Mrs. Allender, died April 1895

ALLENDER

Posted By: Pat Ryan White (email)
Date: 12/15/2013 at 08:30:17

A FARMER'S WIFE LITERALLY ROASTED ALIVE

Mount Pleasant, April 26 - On the farm of Jos. Allender, six miles west of town, Mrs. Allender was making soap and discovered that her clothes were on fire. No assistance was at hand and she was so fearfully burned that she lived but a few hours. The details of the terrible affair are sickening. Her husband was at work in a neighboring field, and no one was about but four small children. She screamed for help, and in her desperation tried to stifle the flames. Her efforts were futile. Clutching at her burning clothes, she ran to the house where her little boy, hearing her cries, gave her a blanket in which she rolled herself. Mr. Allender rushed in at once, and after extinguishing the last spark with water, got her on the bed and hurried to town for doctors. From the bottom of her feet to the crown of her head, the skin and flesh were completely roasted and burned black, with the single exception of a small place between the shoulders and the left side of the face. The flesh on the lower limbs pealed off in flakes, while the body was black and crisp. The hair was completely burned away, excepting a little on top of the head. She died a few hours later.

["Iowa state bystander.", Des Moines, Iowa, April 26, 1895, page 2]

NOTE: Though the article refers to "Jos. Allender", research indicates the lady is Mrs. James F. Allender, buried in Old Richwoods Cemetery.