PRUITT, Naomia

Date of birth:  abt 1850
Date of death: 16 Jul 1896 – Edinburg, Johnson County, Indiana

The Franklin Democrat, Friday, July 17, 1896,
Volume XXXVII Number 1, page 1 column 6

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Fatal Accident.

Word came from Edinburg yesterday about noon that Pleas Pruitt had ac­cidentally shot his wife. It appears from what meagre information could be ob­tained that Mr. Pruitt was preparing to go hunting and had his gun on his shoulder about ready to start. It is said he stumbled and in the fall the gun was discharged, the ball entering a vital part of his wife’s body, causing almost in­stant death. Maurice Douglas, of Deca­tur county was en route to this city and happened to be in Edinburg just about the time the accident occurred and brought the news given above.

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The Franklin Democrat, Friday, July 24, 1896,
Volume XXXVII Number 2, page 1 column 1

PERSONAL AND LOCAL.

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The funeral of Mrs. Pruitt, wife of Pleas Pruitt, was held last Saturday morning at the residence, one mile northwest of Edinburg, conducted by Rev. G. W. Cologen of the Methodist church. The services were especially sad and impressive owing to the man­ner in which Mrs. Pruitt had met her death. A large crowd was in attendance. The coroner’s verdict on the cause of death will be found in another column.

The Franklin Democrat, Friday,July 24, 1896,
Volume XXXVII Number 2, page 3 column 4

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CORONER’S VERDICT

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STATE OF INDIANA,
  Johnson County,		 }ss

The undersigned, Coroner of Johnson county, Indiana, did on the 16th day of July, 1896, hold an inquest on the body of Naomia Pruitt, late of said county, found dead at her home near Edinburg, Johnson county, Indiana, on the 16th day of July, 1896.

Having viewed the body and heard the testimony of witnesses, I find that the deceased came to her death by reason of a gunshot wound in the face and head, caused by an accidental discharge of a shotgun in the hands of Pleasant Pruitt.

Deceased was 46 years old.

J. T. JONES, 
Coroner J. C. 

Franklin, Ind., July 18, 1896.

Link to Naomia Pruitt’s grave

Note: The Johnson County Indiana WPA Death Index, 1882–1920 page 57, referencing Book H-18, page 24, records that Naoima Pruitt, a forty-six-year-old white female, died 16 Jul 1896 in Indiana.

Submitted by Mark McCrady and Cathea Curry