Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-02-12
BURNED TO DEATH.
The Tragic End of Mrs. Nathan
Davis. at Louisville.

i It Is not without tremor of horror
that We read in the daily press of The
terrible calamities which occur in diff
ferent parts of the country, but how much
more does the feeling overcome rs wheE
the scene is nearer home, and the details
of the sickeaing and heart rending affair
where quiet, peaceful household Is
entered by the destroyer and turned into
a mournful holocaust-and with one
fell blow, is robbed of wife and innocent
babe, and a doting husband and father
is left solitary and alone. are brought
under our immediate observation.
Such q terrible picture of woe was
written in the history of this township
last week, near the town of Luy dsville,
locality which for the past few months,
has been marked by more than its share
of accident and tragedy.
The particulars as We learn them are
about as follows: On Thursday morning,
Mr.. Nathan Davis, who resided with his
family, a wife. formerly Miss Ida Rit 5.
of this place, and one child nine mon lbs
old, in the outskirts of Loydsviile. Just
south of the pike on the road leading 10
Lewis Mills, on What was lie jus ic-
David Mitchelfs, about balf mile dis,
tant, leaving his wife in her usual bealth
and engaged in her ordinary household
duties. He returned home about o':lhck,
and on opening his house door. Was met
with = cloud of smUke, that gave Inn a
faint idea of the terrible discovery ne
was about to make; going into he s.t>
ting room, be found tue remainS of bis
wis lying on the floor burned s.lmos;
beyond recognition, all her clathIng beisg
burned off, with the exception OF tin,-
fragments about the waist and Shoe and
stocking, and one limb below th- knee
reduced entirely to ashes. She was living
length &ise 10 front of the graIe. and
near her head was the crib in which lay.
all unconscious of the terrible scene that
was being enacted in the room her niue
months old babe.
The oak floor of the cottage where the
unfortunate victim ley, was burned en-
tirely through, and soon the fire would
have burst into flames.
When the husband and father went
into the room, he hurried to the cradle
20 see if the baby was safe, when it open
ed its eyes and smiled in his face, and
then closed them again forever; for. al
though it lived until the following morn |
ing, it never noticed anything after that
one glance of recognition. The babe was
suffocated by the smoke in the close |
room. /
The appearance of the household in
dicated that the unfortunate woman had |
eaten her dinner, and that before clear. |
ing up the dishes, she had prepared a
baking ready for the oven, and it is sup
posed that she passed into the room from
her baking, probably in response to cry
from her infant, and while standing in
front of the fire, was suddenly Frustrated |
by it to which she was subject. and
from which she habitually passed into
sound sleep, and burned to death before
waking.
Mrs Ida Davis nee Ritts. was well
known here, having been born and raised
10 this town; she was married about two1
years ago, and was 2S years of age, and
The dead child was the only fruits. of the
She had always been subject
to epileptic fits, but in her womanhood
they had grown so much less frequent.
hat they had ceased to excite alarm to
any great extent.
The funeral of mother and child nc
cured on Saturday fIOm the M. E. church I
n this place, where touching services
we're conducted by Rev. W. FL. Haskell,
and both bodies we're inferred in one
grave in the NJ. E. cemetery.