Causes of Death
Take a Walk in Cemetery via Website
A favorite form of
entertainment is looking for unusual causes of death
Causes of death were
listed in Kearney Cemetery website database before the mid-1990’s
Go to City of
Kearney website (cityofkearny.org), select Cemetery department and choose
“Internment Records.”
Choose any
letter of the alphabet you want and scroll down the column titled “Cause of
Death”
One day I
chose a letter and went down through the whole list. Here are some
interesting causes I found
A. Usual causes of death
Various medical names, many old terms
Stillborn, TB, typhoid
Heart attacks, kidney
disease, cancer
B. An Unusual Term
Had to go to dictionary for this one
Cause of death: Epithelium
Victim:
64 year old woman in 1895
Definition of epithelium
1: a
membranous cellular tissue that covers a free surface or lines a tube or
cavity of an animal body and serves
especially to enclose and protect the other parts of the body, to produce
secretions and excretions, and to
function in assimilation
An
example, the membrane lining our noses
Assimilation – absorbing cells such viruses
That would be how we catch colds, flu, COVID-19 from viruses floating in the
air around us
Now we know why it is important to wear a mask when we leave home during
this pandemic
C. Some Vague Terms
Cause of death: Old age
From 1890 to 1924, sixteen deaths caused by old age were listed for
individuals between ages 68 and
100 years, 10 months
Mostly woman but the 100 year old was a man
Cause of death:
Senility - Seven ranging in age between 80 and 94, mostly men this
time
Cause of death: General debility - Two, man no age given in 1908
and woman, 73, in 1891
Cause of death: Sudden death – 67
year old man in 1979 – heart attack? Stroke? ???
Cause of death:
Natural cause – 68 year old man in 1977
D. Reasons that
arouse curiosity
Cause of death: Blood poisoning
Victims: Esther, age 24, died
July 17, 1921
Frank, age 32, died July 20, 1921
Esther – born in Buffalo
County to a family prominent in Church of Brethren [building and church
records are now
at Trails and Rails Museum]
She
married Frank in 1914 at age 17
Frank – born near Rushville,
NE, moved with parents to Kearney when he was 16
He was
also a member of Church of the Brethren
Spent 3
years in Manderson, WY, as ass’t bank cashier
Returned home when father died
At time
of death he was manager of Farmers Co-op elevator at Riverdale
No
reason given for blood poisoning that caused Esther’s death
Frank
died of blood poisoning from stepping on a rusty nail
The
couple left 4 children ranging in age from 4 years to 6 weeks, 3 boys and
baby girl
Could infection relating to childbirth have been cause of Esther’s death?
Question: What happened to the children?
Frank’s mother applied for
guardianship of the 4 grandchildren
3 months later a Kearney
dentist and wife filed for adoption the two youngest children, boy and a
girl
2 weeks later Esther’s parents filed for adoption of the second oldest son
What about the oldest son?
Answers are in the 1930 Census
Records:
– Youngest son and daughter were living with the dentist and his wife in
Kearney
Listed as son and daughter so apparently that adoption went through
The
daughter’s name had been changed, however
But
according to some other records, she took her birth name back as an adult
– Second oldest son was living with his mother’s parents and they listed him
as son so apparently that adoption went
through also
– The oldest son was living in Lima, Ohio, with his father’s older brother,
a Church of the Brethren pastor, and wife
He is
listed as a son so they must have adopted him but probably not here in this
county.
Cause of death: Suicide pact
Other
frequently given related causes: suicide by hanging or gunshot
Victim:
Ernest Miller, age 18, died Sept, 6, 1926
Sept 7 news item – Young couple
found in car in ravine about half mile north of country club; both shot
through
right temple
with pistol; ruled a suicide pact
Cause of Death: Injury
Victim: Jacob Mundell, age 31,
died on Aug. 18, 1904
Aug. 20 news item – Kicked by a
horse
Cause of death: Accidental explosion
Victim: Clara McKenzie, age 55,
died July 28, 1945 in Salem, Oregon
Aug 1 news item – Accident at
Walport, Oregon; formerly of Odessa; “the victim of an explosion while a
well on a
farm was being dynamited.”
Cause of Death: Fractured skull
Victim: Wayne McCartney, age 17, Died Oct. 31, 1930
No
information found about death so don’t know what happened
Nov. 1 news item – members of
medical detachment of National Guard planned on attending funeral as a group
Nov. 3 news item – funeral was at St. Luke’s Episcopal; National Guard
provided firing squad and taps at cemetery
Cause of death: Run over by train
Victim: Ralph Martin, age 12,
died March 24, 1927
No reports
Cause of Death: Accident
Victim: W. S. Malvin, age 44, died
July 25, 1910
July 26 news item – Scotty Nervin [sic], hired man, feeding horses;
apparently crushed against side of stall; ribs
broken; no relatives found, since he was a member of Eagles Lodge, they saw
to his burial
Cause of death: Gunshot
Victim: Patsy McElhinny, age 2,
died Aug 28, 1944
Aug 29 news item – two children alone in trophy room of a Lexington
resident; number if guns and knives on wall;
boy, 12, climbed up on chair, removed one of the guns that accidentally
discharged.
[all kinds of no, no’s here – children alone in room with weapons, weapons
not locked in display cases, loaded
gun on the wall]
Cause of death: Drowning
Victim: Edgar Mallady, age 16,
died June 28, 1918
June 29 news item – Had worked at Kauffmann-Wernerts in Kearney;
accidentally drown in Salt Creek near
Lincoln.
Cause of Death: Broken neck
Victim: Jesse Mercer, age 25,
died July 24, 1933
July 25 news item – employed driving for Debus baking company of Hastings;
truck overturned near Nelson; cause
unknown, maybe loose gravel, maybe fell asleep; a passenger was asleep so he
could not say
Cause of death: Accidentally electrocuted
Victim: Vern Martin, no age
given, May 22, 1928
No reports
Cause of death: Gunshot wound
Victims: Doris, age 25, died
May 27, 1939, buried in lot owned by her family
Gail, age 30, died May 27, 1939, buried in lot owned by county
May 27 news item – Apparent
murder, suicide by husband after breakfast that morning. Shot her in breast
with
shotgun, reloaded
and shot himself through heart; no note left
Daughters, 5 & 6, had been sent to neighborhood grocery for ice cream, door
locked when they got home so
they went to neighbor who called police. Girls told of frequent fights by
parents; apparently Gail frequently
threatened to kill wife but she never believed him.
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