Amanuensis Monday - William Quirk

Hazleton, Pennsylvania April 19, 1902

"Dropped Dead While Working in Garden

Sudden Summons of William Quirk, an Aged Resident of Jeanesville

William Quirk, aged 65 years, of Jeanesville, died suddenly between 12 and 1 o'clock today.  Mr. Quirk, who is one of the best known residents of the South Side, was at work digging in the garden at his home when he fell over in a swoon.  Members of his family saw his condition and Dr. Rutter was hurriedly summoned.  When the physician arrived, however, Mr. Quirk was dead, never having recovered consciousness.  Death was due to heart failure.

Deceased had resided on the South Side for many years, and was one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of Jeanesville.  He was highly respected by all his acquaintances, and had many warm friends.

Besides a wife he is survived by two sons and four daughters as follows:  Edward, of Harwood; William, Ella, a school teacher; Katie, Mary and Bessie, of Jeanesville.  No arrangements have yet been made for the funeral."

Love the title of the article.  I was a bit shocked when I found this on my great-great grandfather.  I knew when he died, but just found the title less than tactful for the family.  Of course I got a giggle out of it when I found it, but I get to wondering how this was received then.  Maybe it was just something normal for the time.  For anyone that's read older newspaper articles some of the phrases used are quite odd.  More what I would consider slang than proper.  Either way, it's an interesting look into the past, not just to see that William was apparently a loved man (This article was on the front page of the Hazleton newspaper), but at how the papers wrote.  Wish I had a picture of him.  Actually, I most likely do have one in my collection of unknown photos from the Quirk side.  Just nothing labeled.  Who knows what may turn up!

(The clipping was taken from the Hazleton, Pennsylvania newspaper.  Currently the paper is known as the Hazleton Standard Speaker.  It has previously been the Plain Speaker and the Standard Sentinel.  I need to check a timeline to see which paper this would have belonged to!  The clipping was taken before I got into the habit of citing sources properly!  Sad, but true!)

UPDATE: Thanks to newspapers.com I was able to find this article in The Plain Speaker, 19APR1902, pg1.