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sad stories

Having a bad day?  It could have been worse, and has been for some people. Read away then go forth and deal with life strongly.

a young engaged couple die of influenza within hours of each other.
She was 18.  He was young and "strong and healthy, but his strength did not avail against the ravages of the prevailing scourge" 

The influenza pandemic came to Table Rock as it did all over the world.  A weekly "flu list" reported those ill and those who had died. On December 6 and 13, 1918 this sad story about two newcomers to Table Rock unwound:

Two bodies are lying cold in death in lower town.

One is L. J. Chillin, at the home of Mrs. Mary Tlustos, and the other is Miss Mary R. Rubis at the Murphy hotel.

Mr. Chillin is a man about 30 years of age who has been a section foreman in this city for about 18 months. Up to the time we go to press no word has been received from his relatives although efforts have been made to reach his mother, who is supposed to be in Denver. Mr. Chillin died Wednesday forenoon.

​Miss Rubis' father lived in Wyoming and has telegraphed that he would be here on No. 42 Thursday afternoon. The young lady has been employed at the hotel for some weeks and a story is current that she and Mr. Chillin were to have been united in marriage at Christmas time.

​mary

Mary's father, Thomas, came here within the week and decided to have her buried here in Table Rock. Perhaps they could not afford to bring her home.  

Her father said that she "had left her home some weeks before expecting to go to Denver, and her parents supposed she was in that city, until they received the announcement of her death here. They do not know why she changed her mind and came to Table Rock instead of going to Denver."  

The Argus said that her death caused them "great grief" and then added:  

The Hotel Murphy, where 18-year-old Mary Rubis worked a short time and then died of the flu hours before her fiance Lewis.

The report of her intended marriage to Mr. Chillin, whose death preceded hers only a few hours, seems well authenticated, and added to the pathos of her death among strangers.

Sadly, she lies in an unmarked grave in an unknown part of the cemetery.  Neither burial records nor a tombstone appear to reflect her existence. Yet, she did exist, her short life terminated soon after she came to Table Rock.  The Argus confirms she is buried here. But where?

lewis

Mary is alone in the Table Rock Cemetery.  Lewis's body was taken to Denver by two uncles and two cousins the same week that Mary's father came to bury her.  Table Rock city and railroad authorities had been unable to reach any other family.  His mother was in Greece visiting family there. He had a brother, but he was in the army somewhere unknown. His father's whereabouts were unknown.

The Argus said of Lewis:

Mr. Chillin had been in Table Rock about 18 months as section foreman for the Burlington. He was strong and healthy, but his strength did not avail against the ravages of the prevailing scourge, and after a couple of weeks illness he crossed the river of death.

He was a pleasant companionable man, and made friends with those he came in contact with.

​He was to have been married to Miss Rubis, whose death followed his by only a few hours. The relatives left Thursday afternoon for Denver with the remains.

the murder of marshal n. a. craig

It happened in 1896, down by the depot.  It was described as the "depot lunch counter," which was probably a cafe by the depot rather than something inside the depot itself. 

Nicholas Craig's father was a Civil War soldier, William Craig, who contracted a "disease of the lungs" and was discharged with a full disability.  In 1867, Nicholas left his native Pennsylvania, where he lived in a depressed coal mining area, to travel with his parents, younger brother and sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to Nebraska. He was 10 years old.  An uncle had died at Andersonville prison, two uncles had been killed in battle, and another uncle had lot a leg.  Within less than a year the Civil War claimed another family member. Nicholas's father succumbed to the disease -- probably tuberculosis -- with which he had been stricken. 

Nicholas was twice widowed.  

He married Agnes Taylor in 1878 and she died in 1884. Her tombstone bears a barely decipherable poem, "Whither ______ life without thee" is in the first line, "darkness and despair" ends the second, and the others cannot be made out.  (One of her brothers, William, later built a store now occupied by the Argus Museum.)

Next, the year after Agnes died, he married Rosella Horton, daughter of Charles Horton, Jr.  She was about his age, 30.  Between 1885 and 1892, something happened to her, but what?  Presumably she died given the rarity of divorce in those days, but no information as to her demise has been found.

Finally, in 1892, Nicolas married a widow with five children, Lucella Dare.  

Nicholas was murdered in October 1896 and his third wife, Lucella, died in 1898.  Her husband's murderer had never been caught (nor would he be) and at least one newspaper reporting on the dramatic affairs following the murder, said that she had died of a broken heart.  The epitaph on her tombstone: SHE HAS DONE WHAT SHE COULD.   

Agnes and Lucella are buried in the Table Rock Cemetery. Agnes's grave is marked by the beautiful tombstone that Nicholas placed there. Lucella is buried with her first husband, the father of her children.  

Nicholas was only 39.  He is buried in the Table Rock Cemetery, where is mother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are also buried.  But their resting places are marked. His is not. He lies in an unmarked grave, in an unknown part of the cemetery.  

Marshal Craig, the story of his murder

Story of the Kerns sisters, including Nicholas's mother

Agnes Taylor Craig's stone. Her death left him in "darkness and despair."

The Table Rock Depot, the area where Nicholas Craig was murdered by a tramp that he was questioning. The depot was then only four years old, the previous one having burned down.

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little dick woods - here on vacation

Photo 2238 and 2240

Brothers Dan and Dick Andrew, Photo 2240

Dick Andrew, Photo 2238

Little Dick Andrew did not live in Table Rock.  His roots were here, though. He was a grandson of Dann and Lydia Andrew, who had lived in Table Rock for years but moved away.  His father was the Andrew's son Raymond; his mother, Lotta, was the daughter of Edgar and Alice Woods, and Alice's father was Milton Marble, a noted citizen of Table Rock who came here in 1870.  

Dick's mother came visiting with her three sons, including Dick. They were here to see extended family, and visited his mother's sister in Wymore. Some misfortune of illness or injury befell him, we know not what.  According to the obituary in the Argus, he "had been reported in critical condition for some little time."  News of his death left the town of Table Rock "stirred to the depths." 

He is buried in Table Rock, while his parents are in Illinois, where they lived their lives.  It is sad that a child is here without his parents, although balanced by the nearness of many members of his extended family who are at rest in Table Rock.