Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Bemis, Henry 1880
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net October 8, 2017, 1:53 pm

Ionia Standard, 15 Apr 1880

A Fatal Accident.

On Saturday last the neighborhood in the vicinity of Welch’s school house in
Easton was startled by the finding of the dead body of Henry Bemis, a bachelor
who was widely known and much respected.  He had been engaged in sinking a large
stone on his farm, and while he was digging beneath it the earth gave way and
the stone fell across his abdomen and legs.  This occurred on Thursday morning.
 As he lived alone no one missed him.  It is believed that he must have lingered
in great pain before he died.  He evidently made a desperate attempt to
extricate himself, as he got his knife out of his pocket and cut and dug the
ground about him.  His remains were not found until Saturday afternoon.  Coroner
Johnson of this city held an inquest, and a verdict in accordance with the above
facts was returned.  Mr. Bemis was a man of comfortable means.  His funeral took
place on Monday.

Since the above was put in type we learn that on Thursday a man who was working
in an adjoining lot to the one in which the accident occurred, heard the cries
of Mr. Bemis, but as they were quite indistinct he supposed that they proceeded
from the school grounds, which are near by.  As late as Friday passers-by heard
some subdued cries, but no attention was paid to them on account of a number of
children being at play in that vicinity who, it was believed, made the noises. 
One of the most aggravating features of this sad case is the fact that the
unfortunate man was enabled to look out of the hole in which he was confined and
could see people going along the highway.  He was so weak his voice was of no
avail.  In trying to raise himself from under the stone he struck his head
repeatedly against the huge rock, and his face presented a very mutilated
appearance.  His agony must have been terrible.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/b/bemis6752gob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/

File size: 2.4 Kb