Townsend, Marza Lee 1870 – 1899

TOWNSEND, LEE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:45

Source: Decorah Republican Oct. 5, 1899 P 2 C 4, 5

MARZA TOWNSEND KILLED.
In doing the Cannon Act his par{a}chute fails to open and he falls a 200 feet.
A telegram from Des Moines last evening addressed to the chief of police brought the intelligence that Marza Townsend, or Marza Lee, as he is more commonly known, had been killed in a balloon accident during the afternoon. The REPUBLICAN wired for parti{c}ulars at once and the story is told in the following special received this morning:— DES MOINES, IOWA, Oct. 5,1899. REPUBLICAN:— Professsor{sp} Marza Townsend met his death last evening at 5:30 in falling from his balloon after making ascen{s}ion. Thou{s}ands of people were on the circus grounds of the Seni Om Sed to witness the feat of a man shot from a cannon and then lighting on the ground safe. The balloon went up on scheduled time and when 200 feet in the air the cannon was fired but instead of his parachute opening the horrified spectators watched the ballo{o}nist fall, turning somersault after somersault. He struck earth near Judge Prouty’s residence. His skull was crushed and death must have been instantaneous. Coroner's inquest will be held this afternoon. It is stated by several who were on the grounds that the balloon was old and not able to carry the weight and also that Townsend had trouble getting out of the cannon and that the parachute caught on the edge. A tear in the parachute that looks as though it may have been inflicted by the edge of the tin cannon makes this seem probable.
The following telegram was received before the foregoing but omits the details as above given:—
DES MOINES, Oct. 4 -[Special to REPUBLICAN]—Mara{sic} Townsend, of De¬orah, was shot out of a wooden cannon attached to a balloon, about a thousand feet up, at the Carnival Grounds this evening about 5 o'clock. His parachute failed to open and he shot to earth like a log and was picked up a mangled corpse. A large and horrified crowd saw the accident.
Marza is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lee, of this city, and he has grown to manhood here. The news of tragic death came as a blow to his relatives, well they knew such fate might befall him while engaged in so perilous a profession. The remains will be brought to Decorah for burial.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave shows he was born April 3, 1870 and died Oct. 4, 1899. He is buried in Phelps Cemetery.

Source: Decorah Republican Oct. 12, 1899 P 4 C 3

Buried last Saturday.
The remains of Marza Townsend were brought home from Des Moines last Friday, and the funeral and burial took place from the Methodist church on Saturday. From later reports it would seem that the accident which caused his death was but to bad judgment on the part of his assistants. When the balloon ascended it floated over a hill, and it was while in this position that the signal to cut away was given. No allowance was made for the hill and consequently there was not sufficient distance for the parachute to open in. We are informed by a member of the family that the balloon was comparatively new, only a few ascensions having been made with it.

Phelps Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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