminiscences, and was a prominent member of the Pioneer Society.

Friday April 18, 1879

Thomas WILKINSON aged 89, a resident at Mt. Clemens for about 18 years, a veteran of the war of 1812, and one of the men who helped carry Gen. SCOTT from the battle-field of Landy’s Lane, died on the 10th of old age.

Friday April 18, 1879

Frank VanEVERY, a single man 35 years old a native of Belgium, fell into the canal at Grand Rapids and was drowned before assistance could reach him.

Friday April 18, 1879

About March 20, a lady 70 years of age, named Sarah ROBINSON, left her daughter’s house in Girard Township, Branch C., for the purpose of visiting some relations in Butler township. Since that time nothing had been heard of her until Sunday afternoon, when her remains were found in a large marsh in Butler township, where it is supposed she had wandered and being unable to get out either froze or died from exposure.

Friday April 25, 1879

A young man named Samuel JARRETT was drowned in Manistee River while driving logs. His body has been recovered.

Friday April 25, 1879

A man giving his name as Geo. C. CLARY, and his residence at Birmingham, Erie county, Ohio, was found dead in his bed at the American House, Windsor, Tuesday morning, having taken a dose of morphine. By his side was a note requesting the Masons to take care of his remains, he having left $95 for that purpose.

66.

Friday April 25, 1879

Near Essexville Wednesday morning, Cyrus A. SMITH was kicked by a horse and received injuries which will probably prove fatal. One eye was torn out and fifteen pieces of bone have been taken from his skull, leaving a large hole, with the brains laid bare.

Friday April 25, 1879

The boiler in a sawmill owned by C. A. HAWLEY at Shelby, Oceana county, blew up Thursday, instantly killing the engineer, James CURTIS and seriously scalding and injuring four others. The mill is a wreck. Loss about $5,000.

Friday April 25, 1879

An eight-year old daughter of Henry SCHROEDER, who lives three miles north of Galesburg, was so severely burned by her clothes taking fire while playing in the field that she died in a few hours.

Friday April 25, 1879

A young man named Amos KENDRICK was fatally injured Thursday by the bursting of a gun barrel while hunting in the woods in the township of Hazelton, Genesee county. He was unmarried and had his home in Cincinnati.

Friday April 25, 1879

P. W. CHAMBERLIN, of Hopkins, Allegan county, aged 60 years, hung himself on Thursday. He fastened a rope to a cross timber in the barn, put his head in the noose and jumped off. When found he was dead. He leaves a wife and family. He had been mildly insane for some time from paralysis.

Friday April 25, 1879

The body of Mrs. Stephens O’BRIEN was found in Grand River at the mouth of Sand Creek Friday morning. She mysteriously disappeared four weeks ago. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict that she came to her death by accidental drowning.

Friday April 25, 1879

Peter NASH, of Sturgis, was accidentally drowned on the 14th. He was a soldier in the late war, was aged 62, and leaves a wife and three children.