Obituary

  We learn that Mrs. John Mack, residing some two miles West of Viola, met with an accident on Thursday last which resulted in her death on the next day. On that morning her husband come to Aledo on business, the two older children went to school, and the hired man went to his work somewhere on the farm, a small child and Mrs. Mack being the only ones left at the house. About noon the hired man thought he heard one tap of the dinner bell, and proceeded to the house. On arriving there he found Mrs. Mack lying on the ground under a tree in which the dinner bell had been suspended. He immediately gave the alarm, and some of the neighbors arriving found Mrs. M. in an unconscious condition. She was taken in the house and cared for, but remained unconscious until the next day, when she expired as above stated. It is supposed that while ringing the bell, it fell from its position in the tree and struck her on the head, as a small fracture was found on top of the head. She leaves a husband and three little boys to mourn her sudden death.
(Aledo Weekly Record, 21 Mar 1883)

  A very sad accident occurred in the township of Greene, Mercer county, last week, by which Mrs. Mary Mack, wife of Mr. John Mack, lost her life. She was ringing a large bell which was hung on a tree near the house to call dinner, when the bell clapper fell on her head, crushing the skull. The funeral was held from the Catholic church in the township of Preemption, near the line of Greene township on Sunday. A devoted husband and three little boys are left to mourn the loss of a charming wife and mother. She was a young woman of unusual intelligence and attractions, a daughter of Mr. James Keleher of Reynolds. She was educated in this city and her death will be mourned by a large number of warm personal friends and admirers.
(1883)