Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I agree with those who say the newspaper got it wrong. As I told Nelda, Myrtle must have said when she read the article, "reports of my death are exaggerated." Seriously, though, if Myrtle died from the effects of the crash a few years later, as appears possible, that's pretty sad. Incidentally, if anyone wants to get a flavor for the times, I suggest looking at this article on genealogybank.com. Beneath the Venters collision article, there is an absolutely bizarre item about a Mrs. Newberry who had just departed Morrisonville for Chicago, as her husband had been found in the dissecting room of the Post Graduate Medical School of CHicago. The body had been "pickled" and taken to the school for use by the students. He had taken ill on the streets of Chicago, died, and was buried in a potter's field. Beneath that, there's an article about 3 members of a family who died from drinking wood alcohol. The good ole days weren't always so good. Barton On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 9:57 AM, 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