Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Dunsmore, Frank 1908
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Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net November 17, 2018, 7:25 am

Ionia Daily Standard, 3 & 4 Mar 1908

The Aconite Route
Chosen by Frank Dunsmore As Surcease for Sorrow.
Found by Daughter in Stable Cold in Death. – Coroners Inquest by Justice Clark.

The body of Frank Dunsmore was found in the hay loft of the barn, at his home
place, 313 E. Front, about 8:30 this morning, by his elder daughter, Beulah, who
notified her mother, and also telephoned the sheriff.  Sheriff Cilley notified
Justice Clark, who proceeded to investigate the case as coroner.  The sheriff,
justice and the following jurors – Martin Malone, N.J. Spaulding, M. Horrigan,
R.K. Ross, A.B. Simmons and Levi Loveland – proceeded to the place, where the
body was found, on the hay.  There were no marks of violence, but a bottle of
aconite partly emptied was near by, and another was found in his pocket, and
from all appearances this was the cause of death.

Beulah, the daughter, a young woman employed in telephone exchange, said her
father had not been seen since about 9:30 the previous evening, when he was in
the house, and indicated by his appearance that he was laboring under great
mental strain.  It seems that divorce proceedings had been instituted by his
wife, and that there had been vain efforts to reach a property settlement.  A
meeting of the parties and attorneys was held in a lawyer’s office yesterday
afternoon, but a settlement was not reached as he had expected, and the
situation so preyed upon his mind, that he evidently thought the easiest way out
was to “shuffle off this mortal coil.”

Mr. Dunsmore had the reputation of being a quiet, peaceable and industrious man,
and was well thought of by those who had employed him.  He worked for a time for
H.R. Welker in his cement business, gardened to some extent, and had lately run
a dray.  His age was about 52, and he leaves three children of widely varying
ages: Beulah, Harriet and Allen.  Dr. Ogden was later called to examine the
body, and the court adjourned to 2 p.m.

The jury reconvened at the office of Prosecutor Sheldon, in court house, at 2 p.m.

The first witness was Coroner Clark.  The next was Dr. Ogden, who described the
physical condition of the body, and gave it as his opinion that death was caused
by heart failure, superinduced by aconite taken internally.  Thought deceased
must have been dead 4 to 5 hours before the examination made by him at 10 this
morning.

E.T. Yeomans swore that he had known deceased for many years; that he sold him
half ounce of tincture of aconite on Monday at 2:30 p.m.; that Dunsmore said he
wanted it for grippe fever.  About one-quarter ounce from this bottle was missing.

Fred G. Lauster of the Cutler & Lauster Drug Co., testified that he sold
Dunsmore half ounce tincture of aconite at about 2 o’clock on Monday afternoon,
and identified the bottle, from which there was none missing.

The Yeomans bottle of aconite was found in Dunsmore’s hip pocket.  The Cutler &
Lauster bottle on a pile of boxes in barn loft.

The daughter, Beulah, aged 17, was next sworn, and described how she found her
father.  She went to the barn to feed the horse, on request of the mother. 
There was domestic trouble between her father and mother.  Had several times
heard him threaten to take his life.  There is now a suit for divorce pending,
her mother being complainant.

Deceased carried $1,000 of insurance with the Gleaners, and the mother had kept
the policy good in part.

At the hour of going to press the jurymen were still out, but there is no doubt
but that the verdict will be that death ensued from aconite poisoning, taken
with suicidal intent.

------------

The funeral of Frank Dunsmore will take place at the family home on east Front
street, at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

[Transcriber's Note:  There is a notation on the obituary card that he was
buried in Highland Park Cemetery.]


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