Blaine County ID Archives News.....A CAREY FAMILY POISONED    - Richards March 19, 1917
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Christine Storey chrissy_7@q.com July 27, 2010, 3:01 pm

Wood River News March 19, 1917
  The family of S. P. Richards was poisoned last Thursday by eating canned 
pigweed sometimes called lambs' quarters. The mother, aged 60 years, daughter, 
Blanche, 26, and Hazel, 16, are dead in consequence, and the father and son 
Claude, 30, are not expected to live. D. F. Presnell, a visitor, who ate 
sparlingly of the "greens," is out of danger.
  Some hours after partaking of the greens the family began to feel drowsy but 
were not alarmed until Friday night. They then took some home medicine tho 
they hardly expected poisoning. By noon Saturday Drugist Baugh was consulted 
and he gave them an antidote. By evening they felt so ill that Dr. Wright was 
summoned by telephone. He started immediately, but the roads are bad, the 
distance is about 30 miles; so he did not reach the Richards residence until 
late in the night.
  He found them suffering with symptoms of belladonna poisoning and 
administered antidotes and after working on his patients for some hours, 
having done all that he could he returned home. He had scarcely arrived home 
when he was recalled to Carey by being told that Mrs. Richards and her 
daughter Blanche had died within a few minutes of each other and that the 
others were critically ill. He returned and prescribed for the other sufferers 
who all seemed to be improving when he left.
  About 2:30 this afternoon a telephone message brought the sad news that Miss 
Hazel, 16, was dead, and that Mr. Richards and his son Claude, 30, were very 
low. Mr. Presnell was out of danger.
A POISION WEED SUSPECTED
  The greens were put up by the family for their own use, as they have done 
every year. But it is supposed that some poisonous weed was accidentally 
canned with them.
ONE OF THE FOREMOST FAMILIES
  The Richards family was a pioneer and one of the most prominent in Blaine 
County. Before coming to Carey S. P. Richards was a grocer in Ogden. He is the 
Justice of the peace and Notary Public at Carey and secretary of the Little 
Wood River Canal and Irrigation Company. He also, in partnership with his son 
Roy, owned a stock ranch there. His wife was Miss Fredonia Alexander of Salt 
Lake.
  His eldest son Parker Richards, is the principal owner and manager of the 
Carey Lumber Company, He is also a stockholder in the Carey State Bank. 
Another son, W. D., is a student at the Agriculture College in Logan, Utah.
MANY PROMINENT RELATIVES
  His daughter, Fredonia, is the wife of Ernest D. Phippen, the dealer in 
agricultural implements, automobiles, farm lands and so forth.
  The oldest daughter, Iantha, is the wife of Evan Arthur and they are 
spending the winter with relatives in ST. John's Utah.
  The family have many relatives in Salt Lake, Ogden and elsewhere.
  It was therefore socially, in a business way and historically, one of the 
very foremost families of Utah and Idaho.
  Their funerals are to take place Wednesday of this week; but the hour is not 
yet fixed.

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