BLOWS OUT HIS BRAINS . . .

Carl O Gullander was too young to die.  But apparently felt it was better than what he was going thru.  He arrived in New York on 22 May 1900 on the "State of Nebraska" from Sweden.  He moved to Portland where he married "Mary" in May 1902.  "Mary" sued for divorce in September 1907 claiming that Carl did not contribute to her support.  On January 16, 1907 a well dressed Carl walked in to the tourist hotel in Tacoma, Washington, and in front of shocked witnesses walked up to a mirror and shot himself.  His body was returned to Portland where he is buried at Lone Fir.  He left a brother.

Religious Fanatacism

On June 19, 1919, Ina Edwards, 34, was cooking breakfast for her family when her husband, Thomas, 39, walked into the kitchen and shot her point plank in the chest.  She died instantly.  He then went to the neighbors and called his brother who lived nearby and told him what he had done.  Then he calmly walked back to his wife's body, laid down next to her and shot himself. He did not die immediately but continued to quote Revelation until he bled to death on the floor. 

The neighbors described Thomas as an unemployed iron worker who was fanatically religious and had fallen on hard times.

The couple had four children.

Thomas and Ina are buried in Section A, side by side.  

While locating markers today, we were treated to a momentary peek through the clouds of the sun. 

Fate?

On 13 Jan 1934, 49 year old, Mrs. Charlotte M Marsch  was out and about on the streets of Portland when she was struck by a car and died at Good Samaritan Hospital soon thereafter.  Upon hearing of her friend's death 60 year old Maggie McNeel went out to buy a new dress to wear for her friend's upcoming funeral when she too was struck by a car and died at Good Samaritan Hospital from injuries sustained.  Both ladies' funerals were held at Holman & Lutz on 16 Jan 1934 with burials at the Rose City Cemetery.  Maggie was a single woman, while Charlotte was married and worked as a garment inspector at Jantzen Knitting Mills.

Their death certificates were inspected on 2 November 2012 at the Oregon State Archives in Salem.

Through it All

In uncovering the layers of history of Morningside Hospital, I was told recently by a former employee that from 1928 until the hospital closed, a Catholic mass was said in the large room every week and also that a local parish (Ascension) had regular volunteers who assisted and visited the patients.  Indeed, the hospital was seen as an extension of the parish and patients were included, whenever possible, in parish life.  In death, patients were given last rights and then burial in a Catholic cemetery.  According to the former employee, (who, by the way is now 80 and has a remarkably good memory of her time at Morningside) other faiths represented in the neighborhood were regularly invited to the hospital on behalf of the patients, but none other than Ascension Parish responded.  Quite remarkable!

Headstone of the Week - The Broken Chain

Several weeks ago, Dave and I were in Salem at the State Archives.  On our lunch break near the old IOOF Cemetery, (which is huge and quite fabulous, by the way), I found this old stone with a curious carving.  It shows the broken chain in symbolism that the person under the stone no longer has any ties to this earthly realm.

The stone dates from 1884 and is sheltered under a large Madrone tree, which preserves the carving nicely.  

 

The Great Mystery

Marcus Peterson was a patient at Morningside Hospital when he died on June 21, 1940 at the age of 79.  He was buried the following day in Multnomah Cemetery in Section H, Lot 20A, grave 4.

We know he was admitted to Morningside in October of 1932 with a diagnosis of "senility and atherosclerosic dementia."  We might call that Alzheimer's today. 

Marcus' time at Morningside were easy years.  He was housed, fed, clothed and looked after.  He died of pneumonia, what some call "the old man's friend."   A nurse who wrote a medical column around that time in the New York Times said that a combination of pneumonia and a little morphine was "one shallow breath away from unraveling the great mystery." 

Salacious, "En Dishabille"

In the wee hours of January 1, 1922, Mrs. Agnes Purdin and her lover, Howard Sigsby were nestled together in Agnes' home on SE 47th St., when her estranged husband broke into the house, disturbing the sleeping lovers.

Agnes and Sigsby managed to get out of the bed before Purdin shot Agnes three times in the head.  Sigsby was shot three times before Purdin took a hatchet to his head, reducing it to pulp.   

Purdin left the house and returned later to look for his things.  Three days later, a neighbor, not having seen any activity in the house, wandered over and looked through a window.  What she saw was Howard's body on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood; she called police.

The case was sensationalized in the press.  Purdin was arrested and tried and found guilty of manslaughter.  He served seven years for murdering two people in cold blood.  His attorney argued that he was insane at the time of the murder; the jury bought it.  It was improper, after all, to be a married woman and found to be "en disabille" with a man who was not your husband.

Sigsby is interred in Section B, with a small block marker.  Agnes is interred at Rose City.   Once Mr. Purdin was released from prison, he left the state.  

Our Work is Noticed!

Our work with the Lost Alaskans project and Morningside Hospital has received some good press by Katy Muldoon in the Oregonian.  For some reason the stories of these people resonates with us.  For some they were removed from their traditional home to a strange land.  For others who went to Alaska to search for their riches their journey ended with a one way ticket to Portland.  But many were helped by their stay at Morningside as well and were released and remember their stay there in a positive way.

Show Girl

While researching the interments for 1917, I came across this little flower of wisdom!
According to the obit, the mortal remains of one Mrs. Sallie M. Smith were, at the undertaking parlor of Miller & Tracy, perpetually embalmed.   Hmmm!
If my extensive college education has taught me anything, it is that the word "perpetual" means "indefinite."  That is, her remains are preserved forever.  Even with the advanced state of embalming chemicals available to the undertakers of the time, Sallie's remains would eventually deteriorate without fresh solution pumped though her body.  Perhaps she was immersed in a vat of formaldehyde to keep her fresh and life-like. Was she used as a demonstration of the latest preservation skills to convince families to embalm their loved ones?  I would think so, since embalming has a steep markup.
It's been 95 years since Sallie was "perpetually embalmed."  Gee, maybe I'll wander over to Miller & Tracy to see if she's still there!

UPDATE:  It seems that Mrs. Smith wasn't so well preserved after all. My friend, Christoph managed to get a hold of the mortuary record for Mrs. Smith.  Seems that a month after this notice ran in the paper, she was buried at Rose City Cemetery in a "Half Couch Casket" trimmed in grey velvet.  

Miller & Tracy, like so many small mortuaries in Portland, closed a number of years ago.  Their records, fortunately, are held "perpetually" in the custody of a local (and very helpful) funeral director.  

We don't know for certain that she was "perpetually embalmed" but we do know she is perpetually dead.