Well, for odd, this one makes the top ten list. "Mr. and Mrs. Moses Venters Sturck by Big Four Fast Train -- Former Killed and wife seriously injured." NOW, that would mean that MOSES Venters was killed. But, as you noted, the article further says "and fatally injured Mrs. Venters." "Mr. Venters was seriously hurt, but will live." BUT, let's go further. 17 Nov 1909, the Daily Ill State Journal had another article. Shelbyville -- Moses Venters settled with the Big Four railroad for fifty dollars for injuries he received when his buggy was wrecked by a train. Hmm. Obviously he lived -- but why settle for only his "injuries?" Why not for wife if she died? To the Census. 1900 has only one Moses in Shelbyville (location of the train accident). Moses is 44, Myrtle is 19. Moses mother, Artie M, 65, is also on the census with them, and son, Charles W, 7/12. In 1910, Moses is 54, Myrtle is 20, married eleven years. Myrtle has had five children, four living -- Charlie W, 10, Orpha I, 6, Clyde L, 4, Paul e, 1 11/12, plus Moses' mother, Artie, now 75. Pretty clear that Myrtle survived the crash. If anyone died, it might have been a child. Or, the newspaper could simply have gotten it wrong. I suggest the latter. It does appear that she died before 1916, as she does not appear on the Ill Deaths and Stillbirths Index. I suggest that checking with the Shelby County Court for a copy of the lawsuit would be helpful. Pat In Tucson -----Original Message----- From: roots-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:roots-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Barton Lewis Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 6:33 PM To: roots@rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] Big Mystery Hello, I'm writing to ask if anyone has a theory about the following: Moses Venters appears in the 1900 and 1910 Shelby County, IL censuses with his wife, Myrtle, and children. Myrtle is 19 in 1900 and 29 in 1910. She's b. in IL and her parents b. in OH in both. Clearly, it's the same woman. In the 23 Feb 1907 issue of the Illinois State Register, there's an item about a train and car collision near Shelbyville, IL with the headline "Mr. and Mrs. Moses Venters Struck by Big Four Fast Train-Former Killed and Wife Seriously Injured." The article itself says "Mrs. Venters was fatally injured" and "Mr. Venters was seriously hurt, but will live." The article can be found by searching for Moses Venters in historical newspapers on genealogybank.com. Moses Venters died on 12 Mar 1934 in Shelby County. Did Myrtle Venters return from the dead? I can't figure this one out for the life of me. Thanks for any light anyone can shed. Barton Lewis ===== If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Dear Barton and Alan, I searched Ancestry.com and found Moses Venters' death certificate. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&gsfn=moses&gsln=venters&gsby=&gsb2co=1%2cAll+Countries&gsb2pl=1%2c+&gsdy=&gsd2co=1%2cAll+Countries&gsd2pl=1%2c+&sbo=1&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-b&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=1372742&recoff=7+8+62&db=FSIllinoisDeath&indiv=1 It gives Moses' birthdate in 1856 and his parents' names -- David Venters and Artie Reed. At the time of his death Moses' marital status was "divorced". The maiden name of his (ex) wife was Myrtle Elben. In the 1930 census in Shelby County, Illinois, Moses' marital status is still "married", but Myrtle is not enumerated in his household. I thought Alan's theory was an excellent one, but it turns out not to be true. My theory now is that the newspaper account exaggerated in1907 when it said that Mrs. Venters was "fatally" injured. Dorothy At 9:57 AM -0700 5/26/12, Kith-n-Kin wrote: >Well, for odd, this one makes the top ten list. > >"Mr. and Mrs. Moses Venters Sturck by Big Four Fast Train -- Former Killed >and wife seriously injured." > >NOW, that would mean that MOSES Venters was killed. But, as you noted, the >article further says "and fatally injured Mrs. Venters." "Mr. Venters was >seriously hurt, but will live." > >BUT, let's go further. > >17 Nov 1909, the Daily Ill State Journal had another article. > >Shelbyville -- Moses Venters settled with the Big Four railroad for fifty >dollars for injuries he received when his buggy was wrecked by a train. > >Hmm. Obviously he lived -- but why settle for only his "injuries?" Why not >for wife if she died? > >To the Census. 1900 has only one Moses in Shelbyville (location of the train >accident). Moses is 44, Myrtle is 19. Moses mother, Artie M, 65, is also on >the census with them, and son, Charles W, 7/12. > >In 1910, Moses is 54, Myrtle is 20, married eleven years. Myrtle has had >five children, four living -- Charlie W, 10, Orpha I, 6, Clyde L, 4, Paul e, >1 11/12, plus Moses' mother, Artie, now 75. > >Pretty clear that Myrtle survived the crash. If anyone died, it might have >been a child. Or, the newspaper could simply have gotten it wrong. I suggest >the latter. > >It does appear that she died before 1916, as she does not appear on the Ill >Deaths and Stillbirths Index. > >I suggest that checking with the Shelby County Court for a copy of the >lawsuit would be helpful. > >Pat >In Tucson > > > > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: roots-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:roots-bounces@rootsweb.com] On >Behalf Of Barton Lewis >Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 6:33 PM >To: roots@rootsweb.com >Subject: [ROOTS-L] Big Mystery > >Hello, > >I'm writing to ask if anyone has a theory about the following: Moses >Venters appears in the 1900 and 1910 Shelby County, IL censuses with his >wife, Myrtle, and children. Myrtle is 19 in 1900 and 29 in 1910. She's b. >in IL and her parents b. in OH in both. Clearly, it's the same woman. In >the 23 Feb 1907 issue of the Illinois State Register, there's an item about >a train and car collision near Shelbyville, IL with the headline "Mr. and >Mrs. Moses Venters Struck by Big Four Fast Train-Former Killed and Wife >Seriously Injured." The article itself says "Mrs. Venters was fatally >injured" and "Mr. Venters was seriously hurt, but will live." The article >can be found by searching for Moses Venters in historical newspapers on >genealogybank.com. > >Moses Venters died on 12 Mar 1934 in Shelby County. Did Myrtle Venters >return from the dead? I can't figure this one out for the life of me. > >Thanks for any light anyone can shed. > >Barton Lewis >===== >If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to >roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in >the subject and the body of the message > > >===== >If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to >roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message