Louis Meyers, 1896 Obituary

MEYERS, THEIN

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 7/3/2005 at 16:53:01

I translated the following obituary from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. It was originally published on Friday, 17 January 1896. Any information in brackets or notes at the end are my own explanations. It reads as follows:

Louis Meyers

To friends and acquaintances comes the disturbing report that Louis Meyers was suddenly called away from this life.

Last Monday, he traveled to Chicago with Mr. Adam Thein in order to bring livestock there.

On Wednesday, Mr. Henry Meyers received the following telegram from his son Frank, who is studying medicine in Chicago:

“Chicago, 15 Jan. 1895.
Uncle Louis fell and received a skull fracture. He died around 10:00 this morning. –Frank.”

That was the first report of this terrible accident. Yesterday, Thursday morning, Mr. Henry Meyers received a letter informing him that his unfortunate brother had jumped down and fallen on a rail at the stockyards in Chicago. He got up again and continued on, but he was taken to a hotel and put in bed. Here he fell into a coma and did not awaken, so that his nephew Frank was not able to speak with him again. The letter continued that as soon as the coroner finished the inquest, Frank would arrive in Templeton with his uncle’s body as soon as circumstances permitted.

According to other reports, Mr. Louis Meyers had lain for about 10 minutes after his fall, then came to, and went with Adam Thein to the hotel where he asked for a doctor to examine him. The doctor gave him medicine, whereupon he fell asleep and did not awaken again. The accident occurred on the very morning that they had reached Chicago. Since the deceased was afflicted with stomach trouble, and during the arduous trip he had neither slept nor eaten, it is assumed that the medicine was too strong. At any rate, this is only conjecture, and if the inquest dispels this, then the skull fracture and perhaps even injuries to other vital parts will prove to be the cause of his sudden death.

A Chicago newspaper published the following account of the sad incident:

“Louis Meyers of Carroll County, Iowa was seriously injured Wednesday morning at the stockyards, which led to his death at noon. Meyers came to Chicago Tuesday night with a carload of cattle. Around 5:55 Wednesday morning, he fell to the ground from a high platform and seriously injured himself.

He was brought to Stover House, 4151 South Halsted Street, where doctors examined him. He had internal injuries and several broken [illegible word]. He was unconscious until he died. The body was brought to the morgue.”

Louis Meyers is one of four Meyers Brothers in Roselle Township, where the family has resided for many years and is certainly counted as one of the most respected families in the county. The deceased was just 41 years old and leaves behind a deeply grieving widow and four children, of which the oldest is 18 and the youngest is 6 years old.

The burial takes place Saturday at 10:00 in Hillsdale [Roselle], where the solemn requiem will be held in the Catholic Church. Our deepest sympathies to the bereaved.