DAUGHTER OF MR.&MRS. JOHN TEETERS DROWNED

SMITH, BURNISON, KIRKPATRICK, TEETERS

Posted By: Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert (email)
Date: 2/21/2002 at 20:54:18

Decatur County Journal
Thursday, July l, l9l5

During the recent floods in South Dakota, two
former residents of
Decatur County, lost their lives. The
Phillip Review tells of the
drowning as follows:

Conditions, including the severance of
telephone connections with all of
North Fork Valley, delayed the news of the
loss of life at Climax. MRS.
HARRY SMITH, MISS MILDRED BURNISON, who had
been making her home with
the SMITHS, and B.W. KIRKPATRICK, who was the
guest at the SMITH home,
gave up their lives in the flood waters. MR.
SMITH was saved after a
fight for life lasting for hours.

MR. and MRS. SMITH, MISS BURNISON and MR.
KIRKPATRICK had retired for
the night in a bunkhouse that stood near the
bank of Dirtywoman Creek.
They were aroused by the velocity of the
storm and about one o'clock
discovered that the building was afloat, and
in a few minutes were
precipitated into the water by the giving way
of the floor of the
building.

MR. SMITH relates that he found himself in
the branches of a tree where
he clung until after daylight when his son,
ROY, appeared on horseback
and managed to get a rope to him and pull him
to shore.
Searching parties were organized at once, and
the hunt for the three
missing ones begun. MRS. SMITH's body was
found a half mile below the
ranch Thursday afternoon, MISS BURNISON found
about a quarter of a mile
from the ranch Friday morning and MR.
KIRKPATRICK was found shortly
after noon Saturday.

MRS. SMITH was the oldest daughter of MR. and
MRS. JOHN TEETERS, who
live in south Lamoni. She was married to
HARRY SMITH at Caledonia,
Iowa, in l883, and had been located in South
Dakota since l895.

MR. KIRKPATRICK was born in Ohio, and a son,
WILLARD KIRKPATRICK, is now
living near Mt. Ayr.

MILDRED BURNISON was born in Davis City,
Iowa, in l903, and had been
making her home with MR. and MRS. SMITH since
l907.

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Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
February 20, 2002