Mary Droege
Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 8 December 1894, page 1
TOOTHACHE CAUSED SUICIDE
Girl to Take Her Life by Drowning
Newport Ky. Dec 7-Mamie Droeger, a girl whose home was a few
miles from this city, committed suicide yesterday under peculiar circumstances.
Some months ago the girl had some teeth drawn, as she was a constant sufferer
from toothache. Her gums did not heal and the pain at times was so great
she became almost crazed. Wednesday she seemed to be suffering greatly and
appeared discouraged. She frequently complained of the agony she suffered
and on several occasions spoke of finding relief in death, but no attention was
paid to her threats of self-destruction.
She left home a few hours before the suicide and nothing was known of her whereabouts till the finding of her body in a pond near the house by members of the distracted family. She was a pretty girl and had a few months ago become heir to $5000 left by an aunt. The Coroner held an inquest, giving a verdict of suicide while mentally deranged.
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Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 13 December 1894, page 8
MISS DROEGE'S DEATH
The Coroner of Campbell County, Ky. Making a Further Investigation
The finding of the dead body of Mary Droege in Twelve-Mile Creek,
near Carthage, Campbell County, Ky. and the supposed mystery concerning her
death caused such considerable talk in that usually quiet neighborhood that Dr.
Fred Davis, the Coroner of Campbell County, decided to probe deeper into the
matter and discover, if possible, the true case of her death. Squire
Herndon, who was the nearest Magistrate, had held an inquest and rendered a
death by suicide, which was not agreeable to the father if the deceased, and he
demanded a more thorough investigation.
Coroner Davis took an early train yesterday morning for Carthage and examined some twenty odd witnesses and although their testimony at times disagreed, the consensus of opinion was that she had committed suicide. Dr. Orr of Alexandria, who had examined the remains immediately after they were discovered, said that from certain very apparent symptoms, she was undoubtedly of unsound mind.
Other witnesses consisting of near relatives and neighbors, who had know the girl from childhood, testified that they had never noticed anything that would lead them to believe that she was of anything but sound mind.
One very suspicious thing that tends to make the Coroner believe that foul play might possibly have been done, was the fact that after finding her remains, the creek was dragged for a considerable distance both above and below the spot, to find the bundle containing a dress pattern which she was known to have had with her when last seen, and that three days afterward, on a Saturday morning, the bundle was found floating on the water about 200 yards below. And it was only partly wet, a large portion of it being above water, showing that it could have been in the creek but a short time. Such instances as those stated induced the doctor to again revisit the piece this morning and leave the remains disinterred. He will make a thorough examination of the skull, after which he will open the brain and see if it was diseased.
The assertion has been made that Miss Droege inherited considerable money from an Aunt. A search of the Probate records of Hamilton County reveals that she was a beneficiary under the will of Mary Wellman, who was her aunt. The estate consisted of $1000 in personal and $6000 in realty. The will was made June 15, 1889, and probated September 10, of the same year. By its terms Michael Burgoyne, as trustee, and John H Gayert, as executor, were given in trust for Mary Droege until she was 14 years old, all the personal property out of which to pay for her support and education. Also one half of the real estate for the same purpose. At the age of 21 she was to receive the property. If she died before reaching her twenty-first year the property was to go in equal shares to Caroline Gayert, Lizette Knabe, Caroline Droege and Caroline Kasemeyer, the two mentioned last to share equally in a one third. The other half of the rest was to go in the same way.