Grundy County IL Archives Obituaries.....Comerford, Kate Kinney 1905
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 22, 2006, 11:44 pm

Morris Daily Herald, Mar 1905
Roasted Alive - Terrible Burning of Mrs William Comerford. 

On Monday evening of this week, about 6:30 o'clock Mrs Wm Comerford, residing 
at the east end of Main street, met with an accident, the most horrible to 
contemplate, which resulted in her death. Wanting to use a lantern and finding 
it was without oil, she took down a hanging lamp and poured some oil from that 
into the lantern, and then lighting the lantern with a match, threw the match 
to the floor, and in an instant she was covered with flame. Immediately she 
rushed out the back door of the house and ttoward the residence of her father, 
Pat Kinney, but seeming to change her mind, sshe fell into a ditch near the 
residence of Charlie Flynn, in which there was a ffoot of water, with the hope 
of extinguishing the flames. A couple of Flynn's boys wwitnessed the scene and 
they immediately went to the rescue of the poor woman with ssome old sacks and 
a comforter to assist in subduing the fire. About this time her husband, Wm 
Comerford, who had just before left the house, and had gone as far as his 
father in law's, and thinking of his rubbers returned to the house for them, 
reached the place, and immediately set to work assisting, before he knew who 
the person was that was on fire. It was but the work of a few minutes to put 
out the fire and Mrs Comerford was taken home, her flesh literally roasted, 
and this way she lay until 1 o'clock suffering the most intense agony. Doctors 
were immediately summoned, and it was but a few minutes before Drs Sturtevant 
and Palmer were on hand to do all in their power to alleviate the pain. More 
they could not do. There was hardly a place on her body which was not burned. 
Mr Comerford in his efforts to get the burning clothing off his wife, had his 
hands so badly burned that the finger nails came off his right hand. The 
supposition is that in filling the lantern she spilled some oil on her dress, 
and on throwing down the lighted match, with which she lit the lantern, that 
the flame ignited the oil on her dress and in an instant her clothing was all 
on fire. She was conscious the greater part of the time up to her death, and 
was able to tell her sister where she wanted to be buried and to provide for 
the care of her three small children, the oldest of which is not eight years 
old. The funeral took place from the Catholic church on Wednesday afternoon. 

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