Jacobs, Lucy Louette 1879 – 1896

JACOBS, BORTHWICK, HUNT

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/22/2024 at 16:07:23

Iowa Plain Dealer August 14, 1896, FP, C7

Miss Lucy Louette Jacobs meets Death in an Old Well.
The sad news reached Cresco Saturday last of the tragic death of Miss Lucy Louette Jacobs, daughter of the the{sic} late Capt. and Mrs. C. V. Jacobs, well known to the people of this county. Miss Jacobs made her home with her sisters, Mrs. Fred Borthwick and Mrs. Geo. Hunt of Ness City, Kan., where the following sad accident occurred, the account of which we condense from the Ness City News.
A picnic was held Wednesday afternoon about nine miles from Ness City. The majority of the picnicers{sic} returned early in the evening. Miss Jabobs{sic} and three others—Ella Barnd, Curt Reed and John Miner—were of the last to start. While on their way home a storm burst upon them, forcing them to stop until it had subsided somewhat. When at length they proceeded on their way, the darkness was so intense that the driver gave the horses their heads. All went well until they were a short distance from town when the team strayed from the road and ran into an excavation of a cellar that had been left exposed by the removal of the house, to which it had once belonged. South of this cellar about nine feet is a well that had been abandoned, over which yet remained a portion of the board covering.
The first intimation of any trouble came when the horses went over the edge of the cellar, leaving the vehicle on the firm ground. In the darkness Miss Jacobs fell through the open cover of the well and went down to death. The first intimation that a dreadful accident had occurred was when the young girl struck the bottom of the well, which was thirty-one feet deep. One of the party secured a rope at Mr. Gardner’s and at once made his way back to the well. Miss Barnd volunteere{sic} to descend into the dark hole to recover the body of her friend, but to this proposition the young men would not consent, and it was decided to lower Miner. The two accomplished this task, but Miner had scarcely reached the bottom until he was rendered unconscious. Shortly after Mr. Gardner arrived, and his first thought was to purify the air in the well, and thus save the life of Miner. To do this he tied a slicker to the end of a rope, moving it rapidly up and down, producing a current in the well.
An alarm was given and soon there was a sufficient number of persons at hand to proceed with the work of rescue, and the fresh air carried down the shaft had so revived Miner that he was able to fasten the rope about the body of Miss Jacobs, and it was raised to the surface, but life was extinct. Minor was brought to the top and soon revived. It is the generally received opinion that the cause of the death of the girl was impure air, as there was not the slightest bruise or scratch about the body.
Miss Jacobs was born in Cresco, Ia., Dec. 31, 1879, but for a number of years had resided at Wichita, Kas.