Frederiche Meyer, 1830-1891

MEYER, SOMMERS

Posted By: Leslie W. Saint (email)
Date: 10/20/2012 at 22:30:03

Burlington Hawk Eye, Burlington, IA, Sun., May 31, 1891, p. 1

TRAMPLED TO DEATH.
Fearful Death of Frederick(ed.-Frederiche) Meyer, of Union Township.
Trampled Beneath the Feet of His Run away Horsed—Ribs, Leg and Arms Broken—Death Ensues in Two Hours.

The fearful fate that befell Frederick (ed.-Frederiche) Meyer, a Union township farmer, yesterday noon is a striking commentary on the uncertainty of life. He had come to town, as usual, Saturday morning in his two-horse wagon, and after attending to his trading in the city, stopped at the home of his daughter, Mrs. H. J. Sommer (ed.-Sommers), on Valley street, before returning to his home, six and one-half miles south of the city.

He could not be prevailed upon to stay for dinner and drove off about half-past eleven. At the corner of Leebrlck and Amelia streets he stopped at the watering trough to water his horses, and stepped out upon the wagon tongue to loose the check reins. One horse is a very tender-mouthed animal and It Is supposed that in reining them up again this one was frightened or rendered fractious for it started to run, and Meyer, after vainly trying to stop them, fell from the wagon tongue beneath the hoofs of the
?lying steeds. He was dragged for a considerable distance and was finally thrown out to one side when the horses made a sharp turn. Several bystanders and the men from the West Hill hose station hastened to the assistance of the injured man. The horses, after running a short distance further, ran into a tree, by which their course was checked and the wagon tongue broken off.

Meyer was convoyed in a carriage to the house of his daughter on Valley street, where he was given surgical attention with all the dispatch possible. Dr. Little examined the man and found that his injuries consisted of the breaking and staving in of several ribs upon the left side, a broken collar bone and shoulder and extensive scalp wounds. The man was conscious but complained of intense pain and difficulty of breathing which confirmed the belief that the ends of the broken ribs had pierced and were pressing upon the vital organs of the thorax. After lying until two o'clock in great agony Farmer Meyer breathed his last.

He leaves a wife and one daughter, Mrs. Sommer (ed.-Sommers). He lived upon a rented farm of fifty or sixty acres in Union township and devoted a great deal of time and care to an extensive apiary (ed.—bee yard). He was regarded as an honest man and good neighbor being always ready to oblige those who had used of his services. He had just given up the use of crutches to which he had been forced for two years past owing to a kick upon the knee from the horse that caused the runaway and his death yesterday.