Re: Maxine McClaskey Henley
MCCLASKY, HENLEY, DUNSTON, OREILLY
Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email) In Response To: Re: Maxine McClaskey Henley (Jeannine Henley Larkin)
Date: 2/26/2013 at 17:01:21
I located a couple of newspaper articles regarding the accident.
Husband Is at Bedside of Cowgirl
Maxine Henley Clings to Slender Thread of LifeAs her husband anxiously stood watch at her bedside, Maxine Henley, 23 year old cowgirl with the Candy Hammer rodeo here, clung tenaciously to a slender thread of life Wednesday afternoon. Maxine was motionless—she had been unconscious for more than 24 hours. Her husband is unable to conceal his anxiety. When another person enters the room, he turns his head away as if to hide his emotion. Concussion of the brain is keeping Maxine Henley in bed, the physicians say, with a doubtful prediction for her recovery. But the entire rodeo troupe awaits, with Cecil Henley, the hoped for tidings that Maxine has emerged from her coma.
Dangles From Saddle.
A rearing, bucking horse which fell upon her Tuesday afternoon was the cause of the accident —the most serious occurring to a member of the Candy Hammer rodeo this season. Many spectators, the "smart guys," thought it was part of the act when the pretty Henley girl dangled limply in the saddle as the horse arose. But the experienced members of the rodeo knew it was otherwise and after a furious struggle with the frenzied horse, took the unconscious Maxine Henley from its back. The wailing moan of a siren, rising and lowering, a few minutes later, told the audience that the cowgirl, was being taken to a hospital. At the Park hospital anxious members of the rodeo clustered about the injured woman's bedside. Gone was the glamour and color of the rodeo girls—in its place a room full of worried women who would not leave their "pal" until ordered to do so by a nurse.Avoid Serious Angle
Some of them attempted to avoid the serious angle with remarks such as, "She'll come out of it. Why when I was thrown in Cheyenne, I was in bed for months but came out of it. But somehow the remarks meaning to aid those distressed about their friend seemed only to worry them more. Others of the cowgirls spoke more bluntly. "The same thing happened to one of our cowboys in the Madison Square Garden rodeo and he, while recovering, lost part of his brains and has been mentally unbalanced since that time," one of the girls said. Maxine Henley is still in a state of coma. She may live. She may die. But if hopes and care could aid her, she would have been among the riders at the fairgrounds show Wednesday afternoon. In the meantime Cecil Henley waits.Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa
August 22, 1934*************
Cowgirl, Injured at Fair, DiesRites Held in M. C. for Mrs. Henley
Mother Arrives; Body Taken to Exline for Burial.
[Photo]
Funeral services for Maxine Henley, 23 year old cowgirl who died at 5:35 Thursday morning, were
held at the Patterson funeral home at 11 o'clock Thursday morning. The services for Mrs. Henley, who failed to regain consciousness following an accident in which a bucking broncho fell upon her Tuesday afternoon at the North Iowa fair were marked with simplicity. Lacking all the gaudy tinsel of the rodeo, in its place was a sorrowing group of persons unable to conceal sadness at the loss of a friend. For pretty, vivacious Maxine Henley was a friend to every rodeo cowboy and cowgirl. It was an unique funeral. Cowboys attired in high-heeled boots and their finest cowboy wear, were there and the cowgirls, who had discarded their colorful costumes, came to see their friend for the last time.Husky Men Weep.
As the Rev. David Kratz of the Church of Christ spoke to the rodeo troupers, several husky men who
would not flinch from a strong bucking horse, wept unabashed. Sobbing by the girl members could
be plainly heard. Maxine Henley was a pal. And she was gone.Cecil Henley, who was married to her last April 27, had sat at his young wife's bedside since the fatal accident Tuesday, waiting, hoping. just watching. He was the last to approach the coffin of his wife, with bruises showing upon her pale face the place where she had fallen. Weeping, he looked down and, before passing, he placed a hand upon her cold hands.
Born in Iowa
Mrs. Henley was a native Iowan and was born as Maxine McClaskey at Exline, Feb. 20, 1911. After
living with relatives on a farm near Exline until the age of 13, she joined her mother at Centerville where she lived until she was 15. She then, together with her mother, moved to Chicago. Maxine had been riding horses nearly all of her life and it was not long until she became a member of a rodeo. At the age of 19 she was a "regular" with a rodeo troupe and for four swift years has been throughout most of the United States, as well as England, touring with rodeos. Her specialty was trick riding and broncho busting.Life Was Exciting
Shortly before she joined the Candy Hammer rodeo this spring, she had been in England with the Tex
Austin rodeo. Although only 23 years old, it had been her second trip to England as a member of a
rodeo. The life of a cowgirl is exciting, and sometimes brief. She is survived by her husband, her mother, Mrs. Winnie Dunston of Chicago, her father, Reuben McClaskey of Denver, Colo., and a sister, Ruth O'Reilly of Joliet, Ill. Her mother came to Mason City Thursday morning to be at the bedside of her daughter, only to learn that she had died. The body of Mrs. Henley was taken to Exline for burial.Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa
August 23, 1934
Cerro Gordo Queries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen