Martha (Brown) Alexander (1910)

ALEXANDER, BROWN

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 6/1/2010 at 13:15:36

The Winterset Reporter
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, December 8, 1910
Page 1

Burned to Death

One of the saddest catastrophes that ever visited this community occurred Tuesday morning about 7:30 o’clock, when by an explosion of gasoline in the home of J. T. Alexander, Mrs. Alexander became the victim of the flames which burned off almost all of her clothing. Her flesh was so burned and her suffering so intense that she died in a few hours.

The particulars of the accident will never be definitely known, as Mrs. Alexander was the only person in the room at the time, and she was never able to give an account of the accident.

The particulars so far as known are about as follows: Mr. Alexander had built a fire in the range and had gone into another room. Later his wife went into the kitchen, and soon thereafter the explosion occurred. Mr. Alexander rushed for the kitchen but could not open the door. The three sons, Dr. Lloyd, S. D. and Erwin were also in the house and the men all ran around the house and entered the kitchen by the back door to find the room enveloped in flames and the wife and mother lying prone on the floor in an unconscious condition. She was carried out with great difficulty and danger, all were more or less burned, especially Erwin, who was quite seriously burned. The sufferer was taken to a neighboring house and everything possible was done to relieve her sufferings but she died about noon. The fire was quickly extinguished without serious damage to the house. A wrecked gasoline can was found near the stove, and the supposition is that in an effort to hurry up the fire in the stove she had poured gasoline on instead of kerosene.

Mrs. Alexander was 65 years of age and was a lady of wide acquaintance and great popularity in Winterset. She was an active worker in the W.R.C. and the wife of a veteran of the civil war. The disaster cast a gloom over the entire city and the whole community is plunged into the deepest sorrow.

She leaves a husband, three sons, Dr. Lloyd, of Kansas City, Mo., S. D. and Irwin, and one daughter, Eleanor, who lives in Montana, and who is expected to reach here today. The funeral will be held from the house at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon.
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The Winterset Reporter
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, December 8, 1910
Page 3

Funeral at M. E. Church

Since the announcement of the funeral of Mrs. Alexander was printed elsewhere in this issue, the arrangements have been changed, and the funeral services will be held in the M.E. church instead of at the house, tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 o’clock.
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The Winterset Reporter
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, December 15, 1910
Page 3

Martha Brown Alexander, daughter of James and Elizabeth Brown, was born in Logan county, Ohio, December 26, 1845, and died in Winterset, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 1910. She was of a family consisting of five sisters and three brothers, none of whom survive her. They were all of Quaker or Friends belief, and when the family emigrated to Warren county, Iowa, that faith they carried with them. After their removal from the Friends community, she joined the M. E. church in the winter of 1866, and has been a member ever since.

On September 3, 1867, she was united in marriage to Thos. J. Alexander. Five children were born to this union: Joseph Lloyd, Eleanor, Ernest, Shirley Donald and Erwin Van Berg, all of whom have grown to maturity, and survive her, save Ernest, who died in infancy. After her marriage, she went with her young soldier husband to O’Brien county, Iowa, then a new country, and took up a homestead. They endured all the privations and hardships of that pioneer period, and have been witnesses to much of the development of the state of Iowa, having been continuous residents with but one year’s exception.

They removed to Winterset in 1896, and have been residents ever since. She always was generous with her sympathy, and a help to the W.R.C., of which she was a member, and to the church of her choice. Funeral services were held from the M.E. church, on the afternoon of December 9th, and interment was made in the Winterset cemetery. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. A. A. Walburn, of the M.E. church, assisted by Rev. J. S. Corkey, of the Presbyterian church. The members of the Relief Corps attended in a body, and through their ritual service, paid the last tribute of respect to a departed sister and co-worker.

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