Beckham County, OK - Deaths: Goldie Ellen Harrell, 1920 11 Mar 2008 Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell) ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************ HARRELL, GOLDIE ELLEN (2 Dec 1920, Elk City Newspaper, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): OBITUARY. Goldie Ellen Harrell answered the call to arms last Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1920 - a call to the arms of her Savior. She has fled to rest with Him and the angel band, among whom are her sweet young mother and soldier brother. No lovelier day ever dawned than on this November morning. The sun shone beautifully, birds chirped merrily. The hearts of many were light until - oh, until - the awful news that numbed our ears and made us know that dear little Goldie, a sweet flower of sixteen summers, had ended her beautiful life on earth. Probably the time seemed too long to wait to meet the sainted mother, who had gone before, because Goldie's trials and troubles were heavy. No braver shoulders ever faced the world and its tribulations in spite of her tender years. She was loved by everyone. To know her was to love her. She possessed a lovable disposition, winning ways, and a heart of affection. She was a high school student; very diligent in her studies, and ever ready to do her part in everything upbuilding. She possessed high ambitions and strove to attain them to the very end of her life. She was a sweet Christian girl who gave her life to our Maker and united with the Baptist church. "Twas sad for us to lay her to rest in the Canute cemetery, the pretty, young, brown-eyed and black curly haired girl who only a few days before smiled bravely in her sweet way at us. Her lips are sealed in death and now the flower that had budded into the blush of young girlhood has been plucked; snapped in two before our eyes; and grief is crowded into our hears - all before we realized that her patience was tried one time too many. Goldie has lived a sad life. She never knew a mother's love, her mother having died soon after Goldie's birth, April 13, 1904. Goldie was brave and with the love of her Savior and the help of her brothers she had gotten this far on the journey of life. It has ended, her troubles are no more. She leaves to mourn their loss, but her gain, three brothers, Roy, Jack and Calvin, her father and step-mother, four half-brothers and one half-sister. Besides several other relatives including her aunt whom she loved with a daughter's love. A host of friends from the country wide, who all loved and admired her. The funeral services were held at the home of Jesse Johnson, where little Goldie died. Services were conducted by Revs. Martin and Hornbeck. Thence to the sad resting place, six girl friends of the deceased acting as pall bearers. (3 Dec 1920, Elk City Press, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): GIRL ENDS LIFE TAKING POISON Miss Goldie Harrell, 17 years old, daughter of John Harrell, who resides 4 miles west of Foss, committed suicide at the home of Jesse Johnson, a neighbor, Wednesday by taking poison, believed to have been strychnine. The girl had been picking cotton for Johnson, who lives two miles east of the Harrell home. She came out of the house and told Mr. Johnson's grandson who was standing in the yard, that she had taken poison. She then ran toward her brother, who was picking cotton nearby, turned and ran back to the house. She was put on a bed, where she died in a few minutes. Burial was in the Canute cemetery yesterday. Miss Harrell came to Foss Tuesday afternoon, intending to leave on the east-bound train, but her father came to town just before the train came and caused her to go home. She had left home one or two times, going to California a few months ago. A deputy sheriff brought her back. - Enterprise, Foss, Okla. ---------------------------------------------------------- Return to Beckham County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/beckham/beckham.htm