Shenandoah Sentinel
3 August 1888
Shenandoah, IA

Suffocated

Many of the older settlers in this part of Iowa will remember Robert Henderson who resided at Sidney some twenty-five years ago. He moved from here to Idaho years ago where he amassed quite a fortune. A few years ago he married a daughter of Ephraim High, residing on Walnut Creek a few miles west of Shenandoah. About a month ago he came here with a lot of horses from Oregon the last of which he sold at Essex. At that place he purchased a draft for $8,000 then commenced east to Chicago for the purpose of buying a steamboat for use on a small river near his Idaho home. Nothing was heard of him from friends here until Mr. HI Foskett called their attention to an article in the Chicago Times of last Friday that he was in precarious condition at the Ogden House as a result of failing to turn out the gas. Mr. Clem and Mr. J. R. Ratekin each wrote to the proprietor of the hotel and early Sunday Mr. Ripley a brother-in-law of Henderson started for Chicago, but when he reached there Henderson was dead. It was ascertained that he had made a payment of $1,000 in currency and a draft for $1,000. At first they were suspicious of foul play or suicide but the coroner's jury brought in a verdict of accidental death.

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The Fremont County Herald
28 July 1892

"Shenandoah News": We learn that Mrs. Martha Henderson, who resided on Walnut Creek, died Sunday and was buried Monday in the Singleton Cemetery. She will be remembered by all the old settlers as Martha High, daughter of Uncle Ephraim High.

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Fremont County Herald
4 August 1892
Sidney, IA

Henderson-- At her residence in Walnut Township, Fremont County, Iowa, on Sunday, July 21, 1892, of congestion of the liver, Martha, wife of Robert Henderson, and eldest daughter of Eph. and Elizabeth High, aged 43 years, 5 months, and 4 days. The deceased was a widow, her husband having been suffocated by gas in a hotel in Chicago, July 28, 1888, being there on business. She united with the Presbyterian Church about a year before her husband's death. After she became a widow she returned to Fremont County and soon after joined the M. E. Church by letter. She leaves a little son 5 years old, a daughter 7 years of age, 4 step children, and aged Father and Mother, 2 sisters, 3 brothers, and a wide circle of friends to mourn her loss. She was a most affectionate mother, and cheerful and friendly towards all, endearing herself by her amiability and gentleness to all her family and friends. The funeral service took place from the residence Monday. Rev. A. E. Griffith, pastor of the Methodist Church, Shenandoah, officiating. Her remains were laid to rest in the Singleton Cemetery.

Submitted and Transcribed by Danette Hein-Snider

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