Death by Drowning: Accounts of the Project of Unusual Weather of the 150 Years of the White Settlements in Hancock County, Illinois

Compiled by Warren L. Van Dine. 162 pages of transcribed news account of deaths from drowning and weather conditions in the county. Circa 1866 -1970 Names are indexed in the Historical Society card catalog.

Shelf D-3

Excerpt from The Death by Freezing of Mr. Take in Warsaw:

"….Some time ago the old man fell sick and want and famine stared them in the face. The old man was confined to his bed with not half enough clothing to keep him warm. The child was too small to build a fire, and so they were left to starve or freeze…..the boy woke up and not hearing his father groan knew that he was dead. In the morning, unable to put his shoes on because his feet were so swollen, the boy was compelled to travel in his stocking feet a half mile to the nearest neighbor, where he told his heartrending tale.   The supervisor of Rocky Run being informed of the case, had the dead man buried and brought the child to Warsaw, to be taken to the poorhouse at Carthage. Thomas McDougal examined the boy’s feet and found them in a horrible condition, they having been dressed but once since the unfortunate occurrence and then in a miserable manner. Mr. McDougal alleviated the poor boy’s suffering as much as it was possible. The father freezing to death and the child almost meeting a like fate, through destitution, with an abundance so near at hand, awakens a sense of horror. Mrs. Take now resided at LaHarpe, and on learning her child was in the poor house went and got him. — Warsaw Bulletin, Feb. 1872"