Breckinridge County KyArchives Obituaries.....BROWN, Catheleen December 2, 1904 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Peggy Russell meemawpeg7@gmail.com November 7, 2017, 12:46 am Breckinridge News, Cloverport, Ky., Wednesday, November 30, 1904 OBITUARIES Page 1, Columns 4 & 5 DEATH IN THE FLAMES -- TWO CHILDREN DEAD AND MOTHER WILL NOT LIVE AS RESULT OF BURNING OF LETCHER BROWN'S HOME -- PATHETIC DISASTER NEAR SAMPLE -- Probably the most pathetic disaster in the history of the county, was the burning of Letcher BROWN'S home near Sample, Ky (Breckinridge County), last Thursday afternoon, December 1, 1904, and the subsequent loss of life. One child was burned to death in the fire, another died Friday afternoon, December 2, 1904, from the burns it received, and Mrs. BROWN is so badly burned that her physician says she can not live. The charred bones of the child which lost his life in the fire and the remains of the child, which died Friday, December 2, were placed in one casket, and buried at Sample yesterday afternoon, December 6, 1904. The house occupied by Mr. BROWN and his family as a dwelling, was about 1 1/4 miles west of Sample, and between the Ohio River and the L.H. & St.L. Railroad. It was composed of 3 rooms, two of which were built of logs. When the fire occurred, Mrs. BROWN was washing near the house and Mr. BROWN was at work on a county road, a mile or so away, as overseer of the Stephensport District. The two children who were burned and another child, a year-old-boy, had been left alone in the house. Two older children were in school. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon when Mrs. BROWN received the first knowledge of the presence of fire in the house. The 5-year-old was pounding on the inside door to the living room, and crying for his mother. When she opened the door, a mass of flames swept out. The oldest child ran out of the door, and thus escaped from the burning dwelling, but on the bed lay a little boy of 3 years, and in its cradle, a 2-month-old infant -- both asleep. Unhesitatingly the mother rushed into the room, picked up both children, and tried to make her escape through the dining room and kitchen, the back part of the dwelling. Her clothing, and that of the children was on fire, the smoke and heat choked her, but unflinchingly, she pushed on, passed on through the dining room and into the kitchen. But here, suffocated beyond human endurance, she fell, and the last she remembered was that she was rolling out of the kitchen and into the yard. And as she went, but how she knew not, she dipped the baby into the tub of water, and then clasped it to her heart. But one other baby, older but just as dear to her, was left behind, and as she lost consciousness, she heard it crying to her to come get it. The above is the story the mother told of her awful experience when she had regained consciousness late Thursday evening. True, she told part of it soon after she escaped from the dwelling, but it was incoherent, and interupted by heart-rendering cries for her child, who was burned almost before her eyes. Neighbors of Mrs. BROWN, Mr. John McCoy, Mr. J. C. BENNETT, Mr. A. J. BENNETT, and others, saw the burning dwelling, and heard the agonizing shrieks of Mrs. BROWN as she escaped into the yard, and they hurried to the rescue. When found, Mrs. BROWN was lying out in the yard, with her baby in her arms. Her back and arms were horribly burned, and her clothes were nearly burned off, and she was unconscious. The baby's clothes were not afire, but its little face was a mass of burns, and one eye was nearly burned out. When help arrived, the roof hadn't yet fallen in, and the neighbors could probably have saved the child left in the kitchen if they had known it was there, for the fire was confined to the living room and dining room. The mother, half- conscious, and in her agony, pointed to the living and dining rooms, where the roof was just ready to fall in. They thought she meant her other child was in there, but no man could go there, and smoke and flames kept them from noticing it in the kitchen. And thus, through a fatal mistake of its mother, the child was left to its death -- and the next morning its charred bones were found in the ambers of the burned dwelling. Dr. W. L. MILNER of Union Star (Breckinridge County), was summoned to the scene as soon as possible, and attended the mother and child. The origon of the fire is uncertain. The boy who escaped said he put some wood into the stove in the living room, and it is supposed he must have raked out some coals, and in so doing, have thus set fire to the wall which was composed of wallpaper and paper sheathing and was only two feet from the stove. The house and all its contents were totally destroyed, and this only adds to the great loss of the husband, who is almost crazy with grief. Breckinridge News, Cloverport, Ky., Wednesday, December 14, 1904 Page 1, Column 5 MRS. BROWN IMPROVING -- Mrs. Letcher BROWN, who was seriously burned while trying to rescue two of her children from a burning building, near Sample on Thursday, December 1, 1904, is improving and it is now thought that she may live. For days after she received her injuries, she was in a precarious condition, and her physician said he thought she could not live. A neighbor of Mrs. BROWNS who knew the nature of her burns, stated to the "News" that he thought she would be a cripple for life if she should recover. Breckinridge News, Cloverport, Ky., Wednesday, December 28, 1904 Page 1, Columns 3 & 4 DEATH ENDS UNTOLD SUFFERINGS OF MRS. BROWN, OF NEAR SAMPLE -- Death came at about 10:00 yesterday morning, December 27, 1904, and ended the untold sufferings of Mrs. Letcher BROWN, of near Sample. Since December 1, 1904, she had hovered between life and death, as a result of serious burns she received about the body on that date, while trying to rescue her children from their burning home. It was thought by her physician, just after the fire, that she could not live more than a few days. For days her condition was critical, and her life was despaired of. But in a week or so, she improved some, and it was thought by some she might recover. Recently, she grew worse until death came. Mrs. BROWNS' death marked the close of one of the saddest events of its kind in the history of the county; two of her children having lost their lives as a result of burns received in the fire. The funeral will be held today, December 28, 1904, and interment will be at Sample, Ky. Additional Comments: Breckinridge County Cemetery Book, volume 1, published in 1991: Sample Cemetery, Highway 259, Sample, Ky BROWN, Catheleen 20 Sep 1904 -- 02 Dec 1904 daughter of Emma & L. L. HER BROTHER AND MOTHER ALSO HERE: BROWN, Vasco 29 Sep 1902 -- 01 Dec 1909 (should be died 1904) son of Emma & L. L. BROWN, Emma K. 24 Nov 1873 -- 27 Dec 1904 wife of L. L. I also found the husband and father: St. Anthony Cemetery, located on the north side of highway 108 near Axtel, Ky southern edge of Breckinridge County. BROWN, L. L. 27 Feb 1868 -- 27 July 1934 Peggy Russell File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/breckinridge/obits/b/brown7510gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/