Wilson T. Terry (1904)

CRAWFORD, TERRY

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 12/29/2009 at 09:00:26

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, April 28, 1904
Page 1, Column 1

TAKES HIS OWN LIFE

W. T. Terry, of Jackson Township, Died by His Own Hand.

Death is Supposed to be the Result of Despondency. Deceased was 55 Years of Age. Leaves Wife and Seven Children.

On Friday morning W. T. Terry, who resided two miles east of Pitzer in Jackson township, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. He arose at about the usual hour and after building a fire called to his wife saying that she need not be in a hurry about getting up as it was a rainy morning. He went to the barn presumably for the purpose of doing the morning chores and was there discovered by his son, Albert, about a half hour later on going to the barn to summon his father to breakfast. To all appearances, he had been dead but a few minutes. He had seated himself on a pile of straw in the feed way of the barn and with a razor cut the veins of the left wrist and cut this throat almost from ear to ear, severing the jugular vein and trachea. Coroner Dr. F. Richards was called and upon examination of the body decided that in inquest was not necessary.

Mr. Terry was among the older residents of Jackson township and had been a resident of the county about 40 years. He was a man of quiet and unassuming disposition and had the had the respect and good will of his neighbors.

No immediate cause of his last deed is known other than that he had been in poor health recently and was disposed to be despondent. He was in Winterset on the day before his death and negotiated for the renewal of a loan upon his farm, but it hardly seems probable that this had anything to do with his death in a manner as he had made satisfactory arrangements for the loan and was not financially embarrassed to a great extent.

The deceased was a member of the Old School Baptist, and the funeral services and burial were conducted Sunday forenoon at the little church recently erected just north of the city.
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The Madison County Reporter
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, April 28, 1904
Page 3

Wilson Terry Suicides

This community was shocked early last Friday morning when they learned of the sudden death of Wilson Terry, one of Madison county’s best known citizens. He was in town on Thursday and was apparently in his usual good spirits. He got up at the usual time on Friday morning, built the fire, spoke to his wife and told her to lie in bed as the morning was gloomy and no need to be in a hurry. He then went to the barn and later was found by one of his sons who called to his mother that there was something wrong with father. Mrs. Terry on going to the barn found her husband dead from the effects of a wound in the throat caused by a cut from a razor in his own hand.

Mr. Terry was a loving father and husband and a man that stood ready to sympathize with his neighbors in all their afflictions and troubles.

The funeral was held Sunday and the remains were laid to rest in the Baptist burying ground beside two of his children who had gone before. The services were conducted by Elders Nay and Rose.
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The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Friday, April 29, 1904
Page 1, Column 3

CUTS HIS OWN THROAT

Wilson Terry Cuts his Own Throat With a Razor

HIS DEBTS DROVE HIM TO DEATH

Despondent Over Maturing Obligations. Terry Cuts Wrists and Arteries With Razor Friday Morning. Death Comes Quick. Follows His Brother’s Example.

Wilson Terry, of Douglas township, and old and honest citizen, despondent over maturing debts and crazed from worry, went to the barn Friday morning before the rest of the family were up and taking an old razor hacked his wrist four or five times. The arteries of the arm lie deeper than he thought and seeing that death would come slow he cut a horrible gash on both sides of his neck. He missed the artery on one side but cut the carotid artery half in two. He sank down on the barn floor and when his son came to call him to breakfast he found him dead.

Terry was nearly sixty years old. He was in town Friday talking to George Duff and William Martin who held accounts against him telling them his financial circumstances and saying that unless he had help financially he would be ruined. Both men assured him they would wait on him and told him not to worry.

Both Mr. Martin and Duff went over his financial account and found that beyond the mortgage on the farm on which the interest had all been kept paid up and which was not due for two years that he had little debt and that there was no cause for worry at all. Before going out of town he made arrangements to meet all his little debts and went home feeling better. Mr. McCleary, with whom he drove home, said he seemed in good spirits all the way home.

Friday morning he got up killing his wife that it was not necessary for her to get up so early and that he would do the work before breakfast. Mrs. Terry got up soon after he went to the barn, and prepared breakfast, sending her son to the barn when it was ready to call his father. Getting no response to his call the boy entered the barn and found his father lying dead on the floor.

Terry was a man who stood up well in the community. His word was considered good as a bond. His half-brother, William Terry, hung himself a few years ago after he had built a barn and thought that he could not pay for it. He left a note saying that the barn had been the cause of his death and asked that it be burned.

The funeral occurred Sunday and the burial took place at the Baptist cemetery north of the city. He often preached for his church of which he had been a consistent and faithful member nearly all of his life.

He leaves a wife, a daughter of Louis Crawford of Madison township, and several children, nearly all of the married.

Gravesite
 

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