DISEASE, ILLNESS, SICKNESS
diptheria, malaria, typhoid Fever, cholera

DIPTHERIA

LYDIA JONES (1870-1877), AGE 7

Lydia was the daughter of John and  Ellen Jones, who were both born in Wales. They settled first in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, Ellen first as a child and then John as a young man.  John came to Table Rock in 1858 to make a home for her then brought her here in 1860. They were married by C. W. Giddings, the Methodist minister who led the pioneers of the Nebraska Settlement Company here from 1856-1858.  

Lydia is buried in the Table Rock Cemetery.

---

​typhoid fever
what it is

Typhoid fever was long a scourge of the early settlers and into the 1900s.  A description of typhoid fever from the Table Rock Historical Society Newsletter, 2017, Issue #3, accompanying a story about the 1905 death of Nancy Wood, descrbed in the chronology below.

hanna jane gere, 1857
unidentified fever
julia gere, 1859
dies at age 18
poignant family diaries 

Juliana was one of the children of Horation N. & Juliana Gere, educated pioneers from Pennsylvania. They came here in 1857 with their young children Hannah Jane, Julia, and George.  Their oldest son, Chester H. Gere, stayed behind to attend college. C. H. Gere was unable to return until after the Civil War.  By that time, his father and sisters were dead and his brother George grown.  He stayed in Table Rock briefly with his mother, then moved to Pawnee City, and then to Lincoln.  His career was auspicious. After politics, he quickly founded the influential Nebraska State Journal.  A library in Lincoln is named after him. 

Juliana wrote of the deaths of her two daughters.  She wrote that her dear Hanna Jane, who died in 1857, was the third person to be buried in the new burial ground (the Table Rock Cemetery).  Julia, too, was buried there. Neither the grave of Hanna or of Julia is marked today.  There are several limestone plinths in the northwest quarter of the cemetery that bear many tool marks but no inscriptions. It may be that one of these marks their resting place, or nothing at all.  

Juliana's writings were located, transcribed, and digested by Doralyn Steiner Cheney for her fascinating little book, Stories of Settlers Along the Nemaha (Table Rock Historical Society, 2018).   But first, Doralyn started with the words of Julia, herself, as the family first decided to move to the wilds of Nebraska. Doralyn places Julia's writings in context:

young julia's travel to nebraska with her family

Julia Marie Gere returned to her parents’ home near the town of Greene, New York, for the last time after completing the winter term at the Academy at Oxford, New York.  On Saturday, March 14, 1857, she took a few minutes to make the following entry in her diary:  “In one week probably we shall be on [our way] to Nebraska, how strange the thought and yet I suppose it is true.  I do not care much either way.” [1]  The sixteen-year-old girl would be accompanying her parents and younger siblings to Nebraska Territory while her older brother, Charles Henry, remained in the East to continue his education.
 
Her indifference about the upcoming move was replaced with enthusiasm just three days later.  Before going to bed on Tuesday night, she again took out the diary and wrote, “Hoorah for the West!!  I have heard its merits discussed for the last few hours, and it has been proved to be an earthly paradise.  There have been nineteen persons in the room at a time this evening, and a crowd have just left.  Br. Giddings is now here and will stay all night.”
 
The Prime Mover 

​Br. Giddings” was the Rev. Charles W. Giddings.  He was an ordained Methodist Episcopal minister who had served at fourteen different appointments in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania and New York during the past twenty-five years (Ostwald).  It was he who had baptized Julia Marie Gere.   In her diary she said of him:  “He is truly a fine, noble looking man with his high pale brow and stately form.”

Doralyn writes: "Julia Marie Gere wrote her entries in pencil in a small 1857 diary.  (Some entries are hard to read.)  Other members of the family also wrote in the diary, usually in ink.  I first learned of the Gere diaries from the James and Augusta Griffing website, now expired.  Some quotes are from my 2008 six-page printout from that website.  I transcribed April entries (page 19 & 20) from the original 1857 diary at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s archives."

For part of the story, Doralyn also relied on some of Julia's writings transcribed by Kim Vrtiska.

After describing how Giddings came about making a decision to bring settlers to Table Rock, Doralyn returns to Julia:

To a Log Hut in the Wilderness

The enthusiasm that Julia Marie Gere had felt for the West seemed to waiver the day after Br. Giddings left.  On Thursday, March 19, 1857, she wrote:
 
                                It is late in the last day I shall spend in this house I suppose.  I have spent very                                  many happy days here, probably I have been as happy as I shall ever.  But now                                  I soon must exchange the pleasant woods where I have so often roamed in                                        search of flowers for the far spreading prairies of the west.  This little
                                room for one in a log hut in the wilderness.  I hope I shall be happy.

****

The Gere family traveled with others to Nebraska Territory.  Family members making the trip included Horatio N. Gere, his wife, Juliana Grant Gere, and four of their children:  Julia Marie, age 16, John, age 14, Hannah Jane, age 12 and George, age 9.  It is thought that they traveled by train from Greene, New York to St. Louis, Missouri.  From there they traveled up the Missouri River by steamboat.  The Gere family also made the last leg of their trip by wagon.  It is likely that they traveled through northeastern Kansas on a part of the St. Joseph to California Trail that crossed Wolf River near the present-day town of Hiawatha.  Julia wrote about the trip in her diary.

​Wednesday, April 1   Stayed last night at Mr. Fisher (?) and had plenty of company as thirteen (?) men stayed there also.  We crossed Wolf river this morning and the ford was very hard as they have no bridges here.  It is very difficult crossing even small streams for the banks are very steep and muddy.  We have been in company with the Pennsylvanians today and it makes traveling a great deal pleasanter for they are clever agreeable people.  There are about 20 of us in all.
 
Thursday, April 2   The weather is still cold and windy and we started late this morning from our quarters. . . . The prairie  traces (?)  are very uneven and we no sooner rise one hill then another is before us.  We stayed last night at Mr.     (?)    and his house is quite large but without a floor or a loft.  I am tired of travel

The Gere family arrived at the Table Rock town site on Tuesday, April 7, 1857.  On that day, Julia wrote:

​Came to the great City of Table Rock this morning and found that it holds but one house and the body of another and we have moved into this the great City house where we intend to live for the present with the family already there.  We are all sadly disappointed and if wishes would take us back to the East we should soon be there.  I do not know who is most to blame but we certainly been deceived. 

The town site purchased by the Nebraska Settlement Company was located along a creek known as Taylor’s Branch.   In the center of the site was higher land situated on a hill that rose between Taylor’s Branch to the south and Clear Creek to the north.
 
The Gere family would become one of the earliest families representing the Nebraska Settlement Company to live at Table Rock (Ostwald).  For most of the next year they stayed in a small cabin built by the previous owner, John Fleming—the only dwelling in the town site when they came.  Probably it was located on lower land near Taylor’s Branch on the eastern end of the town site.[1]  The Fleming family, their two boarders and hired man continued to live there until late April while another dwelling was being built for them.  They allowed the Geres to “come in with them at once.” 
 
Julia’s disappointment seemed to subside by the next day. 

On different occasions Juliana Gere wrote that they were ½ mile from Mrs. Anderson (see page 24), probably in Section 33, and ½ mile from the Giddings’ house (see page 23) located on the site of the present Methodist Church. 

Wednesday, April 8   We are living with a very kind family the mistress of which is but 19 years old and she has one child.  [There are two] boarders, one of whom is Mr.  C (?)  who has left a wife and two children in England and Mr. Smith who is from England.  They are both well educated and intelligent.  They say Mr. Smith expects a young lady from England this summer whom he will make his wife. 
 
Thursday, April 9   It is a delightful day and I have just been taking a nice nap on the soft grass beside a branch of the Nemaha after rambling around over the prairie which is now burning a short distance from me.  The flames go creeping slowly along through the grass as the wind is not very high now.  I begin to like the country better and I wish Pa had taken up a good claim and we had a good home here.

One year after their arrival, Julia’s mother, Juliana Gere, wrote a longer account about their first year at “Table Rock City”[1] from a little notebook she had kept during 1857.

​Our new home consisted of a hewed log house consisting of one room without any loft. . . . A cat could easily go through in many places.  The lower floor was made of narrow boards with cracks between each one. . . . The house set up on blocks and not underpinned or banked up. . . . The weather continued cold nearly all the month as cold as it seemed to us as any time during the past winter.  Water would freeze sitting in the room in the daytime in a very short time.  To add to our discomfort we did not get our freight in two months.  We had but one feather bed  ̶  two small comforts, one bed quilt, two flannel and two cotton sheets for us six and a boarder besides occasional guest.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Fleming were very kind to us giving up one of their beds to us though we had to furnish it with our scanty bedding. . . . Of course we were crowded but that was not the worst, we were cold!  Seldom getting comfortably warm either by night or by day.  Mrs. F. kindly let us use her stove and furniture to cook with which we used after she had done as well as her table. . . . From the first we seldom eat by ourselves a single day.
 
In two opposite corners of the room were beds, one occupied by [our two girls and myself] and the other by Mr. F.’s two boarders and hired man.  From under our bed was drawn out a trundle bed on which Mr. and Mrs. F. and child slept.  The other side  ̶  or opposite at night I spread down our wagon sheet or cover laid my feather bed (the best one) on it and made a bed for Mr. G[ere], John and Georgie when no one else happened to want a place on it which was not often the case. 

three hand-hewn plinths without inscriptions, not far from a larger one inscribed with the date 1858.  who is buried there? perhaps two are for sisters hanna jane & julia gere?

the story of hanna jane's death in 1857, fever unknown

What was it? The family arrived in May 1857.  Hanna Jane did not thrive, became very fatigued. By late June, a time when no fresh water was available, she developed an unrelenting thirst, and in July fevers set in.  

Cheney transcribes Juliana Gere's diary, beginning with this background: ​“Our poor Hannah Jane enjoyed but poor health from our first coming here though at times she seemed pretty well,” wrote Juliana Gere.  “She with the rest of us suffered most from the cold and crowded beds also from unsuitable foods we having no milk and butter but a short time which we brought with us.  Her appetite was poor and she appeared to be laboring under a bad cold.”  The following spring Juliana Gere wrote a number of pages about her young daughter’s illness.  ​

In the early part of June she went with Pa and I to our claim and helped sow some garden seeds and she went about a mile to drop corn for her Pa half a day but she came home very tired and went no more. 
 
The last time she went to a neighbor with me was after that I think.  We went onto Mrs. Andersons a ½ mile from here. . . . [On the way back] she looked so tired  ̶  she stopped and rested herself and came home at her leisure.  Still she complained but little and then when she wiped the dishes would say her side hurt her.  I told her she need not wipe them but she would frequently.  
 
The latter part of June her symptoms grew more serious, her strength declined. . . . The weather became very warm and we had no water but creek water which was drawn in a barrel and it was not fit to drink.  She suffered real much from thirst, her appetite for food failing almost entirely.  Oh how she longed for pure water.  Often crying when she attempted to drink the miserable stuff we had.  But as good Providence would have it, Mr. Fleming [had] a well before she was confined to her bed so that she could have sufficient water.  The symptoms getting worse fast.  She had a good deal of fever nights  ̶  she would set her cup of water by the side of her bed and drink frequently. 
 
The last Sunday in June, I walked with her. . . . I would go to Mrs. Fleming to get some milk for her. . . . I asked her several times if she was not tired?  She would say no and so we kept on. . . . I supported her putting my arm round her and she put her arm round me (Oh that long to be remembered walk I can never forget it) and now when I go there she is grasping me with her frail arms for support.  It was many weeks after this before I could go this same road again the ground was too sacred!  The remembrance too painful!
 
It was a painfully pleasant time we had seated together on a log that lay in the shade near the brook  ̶  listening to the sweet birds and looking at the flowers which I had gathered for her  ̶   for she loved them to the last. . . . We returned slowly as we came and that was the last walk we ever took together  ̶  in the flesh  ̶  for I seldom yet walk out alone but my mind is with her and I see her tripping along as she used to. . . .
 
[In July] after she had a very sick night I said to Julia I think Hannah stands a chance to die.  . . . She was shocked. . . . She went down to Mr. F. and found Dr. Cromwell there and asked him to come and see her sister.  He came  ̶  he pronounced her very sick and said . . . that he thought she was in great danger  ̶  he prescribed for her and the next morning she appeared better. . . . She was now for a few days able to set up part of the time and be dressed and her hair combed. . . .
 
For some time we had set up with her all night and I have become so worn out. . . . Julia supplied my place by Hannah Jane. . . . Poor Hannah whose fever returned in spite of the Doctor medicine was much worse of a night she would be delirious  ̶  and her moanings were heart rending in the extreme.  She would call on me and on Julia almost constantly and yet could not tell what she wanted. . . . 
 
Generally towards morning her fever would abate and she rest a little and through the daytime she would be rational though her mind became weaker. . . . Sister Lydia Griffin[g] came and stayed all night and helped take care of her a few nights before she died. . . .  We bathed her much with cold water wetting cloths especially and laying them on her head. . . . She had a dreadful night.  I think she never was so delirious before. . . . For a number of hours in the morning we supposed her dying  ̶  she was not conscious and had every appearance of death but she finally aroused and seemed better and was entirely rational though very weak.  Then it seemed to me that she might recover.  Oh for the blessing of God on medicine still at hand!  But such a boon was not ours. . . .
 
Well the next night passed better than the previous one and that day the Dr. came again.  He seemed surprised to find her apparently better. . . . He said if we could prevent the fever from rising and she lived till past 2 p.m. the danger would be over she might yet recover!  Julia fully believed it  ̶  I had my doubts.  It was anxious hours we sat by her bathing her and watching every symptom. . . . 
 
Just at dusk we took her on the sheet and lifted her back to her bed.  In a few minutes I perceived a change over her features of deadly paleness. . . . We could not arrest death!  It would come in spite of our puny efforts!  Oh the agony of that moment when hope gave up to despair.  But why attempt description  ̶  Language fails at such an hour  ̶  From 8 [p.m. to] 2 a.m. for six long hours that spirit hovered in its frail tenement before it took its final leave. 
 
During those 6 hours her features settled into the most beautiful calmness  ̶  not the least contortion  ̶  not the least visible sign of pain  ̶  and when the spirit had fled I never looked upon so beautiful a face.   Mrs. Griffin[g] assisted in putting on her burial dress and she combed her hair which she braided in two braids and wound them around her head and fastened on the top. . . . Julia put flowers in her hair and in her hand with a stem of cherries.  She had held a stem of cherries in her hand but a day or so before her death.

Hannah Jane Gere died on July 18, 1857.  On the following day, the Sabbath, she was buried.  

Mr. Griffin[g] preached an excellent discourse from these words  “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Our room was well filled with sympathizing neighbors and all our acquaintances. . . . Nearly every person present followed her dear form to its final resting place which is about ½ mile distant and is as lovely a spot as I could have selected.  Hers was the third grave in the new burial ground on the Town site.  

the story of julia's death in 1859 
​diptheria

From Stories of Early Settlers Along the Nemaha.

By the end of 1859 there were some who later wrote that a new day had dawned.  Unfortunately, one who had come to “the City of Table Rock” two years earlier hoping that she would be happy in a “log hut in the wilderness” did not live to see that new day.  In the back of his 1858 diary on a page marked “Memoranda” Horatio N. Gere wrote the following words:  “Wed. April 13, 1859   Tonight no meeting.  Julia instead of meeting with the rest as formerly was finishing up her brief life.  She expired about 8 o’clock Thursday a.m.  Dear Julia’s death has made a great impression upon her friends.  May it be lasting.”
 

​Juliana Gere wrote about her daughter’s battle with diphtheria on unused pages in Julia’s small 1857 diary.  After Julia’s April 9th entry written in pencil (see page 20), her mother penned the following:

​April 10   Two years from the time the above was inserted in this journal – the owner and writer of what is contained herein was taken sick from the effects of a violent cold and had to take her bed.  First she had a fever which from its symptoms appeared to be of the bilious type accompanied with a very sore throat.  She ate nothing this day but a little custard.  The fever abated at night and she rested tolerably well.
 
April 11  Today, April 11, 1859  Her throat got much worse.  She could swallow with the utmost difficulty and it causing excruciating pain.  Her neck though extremely sore to the touch was not swollen on the outside but seemed fast filling up within.  Every thing was done for her relief that maternal care and solicitude could devise but seemingly to little purpose.  Her throat ached constantly and her breathing was difficult and tho thirsty and compelled often to drink, it gave excruciating pain to do so. . . . 
 
April 12   She had to have the closest attention by night and day as she could get but a few minutes rest at a time and had to make almost constant effort to throw off the phylum that was accumulating in her throat.  The remedies were chiefly applied to her throat on the outside as she could take nothing into her mouth that would irritate her throat without nearly strangling her.
 
April 13   Previous to this day she had taken a little thin milk porridge but today her fever increased.  The inflammation seemed to extend to her stomach or breast and she coughed some with a hoarseness and with difficulty expectorated a thicker matter than before which would almost strangle her.  We had sent for the Dr. the day before but he did not come.  Now she took no nourishment but a little water sweetened with molasses.  At night she could breathe more easily and sleep lying down.  Before she had to be propped up by pillows or sit in an easy chair. . . . She suffered less pain than usual drank with less difficulty and thought herself better.  At early dawn we sent again for the Dr.  He arrived some after sun up – or nearly eight o’clock.  He gave her a little stimulate and for a few minutes appeared better – but when she again attempted to raise she suffocated and in a moment apparently all was over – the spirit had fled. . . . Thus died our beloved daughter after an illness of 4 days.  Aged 18 years and 6 months and 9 days.

Doralyn writes, "I have transcribed these entries from the original diary at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s archives, and photocopies thereof, with the help of my sister, Sylvia Moore."

According to the CDC, dipthreia is a bacterial infection.  "The bacteria that cause diphtheria can get into and attach to the lining of the respiratory system, which includes parts of the body that help you breathe. When this happens, the bacteria can produce a poison (toxin) that can cause:

• Weakness
• Sore throat
• Fever
• Swollen glands in the neck

The poison destroys healthy tissues in the respiratory system. Within two to three days, the dead tissue forms a thick, gray coating that can build up in the throat or nose. Medical experts call this thick gray coating a “pseudomembrane.” It can cover tissues in the nose, tonsils, voice box, and throat, making it very hard to breathe and swallow.
The poison may also get into the blood stream and cause damage to the heart, nerves, and kidneys."

​In addition to Horatio and Juliana Gere, Fanny and Lydia Giddings spent that last night near Julia’s bedside.  It may have been sometime later that Juliana Gere added more about Julia’s last night using both sides of five additional pages in the small diary.  (Some pages from August were removed and pinned in among the April pages to provide enough space.)  Starting a new paragraph she wrote:

I felt pretty sure some time before morning that her end was nigh.  I called her Father. . . .  We broke our fears to her as gently as we could.  First I asked her if she should never see [Charles] Henry again what should I tell him from her.  Said she, “Tell him I love him” and immediately added, “tell Br. Gee and Sister Gee [Rev. and Mrs. Giddings] that I loved them till I died.”  This she said with much emphasis. 
 
I enquired what her prospects beyond the grave should she not get well?  She said she did not know.  We wanted her to feel different from that and urged her to seek a full reconciliation to God immediately.  Although she did not think herself worse she could not help but perceive our anxiety for all around her bed were in tears.  And she soon seemed fully roused to her situation.  Her disease had not greatly prostrated her strength and now she did not suffer much which seemed favorable to the full exercise of her mind which soon became apparently so vigorous as when in health.  She listened and replied to our earnest entreaties to cast herself just as she was upon the merits of her Saviour.  She said it seemed to her like presumptuous.  We told her it was Sinners not the righteous He came to save.  She must believe in His power and willingness now to save her. 
 
She asked us to sing the Hymn “Arise my soul arise.  Shake off thy guilty fears.”  We afterwards sung “In Jordan’s stormy banks I stand.”  She then asked me to kneel beside her bed and pray – which I did her Father following.  (John now got up and joined the sorrowing group.)  Now she asked us to sing a favorite hymn of hers:  “I thirst Thou wounded Lamb of God.  To wash me in Thy cleansing blood.”[1] . . . While we were singing that beautiful hymn her mind became clear.  She could embrace the Saviour as her Saviour – could venture fully upon Him for salvation.
 
Death had no terror for her now, but she looked forward to her Heavenly home with as much pleasure apparently as one ever manifested in starting for their earthly home to rejoin friends from they had been long separated.  A most Heavenly smile lit up her countenance and one could hardly suppose she was conscious of the presence of disease or suffering.
 
She spoke most affectionately to John, urged him to prepare to meet her again in the better world.  And looked at us all and says “I shall see you again.” 

​After bequeathing some of her possessions to those around to her, Julia asked:

“If I die what shall I be buried in?”  After mentioning several garments without fixing upon any, Fanny said, “You shall have my white dress” one Julia had embroidered for her.  “Oh no I will not take that – but I will take that white cassock you had of Mrs. Chambers and you shall take my lawn shirt she gave me in return. Told us to choose between two linen shirts she mentioned to wear with the cassock.  Then she gave us to understand that we knew her feelings about strangers washing or dressing her person for its last repose – “None but one of you must do it” addressing Fanny & me “especially the washing.”  After her mind was satisfied in the adjustment of these things – she again expressed her joy at the prospect of being so near her better home – of her reunion with her friends who had gone before.  Mentioned Sister     (?)    , a beloved Sunday school Teacher and eminent Christian. “But Jesus, Jesus is better than all the rest.” This blessed name was often upon her lips. . . . She could now speak with difficulty and not much above a whisper.
 
Georgie got up at the dawn of day.  His feelings were such that I could hardly persuade him to go to the bedside to speak to his sister. He went crying as tho his heart would break. She spoke very affectionately to him – told him she was sorry she had plagued him so much but he must forgive her.  I told her I hoped she would forgive me if I had at any time been unkind to her. She raised her hand and said, “Oh dont Ma dont. You have been one of the best Mothers to me.”  I told her she knew that I had told her when her sister died that I hoped I should never be called to bury another child but should be taken first. “Oh Mother,” said she, “I could not possibly have done without you.”  Thus while we were all overwhelmed with anguish at the thought of parting with her, she only thought of words of affection and comfort.  Oh how it seemed all the rest in tears and her face clothed in smiles.
 
Mrs. and Mr. Giddings both came in and stayed each in turn a few moments. Br. G. prayed. The Dr. came about 8 o’clock.  He gave her a cordial which seemed to revive her a little – some one said you may get well.  Then said she, “I might miss Heaven.”  Even Mr. Giddings went home and told them he thought she would get well. . . . But as soon as she attempted to cough she motioned to be raised up and immediately suffocated or strangled.  Oh the agony of that brief struggle – tho but momentary – during which she looked and pointed upward!  Then settled back upon her pillow again.  She was gone.  

clyde wright, 1900
the only son of local druggist sam wright & wife sue
dies at age 17

february 4, 1900 table rock argus

Two children of Samuel & Susan Wright came down with typhoid fever in August 1900 -- identified initially as "malarial" fever.

August 19, 1900 Argus

Clyde's tombstone in the Table Rock Cemetery

Aluminum foil "casting" in order to read the lettering better

mary herrick, 1901
typhoid fever

Mary with husband William D'Arcy Herrick and five of their children -- Their youngest, Bessie, had apparently not yet been born, dating this picture prior to 1886. That must be Walter on his father's lap--yes, that's a boy, they often dressed them that way when little, back then. Photo 3963, shared by Brad Bowen

In 1864, Mary West and William D'Arcy Herrick were married (1844-1901, 1835-1902).  She died in 1901 and he the year after. 

Their children were: Minnie Herrick Asher (1867-1939), William M. Herrick (1869-1962), Lola Herrick Phillips (1872-1970), Infant Herrick (1874-1874), Walter Herrick (1875-1881), John Herrick (1879-1936), and Bessie Herrick Covault (1886-1948). 
ary's obituary in the September 5, 1901 Argus describes her death: "Mrs. W. Herrick, wife of one of Pawnee county's prominent farmers residing in Clear Creek, died early yesterday morning from complications arising from typhoid fever. She had been in poor health for a year, and when attacked by typhoid was in poor condition to withstand the ravages of the disease. During the illness of her son, John, with the same malady, she was untiring in her efforts to care for him, then she was taken down and suffered for four or five weeks. The funeral will be held at the house at 2:00 this afternoon, interment in the Table Rock cemetery. She was beloved by a large circle of acquaintances and the sympathy of all goes out to the afflicted husband and children. Bessie, the youngest daughter has much improved, but there is little change in the condition of Mrs. Asher, another daughter, who is down with the same disease."

---

nancy wood, 1905
TRAVELING AT THE
​AMAZING SPEED OF A MILE A MINUTE
A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO REACH his wife as she lay dying of typhoid fever 

The 1905 Argus article is headlined:: "Mrs. C. S. Wood Passes Away While the Husband is Flying Toward Table Rock at the Rate of a Mile a Minute."  Here's the story by Sharla Sitzman as derived from the article, her obituary and his, reprinted from the Table Rock Historical Society Newsletter, 2017, Issue #3.

The Table Rock depot as it was when Charles Wood arrived too late to be with his wife Nancy on her deathbed. The previous depot burned in 1892, so this one would have been only 13 years old at the time. (This second one eventually burned down,too.)

lyde Hoover Barnard (1862-1929). He heped secure a special train for his friend Charles Wood. Photo 1876,

Photo 8038, the Methodist Church as it would have been around the time of Nancy Wood's funeral. It underwent a major remodel in 1912. Photo shared by Cara Harris.