Emma Ritland (~1900-1909)

RITLAND

Posted By: Alan Nicholson
Date: 4/26/2010 at 22:08:43

Roland Record
2 December 1909

Girl Dies In Epileptic Fit

Father Finds Daughter Breathing Her Last in Road, When he Runs to Her Rescue - Was Weak Mentally and Physically

While B. J. Ritland was picking corn near his home last Friday afternoon, his son and daughter were at home alone, while Mrs. Ritland was at McCallsburg. The daughter, Emma, went as usual after the mail, and when she was just returning to the home, she was attacked by an epileptic fit, and fell face forward to the ground. Her father had been watching her, and at once ran to her assistance, but upon reaching her he found that life was almost extinct. He carried her to the house, where she breathed her last after a few minutes.

The little girl had been subject to these attacks since a little girl, and was always under the eye of her parents, and while her death was sudden, and a hard blow to the loving parents, it did not come altogether as a surprise to them. The little girl was about nine years of age and very large for her years.

The funeral services were held on Monday afternoon from Bergen church, Rev. G. Smedal officiating, after which the remains were laid to rest in the Roland cemetery. The bereaved and sorrowing parents are extended the heartfelt sympathy of their numerous friends in the hour of their sorrow.

Roland Record
16 December 1909

In the obituary of the late Emma Ritland, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Ritland, it was stated that the girl was alive when Mr. Ritland discovered her body in the road, but this was not the case. The little girl had already passed to her reward when her father found her. A team driving by the corner was hailed and they took the corpse to the house, where a physician afterwards made the necessary examination.