McLennan Co. TX - Obits from July 1907 Submitted by: Carol Couch Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ------------------------------------------------ WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD MONDAY JULY 1, 1907 HIGGINBOTHAM I. G. Higginbotham of China Springs, aged 54 years, died Saturday evening and the services were held at 11 o'clock this morning. Mr. Higginbotham was an old settler and a man who was really and truly beloved by the people. It is stated that the concern and anxiety manifested by the people of the neighborhood, when they learned of the serious illness of Mr. Higginbotham, was touching in the extreme. Few men in the county were more highly esteemed or generally beloved, and his death will cause sadness wherever he is known. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD TUESDAY JULY 2, 1907 TRAGEDY AT ROFF Father reaches his home to find Daughter Dead and Wife Dying Roff, I. T. , July 1-- Yesterday the home of Joe L. Thomas, one of Roff's wealthiest citizens, was the scene of the most awful tragedy that has ever been enacted in this section. During the absence of Mr. Thomas, who spent the day at his ranch, seven miles from town, Mrs. Thomas shot and killed their only child, Miss Mamie, 18 years of age, then sent a bullet crashing into her own brain. When Mr. Thomas arrived home about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, he found the house locked, and had to make his entrance by raising a window. Not finding any one on the first floor, he proceeded upstairs, and entering their bedroom he was confronted by the terrible sight of his dead daughter, and his wife in a dying condition, both lying on the same bed, with their heads resting on the same pillow. The supposition is that the daughter was asleep when killed by a shot in the temple, as there was no evidence of a struggle. The weapon used was a double-barreled derringer pistol. Mrs. Thomas wrote two notes before committing the act, one to her mother and the other to her husband, giving as a reason for her action that her health was broken beyond recovery, that she could live only a little while longer, and that she could not bear the thought of leaving Mamie here. Mrs. Thomas is still alive this morning, but has never regained consciousness. There is no hope of saving her life. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD THURSDAY JULY 4, 1907 KILLED IN RUNAWAY Woman thrown from buggy never regains consciousness Omaha, Tex., July 3---Mrs. T. B. Peak died here yesterday from injuries received Monday in a runaway. The funeral was held this afternoon. She and her husband were returning from Naples when the horses became frightened and bolted, throwing both out of the buggy. Mrs. Peak's head struck against a roadside tree and she never regained consciousness. Mr. Peak was also painfully injured but is expected to recover. FUNERAL TOMORROW The funeral of J. M. Drake will take place tomorrow afternoon at 5 o'clock from the funeral parlors of Fall & Puckett, interment at Oakwood Cemetery. Mr. Drake was 71 years old and a Confederate veteran. The remains will be brought from Austin, accompanied by James M. Drake of Texarkana, son of deceased. CLAUDE B. CARPER DEAD Claude B. Carper, age 29 years, died at his rooms, 315 1-2 Franklin street, at 9:25 o'clock this morning, after a short illness. Claude was an employee of the United States mail service and no one has ever served this department more faithfully than he. He was quiet and unassuming and always polite to all. His many friends in Waco will regret to learn of his demise. He was a member of the Central Station Fire department and that body will escort the remains to its last resting place as well as the No. 404 National Association of Letter Carriers. The funeral cortege will leave the undertaking parlors of J. C. Lees at 5 o'clock tomorrow, (Friday). Interment at Oakwood Cemetery. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD TUESDAY JULY 9, 1907 BLEW OUT OWN BRAINS WITH GUN Joe Bateman, the negro who on yesterday afternoon shot and killed Josie Cotton and dangerously wounded her brother, Ed Cotton, near Golinda, went to the woods a short distance from the scene of the tragedy and killed himself, thus making two deaths and one person badly wounded as the record of his acts. As stated yesterday afternoon, there had been some trouble between the negroes previous to their meeting yesterday, and Josie Cotton and her brother, Ed Cotton were on their way to Marlin to make complaint against the Bateman negro, when he intercepted them and began shooting with the results already stated. After killing the woman and wounding Ed Cotton, Bateman stepped aside a short distance, pulled off his shoe, touched the trigger with his toe and blew his own head off, thus ending the matter and preventing the courts trying him. Deputies J. A. Tilley and Leslie Stegall went to the scene of the killing but found that it was over in Falls County. They made investigations though and found Bateman dead. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD WEDNESDAY JULY 10, 1907 MRS. MCLAUGHLIN DEAD Mrs. Lydia Caroline McLaughlin, age 69 years, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. T. A. Linville, 2211 Austin Avenue, at 10:30 this morning. Funeral services will be held at the evergreen church and interment will be at the same place, at 1 o'clock tomorrow. John H. Appell will conduct the services. Mrs. Linville's brother, G. K. Proctor of Calvert, and two of the decease's sons, S. D. and E. B. McLaughlin, will arrive in time for the services. Mrs. McLaughlin was born October 23, 1838, near Greenville, Ala., coming to Texas when she was 13 years of age, settling in Leon county. When she was 18 years of age, she married D. B. McLaughlin. Six children were born to them of which there are five still living. Mrs. McLaughlin, as well as all of her sons, were devout members of the M.E. church South, she having joined thirteen years ago. She has many friends in the city and county as well, that will be grieved at the news of her death. She had not been in good health for some time. MRS. ROBERTS DEAD Mrs. Matt Roberts, aged 24 years, died July 8 at 5:30 in the afternoon, at Seattle, and the remains will be sent to Waco for interment, the body having been shipped last night. The remains will probably reach here Saturday night, and the funeral will be held Sunday. Mrs. Roberts was formerly Miss Sallie Holman, and was well known in Waco, where she lived for some time and had many friends. WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH Mrs. Thrower, living six miles southeast of Mart, was burned to death by the explosion of a lamp on the night of the 7th instant. Her daughter, Miss Thrower, was burned very badly but may recover. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD FRIDAY JULY 12, 1907 A CHILD DEAD Laura, the 8-month babe of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Erwin, died this morning at 6:45 o'clock at 822 Washington street. The funeral will take place tomorrow morning at 9:30, interment at Oakwood cemetery, Rev. W. J. Matthews officiating. TERRIBLY MANGLED BY TRAIN Moody, Tex., July 11--- Gid Edwards, a farmer about thirty years old, was run over and cut to pieces by the north bound passenger train on the Santa Fe, about one mile south of Moody, this morning about 4 o'clock. He came in as a passenger on the south bound train at 1 o'clock from the Territory, where he had been for the past five months, and remained about the station for an hour when he finally concluded to walk out to his father's home about two miles south of town. The agents in charge of the train claim that he was lying in the middle of the tract, evidently asleep, as he did not heed the signals, and that the train was on him before it could be stopped. The body was ground to pieces, the head being severed and badly mangled. The only identification was a notebook on which was found written his name. The remains were gathered together in a sheet, by the train men, brought into Moody, where they were deposited in a coffin and buried. His wife is dead and his child resided with his father and he was on the way to pay it a visit at the time he was killed. WACO DAILY TIMES HERALD SATURDAY JULY 13, 1907 MRS. BARBARA FRANZ DEAD At 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon the spirit of Mrs. Barbara Franz, aged 80 years, took its flight and a host of relatives and friends mourn the loss of a cherished companion. Mrs. Franz was the mother of Mrs. A. B. Stricker residing on the ast side and made her home with her daughter. Deceased was born in Germany but has resided in Texas fifty years. She leaves a sister, a son, T.F. Franz of Calvert, Texas, eleven grandchildren and twenty-three great-grandchildren. The funeral will take place tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock from the residence, interment at Greenwood cemetery. THE FUNERAL TOMORROW Mrs. Sallie H. Roberts, who died in Seattle on July 8, will be interred in Waco tomorrow afternoon. The remains will reach Waco at noon tomorrow and the funeral will take place at 4:30 from the residence of Flynn Holman, brother of Mrs. Roberts. The residence is No. 2125 Fort Avenue. The services will be conducted by Rev. C. R. Wright, interment at Oakwood cemetery. Mrs. Roberts lived in Waco prior to her marriage and will be remembered as Miss Sallie Holman.