Stock, Rachel C. – 1876-1893

STOCK

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 12/2/2022 at 08:00:43

Stock, Rachel & niece or nephew
Burned to Death – In Hancock county, last Saturday, Rachel Stock, aged 18 was left to take care of the infant child of her sister while the sister and her husband went to town to do some trading. During their absence the babe became fretful and restless and Rachel in climbing upon a box to get some soothing cordial for it overturned a jug of kerosene and spilled its contents upon the floor and her dress. After securing the medicine and quieting the child Miss Stock concluded to burn the kerosene from the carpet and getting a match proceeded to light it.
With the first blaze from the carpet the gas in the empty jug was ignited and exploded scattering the flames all over the house, Miss Stock’s dress was instantly ablaze and the terrified girl, seizing the babe in her arms, rushed into the yard where her screams soon attracted the neighbors, who rescued the babe from her blazing arms extinguished the flames which clung to her and the babe and then saved the house. Miss Stock was so terribly burned that she became unconscious up to within a few moments before her death which occurred at 9 a.m. the following day. During her last moments she gave the particulars above detailed. The babe was so badly burned that it cannot survive. Miss Stock was a niece of Joseph Stock, of this place, and her remains were brought here Tuesday and interred in Ashton cemetery. – Colfax Clipper.
Source: The Weekly Clipper( Colfax, Iowa); Friday, November 24, 1893, page 4