  Charles W. Harris 16 December 1862 - 2 March 1887 s/o Wm. & Susan Harris of Conley Co., Kansas The Sherman Daily Register
Thursday, March 3, 1887 pg 1 LATER DOTS CONCERNING THE SUICIDE OF CHAS. HARRIS Ineffectual Efforts to Obtain Poison - A Letter The strange air of mystery surrounding the death of Chas. Harris, the unfortunate victim of self murder yesterday morning, is not yet raised, as far as an explanation of the causes leading thereto are concerned. The young man, who slept with him the night preceding the morning upon which he killed himself, says that he had received a letter the day before and was reading it on last Tuesday night. He says the letter or note was written on some kind of tinted paper, but the HANDWRITING WAS NOT SEEN by the young man, and he is unable to state whether it was from a man or woman. It was thought that this would cast some light on the subject, and a thorough search was made of young Harris' trunk, but letters of a later date than a month back were not obtainable, and it is supposed that he burned it when he made the fire in the cook stove and there have been some who believe that the tinted paper upon which it was written corresponded exactly with the paper of which his note book was made and that it was a note he had written explaining the cause of the suicide and which he intended LEAVING BEHIND HIM, but as the paper is no where to be found this matter will in all probability always remain the mystery that it now is. During the examination yesterday, incident to the holding of the inquest and the fearful shock which the unexpected occurrence brought upon Mrs. Noel did not make a statement until later on in the day. She states that at a late hour in the afternoon before the morning of the suicide, Harris came to her and asked her if she had any LAUDANUM in the house. She did not have it, but in the conversation never thought that the young man wished it for any other purposes than for its medicinal qualities. During the evening following Harris displayed no signs of insanity or moodiness, but carried on the usual run of humor. The next morning, shortly after he finished the fire in the cook stove, he inquired of Mrs. Noel if she had any CHLOROFORM about the place, but none of that drug was on the premises, and it is the supposition that as a last resort he decided to hang himself, and it is known he did this. The scene of hanging in the barn, shows beyond the possibility of a doubt that Harris had DETERMINED TO DIE. His feet dangled down between two sills and with the slightest exertion he could have pulled himself up. The fall was scarcely two feet and everything shows that Harris deliberately stepped off and holding himself quietly the pendant strangled to death. There was not the slightest signs of a struggle. His brother-in-law, George Ball, came in from Bonham last evening, and is here attending to the last sad duties. His remains were laid away in Cottonwood Cemetery, just east of the city, and all that is mortal has been hidden from sight of man, but let it be hoped that the eye of Him, who ever looks with compassionate love upon an erring world, has guided the soul, thus torn from its casket to a land where no desire to leave shall ever come. Cottonwood Cemetery Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |