WHEELER, Maud G. “Goldie”
Date of death: 10 Feb 1900 – Blue River Township, Johnson County, Indiana
The Franklin Democrat,10 Feb 1900 – Blue River Township, Johnson County, Indiana
DREADFUL ACCIDENT
AT AMITY.
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A Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Shoots His Sister, Two Years Younger.
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AMITY, February 12:—
On Saturday afternoon between four and five o’clock our community was thrown into wild excitement over the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands of Otto Wheeler, age 15 years, instantly killing his thirteen year old sister, Goldie Maud, the entire right side of her head being torn away. The scene was a most distressing one and one long to be remembered. The boy was preparing to clean a shotgun and it is said while endeavoring to remove a cartridge the gun was accidentally discharged.
Goldie was a bright, cheerful and obedient child, a tender companion to her schoolmates, and as a token of their love they presented a beautiful floral offering. The accident is a sad one and the sympathy of all is extended to the bereaved parents.
Her death leaves her parents and friends bowed down with the deepest grief. Her funeral was held Monday afternoon at one o’clock at the church conducted by the pastor, Rev. Riley, where a large congregation of friends and relatives had gathered to pay a last tribute of respect. Her lifeless form was carried by six of her schoolmates and laid in our city of the dead.
The Franklin Democrat, Friday, March 2, 1900,
Volume XL Number 34, page 2 column 5
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CORONER’S VERDICT
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| STATE OF INDIANA, Johnson County, |
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I, the undersigned Coroner of Johnson County, State of Indiana, hereby certify that I held an inquest on the body of Maud Wheeler, late of said county and state, found dead near Amity, Indiana, on the 10th day of February, 1900.
After due investigation I find the deceased came to her death by reason of a gunshot wound due to the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands of Otto Wheeler. Deceased was thirteen years of age.
R. W. TERHUNE, Coroner
Note: Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899–2011, Johnson County, Health Officer’s Record Number 1, page 269, records that Maud G. Wheeler died on 10 Feb 1900 at about 5 p. m. at her family’s residence in Blue River Township, Johnson County, from an accidental shotgun wound. She was a single, white, female, aged thirteen-years, three-months and twenty-seven-days old. She was born in Johnson County, to Samuel Wheeler (born in Iowa) and Emma Barker (born in Johnson County, Indiana). She was buried on 12 Feb 1900 (burial place unknown), undertaker E. G. Barnhizer.
Submitted by Mark McCrady, Cathea Curry and Lois Johnson