The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1905-05-20
IN TIE FAMILY WELL.
Passing of Mrs. Irwin Tragic Death
at Farm Homo in Benton.


melancholy character, Mrs. Louisa
Irwin, mother of ex-Conl1llissioner
Richard Irwin, passed away at the
family home near the Buttes, yes
terday morning. At about eight
O CLOCK in the morning, her body,
cold i'll death, was taken from
well into which it is supposed the
venerable mother, in a fit of tenn
porary alteration of mind had de-
liberately thrown herself. She was
found in the well as result of
hasty search of the premises, after
she had been missed from her sick
chamber, by her only son, who
had called to see her. The well is
nearly, if not quite 100 yards
distant from the house, and how
she got there in her weakness of
body, after six months of illness, is
one of the problems that puzzle.
those familiar with all the facts.
On the curb of the well, which is
three feet high except at the front
where the bucket was used in draw
| ing water, was found her shawl, left
there, some suppose by design, so
that those who searched might see
in it an indication of where her
body might be found. 1t was, at
any rate. this silent object on the
old well curb that caught the at
! tention of her son in his anxious
search for the missing mother, and
supplied the key to her last hiding
| place. Below the shawl, when the
curbing was reached by the search
ers was the open lid Of the well
] which was held in place by hinges,
and which was always closed when
the well was not in use. A glance
at this uplifted lid, and then one
swift look into the well where a
white form foated on the dark
water ten feet below, told the
dreadful tale of the disappearance,
and of how one of the best known
of all the pioneer mothers Of Ben
ton came to her death.
/ Mrs. Irwin has been sick wom-
an for six months. Most Of that
time-she has been confined to her
room. Aside from her illness for
sch she was 10th to summon a
i p., ;ician, she was at 73,,a fairly
strong person for her years. But
the illness had worn on her mind,
until she had become convinced
that there was little or no hope or
cure. She was much in this co11-
dition of mind when her son James
Irwin so suddenly died a few weeks
ago. Recently, however, her son
| Richard, induced her to allow him
to call physician. and a day or
two ago, DR.. Lee called at the farm
home and prescribed. That was
on Thursday, the day before her
death.
Richard Irwin had visited his
mother the evening before the
melancholy occurrence. He had
/ left word that he would call again
next morning, Miss Hattie Mont
gomery was housekeeper and nurse
for Mrs. Irwin, and young Dick
Erwin was man of all work on the
| farm. Not long before Mrs. Irwin
! was missed, Miss Montgomery had
/ given her breakfast, leaving the
room when the meal was finished,
to dress chicken. During the
latter process, Richard Irwin ar
rived and going straight to his
mother S room, discovered at once
that she was missing. Inquiry re-
suited, and then came the search,
and the find. The we'll is 1ocat-
ed perhaps hundred yards north
of the farm house, very near the old
log cabin famed as resting place
for min ers in the old gold days and
/ the original home of the Irwin
family on the farm. The well is
closely boxed at the top, and fitted
with a hinged lid scarcely twenty
inches in diameter. Behind the up
lifted lid was found the comb that
| Mrs. Irwin had worn in her hair.
Nobody saw the wasted form pass
| from the house to the we'll, and all
| that will ever be known of the de-
| tails will be but conjecture. A cor
oner's jury, empanneled by Coron-
er Wilkins, was holding a in
quest at the late home when the
Times went to press yesterday af-
ternoon. The funeral will probably
occur Sunday.
The deceased was 70 years of
age. She was the widow of the
late Richard Irwin, one Of the earli-
{ est Benton pioneers. The family
resided in Corvallis for some years
in the early days. The house
that sheltered them then is the