MITCHELL, James Claise - Died 1908

MITCHELL

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 5/14/2013 at 18:00:42

Fatal Accident

James Claise Mitchell, oldest son of Jr. and Mrs. T.C. Mitchell, of northestern Farmington township, Van Buren county, Iowa, shot himself Sunday afternoon June 14, 1908.

About three o'clock Sunday afternoon he took a single barrel shot gun and went to a field of young corn to shoot crows that were damaging same. He said he would be back soon. A dog went with him.

He did not return as soon as was expected. The dog came back about _:30 o'clock and the family soon began hunting and calling for him.

Most of the men of the neighborhood went to church services that evening at Story Chapel and a general search was not instituted until after church was over, probably ten o'clock or later.

By this time the moon had risen and the light was sufficient to make a thorough search.

It was almost 2 A.M. when Everett Johnson found the young man lying under a wire fence about a quarter of a mile from the Jacob Muntz residence and a half mile from his home. When found it (was) evident that he had been dead several hours. There was a terrible wound in his right side, eveidently caused by a shot gun, the shot having torn their way into his right side and ranged under or through the bottom of his lungs.

He was lying on his back with his arms folded across his breast and it was evident to those who found him that he had been conscious a little while after receiving the wound, and that he had quickly bled to death.

The gun which had caused his death was lying by his side. In it was an empty shell. It is thought the gun was discharged while he was getting through the fence.

The Muntz boys say they heard a gun shot about five o'clock. It is possible that is the time Claise Mitchell received the wound that caused his death. He leaves to mourn their loss, a father and a mother, one brother and one sister. It is a terrible shock to the family. The young man was a tall well built specimen of Amricanized English manhood, well liked by all who knew him, industrious, honest and intelligent. It is terrible to think of being sticken down at this time of life.

The Mitchell family have the sympathy of the entire community in their sudden bereavement. There is something about an accident of this nature that makes it sadder than a death by disease. To have him leave home in the afternoon in full strength of his young manhood, with most all of life to live, with plans made and with his mind upon his daily work and the care of his crops; and to bring him home in the evening with life extinct, casuses a shock to the parents which is almost more than they can bear.

A coroner's inquest was held Monday morning, Justice of Peace D.K. Hornbaker presiding in the absence of the coroner. M. Simmons, Fred Helwig, and Annison Bradford were the coroner's jury. The verdict was that the young man, Claise Mitchell, had come to his death by the accidental discharge of a shot gun in his own hands. The gun was a 12 gauge bore.

The funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at two o'clock at Story Chapel and the church was filled with sorrowing friends of the unfortunate young man.

Those who visited the scenen of the accident later than above think Mr. Mitchell shot himself while standing beside a corn planter which was near the fence. Tracks indicate that he was doing something about the planter and had probably leaned the gun against it. In some manner the hammer caught and the gun was discharged.

The muzzle of the gun was very near his side and his clothing, was burned about the wound. The powder, gas, and entered his body. The shot ranged upward, lodging in the region of his left shoulder in a bunch about the size of a dollar.

Tracks indicate that after he was shot, Mr. Mitchell took fifteen long steps before he fell partially under the wire fence. Dr. Cresap thinks he was not conscious where he was going but that the steps were taken mechanically.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book C, Page 64, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA

2nd Source: Entler Scrapbook Collection, vol 5, Iowa Historical Library, Iowa City, IA