Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-26
STRANGE SERIES OF MIsHAPs.
Extraordinary Fatality that Followed the
Members of a Family

Members of Family.
A gentleman of undisputed truthfulness
and veracity last night gave the Derrick
the following interesting bit of family his
tory, and at his request we will not give
the name, but the facts contained in the re-
cital of the following can be verified at
this Office at any time. The gentleman
said:
"Of the family, besides mother and
father, there were nine children, six BOYS
and three girls. The father was black
smith by trade, a skilled workman, and
lived an upright, consistent Christian life
He was passionately fond of his home and
children, and worked hard for their inter-
ests. At the proper age all of the boys
learned trades, as follows: George, the
oldest boy, became a blacksmith; Charles,
candy manufacturer, and later, he learned
the locomotive engineers trade; Frank, a
carpenter; Richard, a printer; Henry,
professor in a business college William
was studying chemistry when he met with
sudden and violent death from lockiaw,
caused by cutting his foot while in bath
ing in the river. You can call it series
of strange fatalities if you wish, or by any
other term, and yet dare say there is no
family of the same number of ours that
has passed through an experience in any
way similar.
1.-The father was twice confined to the
house with severe illness, once with small
pox and another time with typhoid fever
in its most malignant form.
When Deputy Sheriff of the county he
was sunstruck while out on official bust
ness, and fell from the sulky on to the
horse, which caused it to run away, horri-
bly, mutilating father, and laying him up
for several months. A year or two later
he fell from church steeple, where he had
been repairing lightning-rod, distance
of forty-nine feet, but from this he received
no perceptible injuries. A few years later
he slipped and broke his leg while getting
off a passenger train, and last summer he
died suddenly from heart complaint while
standing on the porch at the back door
of the house.
"The mother died as suddenly of the
same complaint in 1876. Charles, the en-
gineer, died violent death, almost in
stantly, by being injured by the cars in
1872. In 1869 George, the blacksmith,
while working at his trade had his nose
accidentally. broken by a steel hammer,
which slipped from the handle and hit
him in the face. think it was in 1860
or 1861 that sister Kate broke her arm
while jumping rope. Frank, the carpen-
ter, broke his leg while skating in 1872.
Will, the brother who died of lockiaw,
broke hia arm in 1874, while picking
cherries, by falling from the tree to the
ground. A few hours later, on the very
same day, the bandages were removed, he
again broke the same limb by slipping and
falling, the break being but two inches
above the former one. In 1885, Henry,
the school-teacher, while visiting friends
in the country, had his leg broken by
being thrown from the carriage attached
to runaway horse. In 1886 Anna, the
eldest of the children, slipped and feel
down stairs, breaking her arm.
while this story may seem almost
incredible to Others it is nevertheless true,
every word of it, and the only thing 1
can't understand about it is, why should
one family more than another have such
an experience. You can't answer that
question, neither can any one else"