The Chariton Leader, Chariton, Iowa Thursday, June 18, 1908 ALFRED BRANNAMAN, in a cottage near the Burlington depot in Chariton, took carbolic acid, on Tuesday, and when found in his room, life was extinct.  He conducted a restaurant on what is known as the Levee, and said he would go to bed and sleep as he was up much of the time the previous night.  This was about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and his little daughter went into his room about 7 o'clock in the evening and was horrified to find him dead.  The alarm was given and others entered.  He was lying in his bed as though asleep except the glassy stare in his eyes and his hands clenched across his breast.  The odor of carbolic acid told the story.  Drs. Dave Storie and Thede Stanton examined him and said that he had been dead for several hours. BRANNAMAN was a man slightly over 40 years of age and had a wife and four children.  Several weeks ago they came here from Leon and purchased the Crips restaurant, paying part cash and giving a mortgage, secured on building for the balance.  The business has not been good but that perhaps had nothing to do with his final act. It seems that he and wife did not get along well together -- in fact they quarreled much of the time and a few weeks since she began suit against him, through Attorneys Drake and Campbell, for divorce -- though living along together as before.  Which was to blame is unknown to the public, but she spoke very bitterly of him and he seemed downcast and broken spirited.  He left letters explaining his reasons for killing himself and charged in one of them that she was untrue to him.  She said that his folks wanted him to take two of the children and leave him and let her go with the other two. Several here were acquainted with him in Decatur County and say that he was a good man and at one time owned a large farm but moved to town and lost about everything. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert March 2, 2005 iggy29@rnetinc.net http://www.rootsweb.com/~ialucas/Main.htm