Tales from the graveyard (3)

A lot of history is buried in Weston Cemetery and this blog occasionally tries to dig up some of it. Two years ago I had a second post called "Tales from the graveyard." (The first was in 2014 and is here.) It listed a number of people who had tragic or early deaths. Today's post continues the series with accounts of  tragic and early deaths. If you click on any name, you will go to the findagrave.com memorial for that person where you can find additional information, including obituaries or newspaper reports of their deaths.

Entering Weston Cemetery from Abigail Street, we have Section E on our west. About four rows in are twin towers marking the Moody lot. One of them is for Thomas Moody (1884-1906) who was killed by a falling tree. His death was a blow to the family because he had been groomed to continue running the prosperous farming business that his father, Granville Moody, had built.

Closer to the road and a bit to the south is the lot of the Yates family. Buried here in an unmarked grave is the unfortunate John Yates (1890-1908). He fell beneath a moving train and was so horribly mangled that his identification was made from his clothing and watch. The coroner ruled his death accidental.

Continuing along the road, we turn to the west and walk between Sections G and E. When we reach the sixth row of graves in E, leave the road to find the Day lot and the marker for Dan Day (1887-1936). Physically and mentally handicapped, he supported himself by buying and selling junk. He ended his life with a gunshot. Today obituaries downplay suicides to the extent that they often are not mentioned. A century ago the press did not. However, the report of his death ignored a serious and tragic incident earlier in Dan Day's life that made headlines in 1908.

We now leave the road and head south into Section G, looking for the grave of Truit Parker Wright (1849-1901) a member of the Wright family of undertakers and sellers of furniture. Truit was the County Coroner. He may be Jasper County's first victim of an accidental overdose of opioids.

Continuing to the south, we find a group of large and impressive tombstones, the largest of which belongs to William Baker. Among these monuments is a small stone marking the grave of Edward Honan, one of Rensselaer's prominent lawyers early in the twentieth century. His first son, Paul (1885-1894), died as the result of an infection after he was hit on his heel by a stone from a slingshot. At the time, he was the only son of the Honans. Also in the lot but in an unmarked grave is E. Honan's nephew, John Leahy (or Leahey) (1875-1905) who committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. Drinking carbolic acid was a common method of suicide a century ago.

Going the west a bit north off the road, we find the Platt marker with many names on it. One of the names is David Platt (1867-1904), who also committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. Newspaper accounts often portrayed suicide victims with sympathy and surprise, but this was not the case for David Platt. One can almost read the message of "Good Riddance" in the report.

Turning to the south, we find the Simon Parr Thompson lot. Among those buried here is Simon's granddaughter, Jeannette (1910-1915). Her death is one of the saddest in all of Weston Cemetery. She was excited to dress up for Halloween and went outside to play. She set a pile of leaves on fire and the fire spread to her clothing. Help arrived too late to save her.

A bit further to the south is the grave of Fred Trussell (1876-1904) who was found dead in a haystack near Fair Oaks. Suicide was suspected but homicide could not be ruled out.

Now we head east to the distinctive marker of Dr. Israel Washburn (1838-1903). He died after an operation that was searching for why he had been left in pain from a previous operation. The second operation was s success—it found that a six-inch steel forceps had been left inside of Dr. Washburn from the previous operation. Unfortunately, he was too weak to recover from this second operation.

Crossing the road to the edge of Section B we find the grave to Maude Eldridge (1902-1927), a young mother who died leaving two small children.

Continuing to the west among the graves, we find the Baech markers as we reach the edge of Section C. Little five-year-old Dorothy Baech (1899-1905) choked to death on a cherry pit.

We turn to the northwest and look for a large, black Parker monument. On its north side is the inscription for Wayne Dee Parker (1881-1906). He was a law student at Columbia University in New York City when he suddenly became sick and died. To compound the family's grief, another son, Korah Parker (1872-1906), died a few month later.

Continuing to the Northwest we look for the grave of Dr. Francis Hemphill (1872-1927), another suicide, this one by gunshot. Here is a case where the reporting expressed surprise and sorrow at the loss of an esteemed citizen.

We now head to the west to find a group of three burials with tragic stories. Harlow Morton (1892-1913) was killed when his truck was hit by a train in Goodland. Trueman Delos Woodworth (1904-1912) drowned in the Iroquois River during a high-water event. Harrison Wasson (1865-1912) was another suicide by ingesting carbolic acid.

Heading to the southeast we find the grave of Iva Washburn Robinson (1878-1906) who died in childbirth. To her east is the grave of William Ramey (1886-1905) who drowned in the Pinkamink River while herding cattle. In the same block but a different lot is the large marker for Jay Williams (1845-1908). He was the son-in-law of John Makeever and was at the apex of Rensselaer's social order in his day. He owned the largest furniture business in Rensselaer and was active in the Methodist Church. Hence his suicide was a shock to the community.

We now turn to the southwest and find the marker of Leslie Smith (1904-1918), a twelve-year-old boy hit by an auto in Hammond. He had gone to Hammond to live with an older brother.

Our final stop on this tour is at the west edge of Section G. Frank Padgitt (1860-1913) died as the result of a horse racing accident in Lawrenceburg.