Meader, Augustus H. 1846 - 1900

MEADER, LAMB, JOHNSON, HIATT

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:44

Source: Decorah Republican Dec. 20, 1900 P 2 C 3

TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.
Augustus H. Meader, of Mabel, Commits this Rash Act while Temporarily Insane.
On Monday last the many friends of Augustus H Meader, formerly of Hesper, but for two years past a resident of Mabel, were shocked and pained to learn that he had committed suicide by cutting his throat. The first news to reach Decorah came by telephone shortly before ten o’clock. Later in the day , it was learned that Mr. Meader had risen as usual and helped his wife with the family washing. About nine o’clock, when only a small part of the work remained, he said he would go to the barn and water his horses, and then empty the wash tubs. He did not return as soon as Mrs. Meader expected and she went to the door and called him, receiving no response. She went to the barn and called again, and when he did not then respond, she looked upstairs where she found him lying on the hay. She called Vernon Gillmore, their next door neighbor, who went to the body and found that life was extinct. After a long search, Mr. Meader’s pocket knife, with which he had done the deed, was found.
There is no known cause for the deed. Mr. Meader was a man of ample means and his business affairs were always kept in excellent shape. He was a man of more or less nervous temperament and at times would seem to be excitable, but his actions did not excite suspicion. On the 14th inst. he was a visitor in Hesper and at that time expressed a desire to get certain business matters attended to. No particular attention was paid to this because it seemed to be natural to him. Later in the day he had a talk with Attorney Hammer, of Mabel, and he told him that within a few days something would happen and he wanted Mr. Hammer to stand by him. Mr. and Mrs. Meader had planned to go to Eau Claire on the 19th to attend the wedding of a niece and both seemed to anticipate considerable pleasure in the trip. This in connection with the seeming anxiety and his peculiar statement to Mr. Hammer is taken to indicate that the deed was done while the unfortunate man was laboring under mental derangement.
Mr. Meader was born in 1846 in Indiana and came to Iowa with his parents, E. E. Meader and wife in the fall of 1850. That winter was spent in Allamakee county and in the spring they came to Winnesheik county and settled in Hesper township. In 1868 Mr. Meader was married to Miss Abbie Lamb, who with three children survive him. The children are Ren Meader, of Eau Claire, Wis., Mrs. Ed. Johnson, of Hesper township, and Miss Lucy Meader, who is living at home. There also remain the aged mother, four brothers and one sister. They are Mrs. Lydia Meader, Mrs. C. A. Hiatt, T. C. and M. E. Meader, of Hesper, and A. H. Meader, Jr., and George Meader, of Eau Claire,
When he became of age, Mr. Meader received eighty acres of land from his father. To this he added by purchase and improvement until he had one of the finest farms on Looking Glass Prairie where he and his family continued to live until their recent retirement from farm life when they took up their residence in Mabel.
Mr. Meader has always been known as an upright and honorable man in all his business dealings. He enjoyed a wide acquaintance and made many friends who sympathize deeply with those who remain in their affliction, while they deplore the death of the deceased.

Hesper Public Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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