Beckham County, OK - Deaths: Melissa Ames, 1930 
29 July 2007
Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell)

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AMES, MELISSA
(29 Mar 1930, Cheyenne Star, Cheyenne, Roger Mills Co, OK):
A very great tragedy occurred last Friday morning when the home hotel and
store of C. C. Ames of Durham in the northwest part of Roger Mills County,
was destroyed by fire and Mrs. Ames, aged and invalid mother of Mr. Ames
was burned to death.  Mrs. C. C. Ames also suffered severe injuries from
burns about the face, lower limbs and arms.
From the reports of the accident it seems that Mrs. Ames was cleaning
clothes with gasoline in the Maytag washing machine and it is presumed
that the fumes from the gas were ignited by the exhaust from the machine. 
Mrs. Ames' clothing caught fire and she ran from the building then
attempted to return for the mother but was unable to do so because of the
flames.  Many heroic attempts were made to rescue Grandma Ames but all
ways futile.  Earl Briggs put a quilt over his head and crawled into the
burning building but was unable to recover the body.  It was not until the
building was destroyed that the burned body was removed from among the
ruins.
The building was a store in the front with a hotel and residence in the
back making the loss a very great one.
Grandma Ames was among the early settlers of the Durham country and was
about ninety-eight years of age.  The entire community was shocked and
grieved because of her death.