Carl William MORT, 1889-1928

MORT, BURCHETT, WILSON, ROBERTS, KERR

Posted By: Volunteer-Betty Hootman
Date: 7/7/2012 at 14:11:11

Carl Mort Dies of Pneumonia

It was with sorrow we heard of the untimely death of our promising young friend at his home near Beloit, Kan., on Jan. 20. His father Wm. Mort, and two sisters, Mrs. Otto Burchett and Mrs. Elmer Wilson, near Lebanon, reached his bedside before death took him away. An obituary later.

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Carl William Mort

The people of Asherville and community and a great many people of the Beloit Community were saddened Friday by the death of Carl Mort, who died at his home about a mile west of Asherville at 11 o’clock in the forenoon on Friday, January 20, 1928. Death was due to pneumonia and complications, and followed about a weeks serious illness.

Carl William Mort was born November 21, 1889, at Keosauqua, Iowa, making him aged at the time of his death 38 years, 1 month and 29 days. In his late teen Mr. Mort became a railroad telegraph operator and was holding down a railroad operator job when the United States entered the World War. And, because of the fact that the government kept all the railroad operators on their jobs as they were essential to a good transportation to the government during the war, he was not allowed to enlist in the army. Shortly after the close of the war, Mr. Mort made a visit to Mitchell county, coming with relatives of Ed Roberts family of Asherville. Later Miss Grace Roberts taught school in Iowa close to where Mr. Mort was stationed as a railroad operator. And so it happened that Miss Grace Roberts and Mr. Carl William Mort were married at Ottumwa, Iowa, on February 12, 1921. A short time later, Mr. Mort felt that his health was becoming impaired by his occupation as railroad telegraph operator; and he and his wife moved to Asherville onto a farm owned by Mrs. Roberts’ father.

In the Asherville community, where Mrs. Mort had been raised and where she and her family were held in such high repute by everyone, Carl Mort soon made friends with all the people in the neighborhood. At first he was “accepted” by the people of the Asherville neighborhood because of the fact that he was a member of the Roberts family; but soon the people of that community came to love and admire Carl Mort because of his own fine qualities as a man, as a husband and as a neighbor and friend. He was such a fine, upstanding and honest fellow, so good to his wife and family, so congenial and neighborly to the people in the community. As a boy, Carl had been raised on a farm, so that he was quick in adapting himself again to farm life. Carl was a good farmer and feeder, was thrifty and worked hard; he was “getting along” very nicely financially.

But, Carl Mort’s greatest pride was not his farm, his stock not the success he was making in the business. His great pride and pleasure lay in his good wife and their four year old son, Bobby Carl. The son idealized his Daddy and was with him almost constantly in his work in the feeding pens and around the farm. An ideal family life was the Morts’.

Naturally, when the word was spread in the community that Carl Mort was sick, threatened with pneumonia, everyone in the locality was interested and sympathetic. The neighbors flocked in to do the chores, to help in the house and to do everything possible to help out. Bur Carl became serious almost from the first. A trained nurse and the combined skill of the best available physicians were put on his case; everything possible was done. The first part of last week, encouraging reports came from his beside; but soon a change for the worse came. Carl’s condition was again critical by the middle part of the week, and remained that way until at about 11 o’clock on Friday when death ended the earthly suffering of Carl Mort and at the same time cast a gloom of sorrow over the entire community.

Carl Mort leaves to mourn his death, his wife and son, Bobby Carl, one other child having died in infancy; also his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Mort of Iowa, and three sisters, Mrs. Otto Burchett, Mrs. Elmer Wilson and Mrs. Floy Kerr, all of Iowa. He was a member of these Masonic orders: Celestial Lodge No, 143, A. F. & A. M., at Douds, Iowa; Moore Chapter No. 23 R. A. M., of Keosauqua, Iowa; Cyrene Commandery NO. 23 of Beloit; Kaaba Temple, Davenport, Iowa, and Naomi Chapter, O. E. S. at Beloit.

The funeral services were conducted Sunday afternoon at the Methodist church in Beloit, and were attended by an unusually large number of people. Rev. H. E. Little of the Methodist church gave the prayer, and Rev. R. R. Kaiser of the Christian church gave a wonderful sermon. Special music was furnished by a choir compo0sed of Mrs. Roy Pagett, Mrs. Martha Kendall, F. L. Pittaman and George H. Goody; and there was also a durt number by Rev. Kaiser and Mrs. W. D. Black. The Cyrene Commandery of Beloit had charge of the services at the grave in Elmwood cemetery, Beloit.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Scrapbook A, pages 420 & 421, Keosauqua Public Library; Keosauqua, IA