BRASSFIELD, J. M. -1912

BRASSFIELD

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/5/2016 at 09:23:41

Two Tire Of Life And Commit Suicide

L. Becker And J. M. Brassfield Hang Themselves

Deeds Committed Four Days Apart

We have had two suicides in this community within a week. Both have been by hanging, and both deeds were committed in a barn. The lifeless body of Lawrence Becker was found suspended from a rafter in the barn at his home in this city Friday night and the body of J. M. Brassfield was found in the same condition in the barn at the home of John Rohwer living four miles northeast of Beaman.

The Brassfield Suicide
J. M. Brassfield who for the past six years has been making his home with the John Rohwer family in Clay township committed suicide Tuesday forenoon by hanging. The deed was committed with a half inch rope in an annex to the barn on the place. The rope was fastened to a rafter under the roof. After placing the noose about his neck the man evidently jumped from the hay mow and swung into space. His body hung about seven feet from the ground. After taking his breakfast the man told the family he was going out with his stallion which he owned. He saddled and bridled a pony that he usually took with him and the family believed he had left the place. Mr. Rohwer and son were away helping a neighbor and did not return until noon. After dinner Mr. Rohwer saw the bridled pony and fearing that possibly the man might have been hurt in the barn, began to look for him and he shortly found him hanging from a rafter. He immediately notified County Coroner Carpenter and the coroner came out and cut down the body. The man had been dead several hours. The jury impaneled consisted of Herman Mundt, Ed. Longrecker and H. B. Henningsen. They brought in a verdict that the man came to his death by his own hands.

The deceased was fifty years old. He was a single man and has one brother who lives three miles west of Whitten. He was a quiet and unassuming man and had been regarded as a member of the Rohwer family. No one can give any cause for the suicide.

An examination of the man's trunk showed that he had $1800 in cash stowed away in the trunk.

--The Grundy Democrat (Grundy Center, Iowa), 11 April 1912, pg 1