Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-05
CRAZY MOTHER And DEAD son
Sad Case Of Destitution Discovered by the
sheriff's Deputies,
WOMAN FIGHTS OVER BODY OF HER BOY
Mrs. Jennie Robey, RsvinG Mad as the
Result of Grief and Privation,
IL Taken In Charge by
the Authorities.

Extreme destitution and grief over the
death of a favorite son drove Mrs. Jennie
Robey raving mad.
The sheriffs deputies. summoned to take
into custody a crazy woman" found her
moaning and sobbing over the half-naked
body of her dead boy, stretched on an i'm
provised bier of empty cracker boxes. In
the bare rooms of the little hovel which
she called her home squalor and poverty
looked from every corner. There were no
coverings on the foors only here and there
where the boards were broken through
and the cold air rushed up from the cellar
heaps of old clothes were thrown to stop
up the gaps and serve for a soft material
to walk upon.
Holes where the dusty window panes were
broken out were stuffed with dirty rags and
newspapers, and instead Of furniture there
were upturned barrels for tables and small
boxes for chairs. The stove was a cast
iron box with iron uprights on which to
hang kettles, and whenever fire was
kindled from the scanty supply of fuel
the smudge that filled the house was like
the smoke from wet leaves. The boy,
Frank. died last Wednesday from typhoid
fever, and his mother would not consent to
a burial There are father, two other
boys and two little girls in the family AT
first they allowed the mother to have her
own way, thinking that in a day or so her
grief would moderate and she would allow
the county commissioners to take the body
and bury it, but instead of becoming more
reconcied the woman grew violent, refus-
ing to take nourishment of any kind and
declining to stir from the side of her son.
what the Officers Found.
Word was sent to the Office of the sheriff
1hirs6ay night. Deput es Sherry and Roach
visited the Robey dwelling at Thirty-sev-
enth and Seward streets the same evening
They found the place to be story and
| half frame hut, many feet below grade
There was not a particle of food or fuel on
the premises and the children were hud-
died together in corner. keeping warm by
the heat of their bodies. Just as the depu-
ties entered the father appeared dragging a
sack OF coal which he had gathered along the
railroad tracks a mile away.
Mrs Robey had tie be removed from the
house by force. as she clung shrieking to
! the boxes where the dead boy lay when the
deputies suggested that the body be given
to the undertaken. Later in the evening the
| sherffs carried the woman kicking and bit
| ing UP the Jail steps and placed her in one
of the cells for insane patients. She will
be given an examination by the insane com
missioners. The body Of the boy was sent to
the coroners.
Shep Robey, the woman's husband, said
he had been unable to obtain work for sew
eral weeks, but would have been unable to
leave the dwelling even IL there had been
employment to be found, because as soon as
his wife knew the boy was dying she lost
her mind and did things that necessitated
the presence of some one who was strong
enough to control her. On one occasion
when the father brought home supply Of
food and went to get fuel in the neighbor
hood Mrs. Robey threw the groceries dowr
the we'll, explaining that they were mot n
to eat. That night the members Of the
family went hungry to sleep.