The Turnbo Manuscripts

by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925


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DEATH OF A SICK WOMAN AT THE ROAD SIDE
By S. C. Turnbo

Among the sad events that we have written down as history is the death of Mrs. Seton on the old Billy Holt farm on the left bank of White River. This land as we have said elsewhere is just above the mouth of Shoal Creek and a short distance over the line in Boone County, Ark. The incident which was pathetic occurred in the fall of 186?. John Jones and family was living on the farm at the time of the woman’s death, the particulars of which are as follows. The woman had married a man of the name of Wade and he died leaving her and 4 children, the names of which were Alex, Bill, George and Sarah. After the death of her husband Mrs. Wade married a worthless man named Seton and he deserted her. She had no home, was destitute and sick. She started out with her children afoot with the hope of finding work and some place to stay at. She was traveling down the river and one morning as she was dragging along in the upper end of the bottom on the Hold Farm, she found that she was not able to go any further and seated herself on a log and while surrounded by her starving and almost naked children the poor woman fell off of the log dead. One of the little boys went to the Holt residence where Mr. Jones lived and told the family of the sad ending of his mother and Jones hauled the body of the dead woman to the house in an ox wagon, and she was given decent burial in the grave yard in the Jack Nave Bend.

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