Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1902 — FATAL ACCIDENT IN MILROY TP. [ARTICLE]

FATAL ACCIDENT IN MILROY TP.

The 18-Year-Old Daughter of George Wood Is Shot While Handling a Target Rifle. Last Sunday, about 11 o’clock, at the home of George Wood in Milroy tp., occurred one of the saddest and most dreadful accidents in the history of Jasper county. Lydia, Mr. Wood’s 18-year-old daughter, was entertaining her affianced husband, Elmer Johnson, a young farmer of the neighborhood. Johnson had brought with him a small 22-cali-bre target rifle and was shooting at sparrows with it. The girl finally asked him to let her load the rifle, and he handed it to her together with the box of cartridges. In loading the gun it must have got caught some way in her dress, for suddenly it went off and the bullet entered her right breast and passed clear through her body, lodging under the skin at the back. The girl uttered an exclamation and fell back in her chair and in about eight minutes she was a corpse. Coroner Wright went out and made an examination with Dr. Kresler and Stenographer Walker, and the verdict will be accidental shooting. It is understood that Miss Wood and Mr. Johnson were to have been married next February. The funeral was held from the Milroy Baptist church Tuesday at 11 a. m., and interment made in the Benson cemetery. Only last fall a brother of the girl died of typhoid fever. The family have the sympathy of the whole community in their great grief.

Douglas Craft, farmer, aged 42, residing a short distance west of Lowell, was shot and killed last Friday night, and his farm hand, Arthur Moyer, quite badly wounded in the left arm. Moyer claims that they were at the barn together and that Craft shot him and then committed suicide, but the matter is being investigated, and pending the investigation Moyer was arrested and taken to Kankakee and lodged in jail. The options on the land at Horseshoe Bend on the Tippecanoe river above Springboro, have been extended to May 15, in order to give the company time to have an additional survey made. It is said they have procured the services of the engineer who made the survey for the power plant at Niagara Falls, and if his figures come anywhere near those given by the first surveyor the land deals will be closed up and the power plant will be a go.—White County Democrat.

Among the relatives froffi a distance in attendance at the M. F. Chilcote funeral were Dre. Allen M. and Edward Chilcote of Bloomdale, Ohio; Bruce Chilcote of Homer. Mich.; Herman B. Chilcote of Corydon, Ind.; Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Duvall of Allentown, 111., and Dr. Alva, Edith and Mary Miller of Dyer. Owing to delay in Gaylord Chilcote’s receiving the notice of his father’s death and trains being ten hours late over the road on which he would have left after receiving the notice, it would have been impossible for him to have reached here in time for the funeral, so he gave up coming for the present.

There will be a convention of the Sunday School workers of Jasper county held here next Sunday and Monday. The sessions will be held at the various churches as follows: Sunday afternoon at the Christian church; Sunday evening at the Presbyterian church; Monday forenoon at the Missionary Baptist church; Monday afternoon at the Free Baptist church; Monday evening at the M. E. church. At the Monday evening session thirty minutes will be given to an exercise by the primary classes of the home Sunday Schools. Rev. J. H. Carman, of Indianapolis, the General State Secretary will be present at all sessions. The entire program will be good and no one can afford to missone session. The general public cordially invited. ■ •

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