98 Year Old Tragedy

Many a time when Dave or I are just walking through the cemetery that our attention is called to a certain stone or a group of stones. The spirit of the cemetery want their stories told, and here is a story that is very sad indeed.

Such is the case of the Strang family. On May 10, 1913, at approximately 7pm, Mrs. Lillian Strang had a complete lapse of sanity and poisoned and then shot her children. The poison was bisulfide of mercury, a deadly toxin. Apparently, Mrs. Strang "came to her senses" after she shot her baby and then herself with a .22 rifle and tried to give her children emetics. It didn't work.
Mrs. Strang's husband, Earl, arrived home at 10:30 p.m. and phoned the doctor telling the doctors that "something is very wrong with my wife and children and you'd better come quick." The doctor arrived and immediately summoned the police and Mrs. Strang and her children were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital where they lingered for a time before death mercifully claimed them. The youngest child, Oakley, only 6 months at the time, was not given the poison, but was shot through the head and survived. Not surprisingly, Mr. Strang left town soon after and moved to Roseburg where he began a new life and later a new family. His son, Oakley, who survived the attempt on his life by his mother, died in 1971.