1912: A Year of Tragedy (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024 Theme: Hard Times)

The sinking of the Titanic 14-15 April 1912 was a pivotal event in world history. Although no one from my family was on board, five deaths occurred in my family during the months of May to September that year. Although not on as grand a scale as the Titanic, four of these had their own special elements of tragedy.

1. Mortimer Bullen (1830-1912), my 2nd great granduncle (brother to my great great grandmother Sarah Catherine Bullen) died on 18 May 1912 in Richland, Wisconsin, USA. He was nearly 82 years old. Much of his life had been spent farming in the area. He was survived by his wife Alice and six children. 

Mortimer Bullen 1830-1912

According to his obituary, he had enlisted in the Union Army in Co. B, 45th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War and was discharged after 9 months with serious illness.  But life for him got better after the hard times of the War. Unlike others of my extended family who died later that year, Mortimer's death was a peaceful one at a good old age.

2. Fred Wescott, my great granduncle (brother to my great grandmother Mary Jane Wescott) was stabbed to death in Minneapolis on 2 June 1912. Lurid newspaper reports screamed out from the front pages as the time. (More details can be found in my blog story about Fred's tragic death.) 

Fred Wescott far right (with wife Josephine, children and other family members)

Fred was living apart from his family and working as a cook at a rather seedy restaurant in Minneapolis when his life was so brutally ended at the age of 45. No one was ever held accountable for his murder. 

3. Jorgena Torkelson (1862-1912), my great great grandmother,  died two days after Fred. They weren't related to each other and had no connection. 

Jorgena was born in Wisconsin to Norwegian parents. She married Andrew Anderson at the age of 17 and proceeded to have babies born at regular two year intervals. After the death of two children at an early age followed by the stillbirth of a baby born in 1900, she suffered from blood poisoning and  postpartum depression. She was institutionalized at the Yankton State Hospital for the Insane in Yankton, South  Dakota. (For more details, her story can be found elsewhere in this blog.) She died there of melancholia on 4 June 1912 at the age of 49 and is buried on the site.

Jorgena Torkelson at 17

4. Samuel Lester Hoover (1855-1912), half brother to my great grandfather Charles Edwards, (not related to either Fred Wescott or Jorgena Torkelson), died later that same month - 28 June 1912 at the age of 56. He died of a stroke. 

Samuel's life was also quite tragic. His father died when Samuel wasn't yet 3 years old. His mother's second marriage corresponded with the American Civil War and it seems unlikely that he really got to know his step-father Louis Edwards before Edwards died of consumption serving in the War. Samuel's maternal grandparents seemed to provide any sense of stability that he received during those difficult years. 

Samuel Lester Hoover 

His mother's third marriage in 1873 to a man named George Payton enabled the family to finally settle down as an integral part of a community in Kansas. By then young Samuel was ready to make his own way, working for years on railways throughout Mexico and the United States. His marriage to Hannah Wilcox in 1892 produced 5 children, all of whom died within a few months of birth. 

One record that provides a surprising amount of description of Samuel is this fishing license, which at least also shows he managed to find some enjoyment in life.

After their divorce, 50 year-old Samuel took up with 20 year-old divorcee Lillie Shagogue and had a child with her in 1911; sadly, this child also died in infancy. Lillie herself would die by suicide after ingesting Lysol just a couple of years later. More details can be found in another  blog story.

Samuel is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah.

5. George Thompson Saum (1824-1912), who is either my second great grandfather or my second great granduncle (DNA having established that either he or his brother was the unknown father of my great grandfather Charles Edwards), died on 19 September 1912. Although he died at the ripe old age of 88, he did not go peacefully in his sleep. As can be seen in the following portion of his obituary, he died when his horse-drawn cart was struck by a train,

Portion of obituary of GT Saum 1912

                         from the Norton Weekly Telegram, Norton, Kansas, 2 Oct 1912 p.3

Five family deaths in 1912 - one peacefully of old age, one murdered, one of melancholia in an institution for the insane, one of a stroke after a lifetime of losses and one struck by a train. It was indeed a tragic year.