Mouw, John Engelbartus, 1854-1905

MOUW, WILLEMS

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/11/2014 at 08:30:47

Sad Accident

The shadow of an intense grief surrounds the home of the late John Bart Mouw of Orange City vicinity for death has entered that once happy home and taken away a kind husband and loving father. Alton and Orange City people were shocked and saddened beyond measure Wednesday morning about ten o'clock when the report was sent out that John Bart Mouw had been instantly killed at the Alton mill in a runaway.

It seems the unfortunate man with his brother Hendrikus came in with grain and the latter had unloaded his wagon and gone up town when John drove up onto the dump rapidly causing the key which holds the sprocket wheel in position to give way which caused the load to lower a little. This frightened the team and they kept on pulling straight ahead and turned rather short striking the corner of the mill office which caused one end of the seat to break down. Will Braskamp--the grain buyer--who was to weigh the load rushed out and caught the horses by the head. He says when he did so Mouw was still on the seat. The team turned in a circle before he could stop them and when he looked around Mouw lay on the ground dead having been dragged by the lines for a distance of about thirty feet after the wagon which was loaded with wheat had passed over his head. Deceased was about fiftyone years of age and rather heavy set. This it is supposed hindered him from getting up and out of the way.

The body was at once carried into the corridor of the mill until Pete Mouw--a cousin of the deceased came and took the remains to his home in Orange City and prepared them for burial after which they were taken home three miles north of Orange City. In the meantime Rev. Van Duine as gently as possible had broken the terrible news to the wife and children who are prostrated over the sad affair. An inquest was held in Dr. Scholten's office in the afternoon Dr. DeBey acting as coroner. The jury empaneled consisted of Nic Schroeder, Nic Scheckel and Carl Wissink who after hearing the testimony rendered the following verdict "Killed in a runaway by a wagon loaded with wheat passing over his head."

Deceased was one of Sioux county's welltodo and influential farmers. He was respected by all and for years was interested in church work. He leaves to mourn his untimely end a wife and seven children--the oldest aged twentyone years and the youngest a babe three weeks old. The funeral was held this Friday afternoon at the Christian Reformed church, Rev. Van Duine conducting the ceremony. Interment took place in the Orange City cemetery. The sorrowing relatives have the sympathy of all in the depth of gloom which now enshrouds them.

Source: Alton Democrat, October 7, 1905.

In the same issue of the Democrat: Newkirk news:
Wednesday this community was shocked and saddened by the sad news that John Bart Mouw had been instantly killed in Alton in a runaway. He was well known in this community and highly respected. He was the son in law of G. [Gerrit] Mouw who lives three miles west of here.

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John Bart Mouw

[Starts with a paragraph on the coroner's jury findings, same as in the article above.]
The funeral was held on Friday afternoon from the Christian Reformed church here, Rev. I. Van Dellen officiating, and was one of the most largely attended funerals since the death of Henry Hospers, that has been held in Orange City. Everywhere there was shown a strong feeling of sincere sympathy for relatives and sorrow for the strong man who had been stricken down in the very prime of life. Deceased was fifty-one years of age and a large part of his life had been spent in this vicinity. He leaves a wife and seven children, the youngest only three weeks old. The prominence of Mr. Mouw in this locality, and the largeness of his circle of friends makes his death an especially widely mourned one.

Source: Sioux County Herald, October 11, 1905.

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From the Alton Democrat, October 14, 1905:
In last week's writeup of the sad accident of John Bart Mouw of Orange City we made an error in regard as to who conducted the funeral services and conveyed the sad news to the stricken family. The last sad rites were conducted, by Rev. Van Dellen of Orange City.

Articles about the accident and Mouw's death were also published in the Sioux County Herald (Oct. 4), Sioux Center Nieuwsblad (Oct. 11), and Hawarden Independent (Oct. 12). They give essentially the same information.

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GSCGS researcher Wilma J. Vande Berg found that Jan Engelbartus Mouw was born Mar 1854 in the Netherlands to Jan Mouw 1813-1882, and Aartje Jans Willems 1816-1891. He married Elizabeth Mouw daughter of Gerrit Mouw and Willemtje Frens on 16 March 1888 at 33 yrs of age. Elizabeth was born 1869 died 1925. Their children were Hermina 1885, Etta 1888, Engeline 1896, Willemtje 1898, John 1900, Gerrit 1903 and Elizabeth 1905.