Adams County, Ritzville, WA ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Sue Gardner sueboo18@hotmail.com ==================================================================== The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, July 28, 1910, issue Whisky Gets Another Victim Ben Burkhart, oldest son of the late A. J. Burkhart, committed suicide on Tuesday of last week at the home place by taking strychnine. His mother and brothers can give no reason why he should end his own life. He left his home Friday and nothing was seen of him until one of his little brothers found his body Wednesday in an old barn some distance from the house. Dr. Sherfey acted as coroner, and found that he came to his death by strychnine poisoning. Mr. Burkhart had evidently been drinking heavily, and a quart bottle containing some whisky was found near his body. When he left home Friday he took with him a roll of bedding and clothes, and it was thought that he was going somewhere to work in the harvest field. Tuesday the horse that he had been riding was seen in a small pasture which enclosed the barn. The following day, Kline, a brother of the deceased, thinking that the horse needed water, sent Jimmie, one of his younger brothers, after the animal. While trying to catch the horse he discovered Ben's saddle, blankets and clothing near the barn. He had carefully laid plans to take his life. He had gone to the home of his brother, Nelson, and got a bottle of strychnine, which was being used for poisoning squirrels, and took a syrup can of water and a biscuit to the barn with him. He put the poison in the biscuit, ate about half of it and drank the water. Before taking the poison he wrote a note, which he placed in a sack with his clothing, bidding his mother goodbye, and saying they would meet again some time. Mr. Burkhart was 31 years old and the oldest of a large family of children. He was one of the highly respected young men of this community, and his many friends were surprised to learn that he took his own life. The mother, who within the past 15 months had buried her husband and one daughter, is prostrated from grief over the sad affair. Interment was made yesterday morning in the Odd Fellows cemetery. -Washtucna Enterprise Another Home Is Saddened Mud lake claims another victim! Another bright young life snuffed out and another Ritzville home saddened! About 5 o'clock Tuesday afternoon word was brought to Ritzville that Ralph Low, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Low, this city, had been drowned at Mud lake, while swimming with some schoolmates. Soon after dinner Tuesday Victor La Frenz, Raymond Lewis and Ralph Low walked out to the lake from town for a swim. They were having a fine time and about ready to leave the water and return home when Ralph said to his companions that he was going to swim across the lake. He made fine progress and was within 30 feet of the opposite side when Victor and Raymond noticed that he seemed to be in trouble; that he was not using his legs in the attempt to reach the shore; that in a moment he threw up his hands and went down. The boys then ran for Earl Colwell, who was at work in a nearby field, who hurried to the scene, and throwing off his clothing, plunged in. Earl is an expert swimmer, but could not find Ralph, although he made several attempts. Mr. Colwell then mounted his horse and rushed to town for help. Help was at once on the way in automobiles, Mr. and Mrs. Low, the distracted and bereaved parents, being in the party. Dr. Hewit and Mr. Low went into the water. The body was found entangled in the weeds, the hands of the boy clutching them in a death grip. It was only after the most strenuous effort that the body was brought to shore. Mr. Low was so overcome and exhausted by his grief and effots that he had to be taken from the water with a rope. The body had been in the water an hour when recovered and life was extinct. Funeral services will be held at the Christian church this afternoon at 3 o'clock, Rev. S. M. Conner officiating. The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, August 4, 1910, issue Heiner Dorman Is Dead Heiner Dorman is no more. His pain-wrecked body is at rest. He passed away quietly and peacefully after months of suffering. Deceased was an Adams county pioneer. He came here in the fall of 1887, and homesteaded the place west of town, which was later sold and the one north of Ritzville purchased. Heiner Dorman was born in Morgan county, Indiana, 68 years ago. His aged wife and six children survive him. The children are Orris and Ortho, Spokane; Jesse, British Columbia; Lou, the youngest daughter, at home; Mrs. Victor Chargois of Ritzville, and Mrs. J. M. Woehr, Redlands, Calif. On the 12th day of last March as Mr. and Mrs. Dorman, Mrs. Chargois and her little girls were driving home that Sunday night from the Osborn meetings, they went off the high embankment in the road near the Olson place. Mr. and Mrs. Dorman were seriously injured. In fact, Mr. Dorman's injury hastened the development of a cancer of the stomach, and this was the cause of his demise. Funeral services will be held from the home Friday, Aug. 5, at 10 a.m. The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, August 11, 1910, issue Obituray of Heiner Dorman (The man who had known him longest and best writes short story of this useful man's life) Just 68 years, 7 months and 6 days from Jan. 27, 1842, Heiner Dorman laid down his earthly tabernacle, in Adams county, Washington, at 10 p.m., Aug. 3, 1910, after suffering much pain from injuries five months before his departure across the river of death. He began life near Waverly, Morgan county, Indiana. When three years old his father died, leaving Eleanor Dorman, his wife, with four children to mourn his loss, Heiner being the youngest. For 11 years afterward she, with the four children, lived in Indiana, and then falling in with the tide of emigration westwardbound, she fell in line and landed in Keokuk county, Iowa, where she died in 1873. Seven years before her death Heiner Dorman was married to Martha J. Knox of the same county in which he had grown to manhood. Four years before his marriage he enlisted in the 33d infantry, in company H, in which company he served with honor and good standing until the surrender at Appomattox court- house, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. Men of positive nature like Heiner Dorman, both North and South, had convictions that forced them to action, during the time from 1861 to 1865, and men of his nobility of character, both North and South, when they laid aside the weapons of bloody strife, curbed their opinons and met each other in the spirit that becometh men who have done their duty according to educated convictions. This, the writer can truthfully declare was the spirit manifested by Heiner Dorman when I first met him in Adams county, Washington, in the year 1889, where he and his family had resided since the autumn of 1887, for he, his wife and seven children had come from the state of Iowa to Washington that year and settled in Adams county on his homestead near Willis postoffice, where they resided until the autumn of 1897, when they moved to the farm where he ended his earthly life. At this time he was tempted to leave Adams county, and this I know, because he and I had more than one talk on this matter. Not long since he again had the matter of change of residence before him and then he said, "I expect to die in Adams county." A few days before the unfortunate accident which ended in his death we met, and with a warm greeting by both, he said, "I never felt better in my life, and now I believe we will meet often here, as I am well pleased with our home." He and his wife, Martha J. Dorman, who survives him, lived together 44 years. Their seven children, all of whom grew to their majority, still live, except Mrs. Letta Glass, who died Nov. 28, 1905. All their children were born in Iowa. Ten grandchildren survive him - Ortho Dorman, wife and one child; Orris Dorman, wife, two boys and girls, who reside in Spokane; Alice C. Chargois and V. A. Chargois and two children, who reside in Adams county; Lou Dorman, unmarried lives with her mother; Lois Woehr and John Woehr, two boys and one girl, live at Redlands, Calif.; Jesse Dorman and wife live at Calgary, Canada. Elder W. R. Cunningham Death of Mrs. Mary Bassett Mrs. Mary Bassett, an old pioneer of the Washtucna valley, died Friday afternoon of last week at the home of her son, Mayor G. W. Bassett, at the advanced age of 94 years. Death had been expected for some time. Her last sickness dates from last January, when she was attacked with a severe case of la grippe, and owing to her age, was not able to withstand the disease, which ultimately culminated in her death. Until this time she had always enjoyed the best of health and was remarkably agile for a woman of her age. Mrs. Mary Bassett, or "Grandma Bassett" as she was affectionately known, was born at Brenford, Ontario, Canada, in the year 1816. She was married at the place of her birth in 1832 to G. B. O. Bassett, and some years later they emigrated to Michigan and later moved to Iowa, and in 1856 they located in Fillmore county, Minnesota. In 1866 the family crossed the plains as far as Helena, Mont., and in 1872 continued their westward course to Walla Walla. A few years later Mr. and Mrs. Bassett returned to Minnesota, where in 1878 Mr. Bassett died. In 1879 Mrs. Bassett returned to Walla Walla, and in 1880 she and G. W. Bassett located in the Washtucna valley, where the town of Washtucna now stands. The same year Mrs. Bassett took up a homestead, a portion of which is now within the incorporated limits of the town. Of a family of 10 children, six sons and four daughters, but four sons survive her. They are Attorney H. S. Bassett of Preston, Minn., former Representative G. W. Bassett of this place, G. B. O. Bassett, Jr., of Helena, Mont., and Attorney S. S. Bassett of Spokane. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Mrs. Bassett was a devoted Christian during her life, and at the time of her death was a member of the United Presbyterian church of this place. For the past 30 years she had made her home here with her son, G. W. Bassett and family, and had a large circle of friends in this and Walla Walla county. In order to make train connections, funeral services were held Saturday morning at 8 o'clock at the house, Rev. M. E. Dunn, pastor of the second Presbyterian church of Spokane, officiating. The body was shipped via the O. R. & N. to Walla Walla, where interment was made. -Washtucna Enterprise The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, August 25, 1910, issue Mrs. Anna Elizabeth Rosenoff Mrs. Anna Rosenoff was born Dec. 8, 1877, in the German village of Kolb, northern Russia. It was here where she received the Christian baptism and where she spent her childhood days. In 1886 she came to America with her parents, who made their home in Lincoln, Neb. At the age of 16 she was confirmed in the German Congregational church of Lincoln, Neb., by Rev. John Lich, and was then taken up as a full member of the Congregational church, to which she was a true member until her death. At the age of 17 she was joined in holy matrimony with Jacob Rosenoff of Ritzville, Wash., and came with her husband to Ritzville, where they lived on a ranch 14 miles west for eight years. After that they purchased the old Spanjer place, their present home. Here they lived until God in His infinite wisdom separated them bodily for a short time, and took her blessed soul on to a better land and a more beautiful home. Mrs. Rosenoff was of a very quiet disposition. She was very industrious and energetic, but a loving and kind housewife, who always knew how to make things pleasant for her family as well as visitors and her many friends. She was not of a complaining or dissatisfied nature, but perfectly calm and satisfied. She lived a quiet, earnest Christian life. She had a strong faith in God, a true love to Jesus, her personal Saviour, and was willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit into all the eternal truths. She loved music, and was the organist of the church. In the last seven years of her life she suffered more or less with heart trouble, to which she finally succumbed. On Sunday, Aug. 7, she was in church and filled her position as organist as usual, and no one in the congregation suspected that it was her last time in church. On Monday night, Aug. 8, she was taken with a severe attack of cholera morbus and this led to heart failure. Her skillful physician tried his best to revive her, and her many friends gave her the best of care, but she knew that her hours were counted, because she said repeatedly that all their efforts to hold her would be in vain, and that God was calling her home. As the clock struck 12 midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 17, her soul parted from the body and entered that eternal happy home with Christ Jesus. She reached the age of 32 years, 8 months and 9 days. She leaves her much bereaved loving husband and three children, Martha, aged 15, Joseph, aged 11, and Theodore, aged 7 years, behind. Also her aged and mourning parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Betz, who have come from Campbell, Neb., to see their much beloved daughter once more. She also leaves one married sister and four brothers, all who live in Nebraska, to mourn her passing away. The funeral services were conducted in the German Congregational church, 4-1/2 miles west, by the pastor, Rev. William F. Essig, assisted by Rev. Strohecker of Ritzville. She was buried Aug. 21 at the Ritzville cemetery. The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, September 1, 1910, issue Another Pioneer Gone DIED - At Dona, Texas, Aug. 27, 1910, of cancer, Sarah Ella Bailey, wife of Albert Bailey. Mrs. Bailey was born at Delevan, Wis., Jan. 28, 1856. She came in 1872 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Coss, to Adams county, Washington, to what at that time was a part of Whitman county. She was married on Dec. 25, 1882, to Albert Bailey, who survives her. To them three children were born - Mrs. Ed. Troyer, who resides in Ritzville, and Albert and Pearl, who are at the home of their parents in Dona, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey resided in Ritzville until last March, when Mr. Bailey sold his business interests and moved to Texas, in the hope that the change might benefit his wife's failing health. Mrs. Bailey was a member of the First Congregational church of this city. She lived a consistent Christian life. She was a true, devoted wife and a kind and loving mother. Mrs. S. J. Holland Mrs. S. J. Holland of Spokane died last Friday night at her home in that city after a lingering illness of many years. Deceased was about 60 years of age. Our townsman, her nephew, Mose Holland, went up Sunday to attend the funeral. The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, September 15, 1910, issue Dies From Operation In Denver Rev. C. G. Harmon, former pastor of the Methodist Church South of this city died yesterday morning at Mercy hospital in Denver as the result of an operation for ulcer of the stomach, performed Sunday. Burial will be in Fairmount cemetery, Denver. Mr. Harmon had been in poor health for years, and in the hope of relief underwent a surgical operation on Sunday morning. He steadily improved the first few days, but grew suddenly worse, and died Thursday morning at 8 o'clock. Mr. Harmon was born, educated and entered the ministry of the Southern Methodist church in South Carolina, taking orders at the age of 20. Mrs. Harmon resides in Denver. David Young David young, a man of about 28 years of age, died in the padded cell of the Adams county jail, this city, last Saturday morning from an acute case of alcoholism, or in other words, dellirium tremens. His ravings and sufferings were something awful. Young was a pleasant young fellow, a hard worker, but liquor was his master. Deceased has a brother here at work for D. A. Scott. Young has lived in this section for some eight or ten years. Funeral was held Sunday. Backhaus Child HATTON - The child of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Backhaus died and was buried in the Hatton cemetery last Sunday. Dwight Ferguson HATTON - News of the death of little Dwight Ferguson came as a surprise to Hatton people Saturday morning, Sept. 10. The child had been ailing only a very short time from over-eating of peaches, and passed away very suddenly early Saturday morning. Dwight was the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ferguson, being five years and eight months old. In the absence of a pastor, Prof. O. E. Faulkner preached the funeral sermon at the M. E. church Sunday afternoon and the remains were laid to rest in the I. O. O. F. cemetery of which order Mr. Ferguson is a member. (Note: a further news items says Albert Ferguson moved his family to Garfield where he had charge of a warehouse.) The Washington State Journal and Ritzville Times, Thursday, September 29, 1910, issue Edna Booker HATTON - Friends of the T. E. Booker family were pained to learn of the death of their oldest daughter, Miss Edna Booker, which occurred at the family home west of Hatton Tuesday evening, September 20. She suffered an attack of typhoid fever of several weeks' duration, and it was understood her condition was not alarming until she took a relapse, death following in a short time thereafter. She leaves besides her father and mother, one sister and two brothers, together with many warm friends. Funeral services were conducted at 10 o'clock Thursday from the home by Rev. Phillips and interment made in the Hatton cemetery.