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YOUNG, Lulu (Addison) 1890-1918

YOUNG, ADDISON

Posted By: Joe Conroy (email)
Date: 3/24/2011 at 16:04:09

Waterloo Evening Courier
Waterloo, Iowa
9 Jan 1918
Page 1

Young Wife Of Farmer Dies By Hanging In Barn

Fear of Call to Testify in Court Held Responsible for Mrs. Merle Young's Suicide.

Fear that she would be called upon to testify against her husband who she was instrumental in having arrested Monday on a charge of cruelty to animals, is believed to have prompted Mrs. Merle Young, 28 years old, to suicide by hanging at her home, six miles northeast of Waterloo, yesterday afternoon. The body was found by her husband shortly after 5 p.m. when he returned home from this city where he had come to market some hogs. Mrs. Young had gone into the barn, tied a rope about her neck, attached it to a feed chute, then jumped off the ladder leading into the loft. Her neck was broken and death probably resulted instantly.

Feared Call To Court

Monday afternoon Mrs. Young telephoned the sheriff's office in Waterloo that her husband was mistreating a horse. Officers investigated and arrested Young. He gave bond for his appearance and was to have had a hearing today. It is thought that Mrs. Young brooded over the fact that she would have to testify against her husband, causing her to end her life. However, the state did not intend to call Mrs. Young as a witness. E. J. Wenner, county attorney, said today that he had decided to base the prosecution on the testimony of the officers who arrested Young.

Left Farewell Notes

Before going to the barn where she ended her life, Mrs. Young sent her 5-year-old son, Harold, to the home of a neighbor to play. Then she wrote three notes, all of them to relatives. In one of them she said: "Take good care of my husband and overlook all his faults." The other notes contained instructions as to what disposition should be made of personal effects.

The body was removed to Petersen Bros.' mortuary. Funeral arrangements will not be made until word is received from relatives of the family.


 

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