Geick, John F.F. 'Frank' died 1906
GEICK, BIERER
Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 10/6/2013 at 02:09:32
Elgin Echo, Thursday, 25 October 1906.
Frank Geick of Millville township, Clayton county, met death in a peculiar manner last week. His mind had become deranged from loss of sleep and when his wife went to administer some medicine he conceived the idea she was trying to kill him. He jumped from the bed ran downstairs and leaped through a window. He was followed by his wife and a sister and soon returned to the house. A physician of Guttenberg was called and upon his arrival he saw the patient was dying. His demise occurred a short time thereafter. The coroner's inquest revealed the fact that in jumping through the window a small piece of glass, sharp at one end, had penetrated his breast in such a manner that the point thereof had lodged in his heart, causing death.
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NOTE: WPA records = John F. Geick 1874 / 10-16-1906. The IGPP shows a photo of the gravestone of John F. F. Geick 08-24-1874 / 10-16-1906, in Bierer cemetery. As the death dates match the time of the article it is possible his given name was John and that he went by Frank.
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Added by Reid R. Johnson 5/26/2017:
Elkader Register, Thur., 22 Nov. 1906. From the Guttenberg Press, undated.
A farmer named Frank Geick, residing on the Turkey river one and one-half miles west of Millville, came to his death in an unusual and tragic manner Monday night and the injury causing his death and the length of time physical strength and consciousness were manifested by the injured man in (is) not paralleled by any great number of instances of a like nature. Geick had shown signs of being unbalanced mentally for some time and Monday his condition alarmed his wife and neighbors. In the evening Dr. C. W. Duffin was called from here by telephone and upon arriving there found Geick completely out of his proper mind. The doctor administered medicines and used all means conceivable to bring his mind to a rational state and upon his leaving at 10:00 the man appeared to be enduring no mental agony and was in a pleasant mood. Medicines were left to be given the patient and his wife instructed how and when to administer them. At 11:00 o'clock Mrs. Geick was standing near the foot of the bed in the act of preparing a dose of medicine and pulled out a commode drawer to get something and Geick, lying in bed, observed this move and thinking as he afterward stated that she was reaching for a revolver to kill him, bounded out of bed like a flash and ran down stairs and without hesitation, jumped through a window (next 4 - 5 words missing.) stairway. How he performed the act and received no cuts of scratches about the face or hands remains a mystery. Then leaving the house he went through or over a barbed wire fence, supposedly in great haste, and halted on a knoll of ground about a hundred yards from the house. Here he stood leaning against a tree for a brief period, as the blood spots found later went to show, and then starting down the slope a distance of but a few yards, crawled into some underbrush and began calling his wife's name.
Since his condition had reached a stage where it caused his wife alarm a sister of his had been staying at the Geick home. When the deranged man broke out of the house the women followed as soon as possible and presently heard his voice as above stated. The Geick girl went in search and with her he immediately returned to the house. Herman Kieckbusch, a near neighbor, was then called, as were also his father, Chas. Kieckbusch, and others in the neighborhood. A messenger was dispatched at Millville immediately to again telephone for the doctor. Dr. Duffin received the message and started away arriving there at 1:00 o'clock a.m., found Geick seated in a rocking chair in a talkative mood and attired in nothing more than his underclothing. The doctor observed upon entering the room that the man was the picture of death, but was not aware that he had been injured and that his lifeblood was slowly oozing away, and neither were those who had been with the man for the two hours previous aware of the fact until the doctor in testing the action of the heart found his shirts saturated with blood. His scanty attire was then removed and a slight oozing of blood was found to come from a very small wound in the region of the heart, each pulsation of that functionary throwing it out in little gushes. Water was procured and Geick stood erect while his lower limbs were being bathed to remove the blood. He was immediately placed in bed and within five minutes expired, which was 3:00 a.m., Tuesday, four hours after meeting with the injury.
Coroner W. J. Beerman was called out early Tuesday morning and collected all evidence obtainable surrounding his death, but from what cause or in what manner the man received the fatal injury remained a mystery. Mr. Beerman then concluded to hold an inquest or make a postmortem examination Wednesday, and acting under advisement of relatives of the deceased, assisted by Dr. C. W. Duffin, a postmortem examination was made which revealed a piece of glass nearly two inches long by one-fourth of an inch, wider at one end tapering down to a sharp point at the other. In his bound through the window the piece of glass passed through the two shirts he wore, between the ribs, and making an ugly wound in the heart.
Geick was about thirty years of age, and was married one year ago Oct. 4th, to Catharine Bierer, a daughter of the late Fred Bierer. Surviving him are his wife, his father and several brothers and sisters. The body will be kept until tomorrow (Friday) in order that relatives from a distance may be present at the funeral. Interment will be in the cemetery near the Geick home.-Guttenberg Press.
Clayton Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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