Friday, August 14, 2015

Maggie Bennett Killed By A Train

My 4th cousin, young Maggie Bennett and her friend Miss C. Donnell were playing on the Rock Island Railroad Tracks when the Rock Island Denver Limited came streaming down the line.  Miss Donnell got off the tracks in time.  Maggie did not.  She was struck by the pilot crossbar throwing her over 100 feet through the air.

Maggie was born in July 1890 in Arkansas, the daughter and oldest child of James Thomas and Mary E. Barker Bennett.  Her fatal accident occurred on 23 August 1902 in Four Mile, near Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa.

Bennett Maggie Accidental Death2

 

bennett_maggie_death_record

Maggie’s Death Record is found on FamilySearch in the Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992.

Source Citation:

"Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJP-NLGF : accessed 14 August 2015), Maggie Bennett, 23 Aug 1902; citing Death, United States, page , county archives, Iowa; FHL microfilm 1,749,701.

Maggie’s tombstone is shown on her memorial on Find-a-grave.  She was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Pleasant Hill, Polk County, Iowa, in plot 3-34-3

Maggie is shown in the 1900 Federal Census in Dallas, Dallas County, Iowa.

Loosing a child to an early death is a terrible experience for any parent.  Unfortunately, Maggie’s parents, James T. and Mary Bennett lost 4 children before their 10th birthdays.  Only five of their children survived to their 10th birthday.

Posted 14 August 2015 by Lee R. Drew on Lineagekeeper’s Genealogy Blog