Marr, William 1840 - 1899

MARR, YAGER

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 2/6/2018 at 13:03:14

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer April 4, 1899, FP, C6,7

WM. MARR DEAD.
INSTANTLY KILLED BY THE EXPLOSION OF A SHOT GUN.
Accidental or Suicide is the Question.
As we go to press we are called upon to chronicle the sad news of the death of Wm. Marr, one of our most respected citizens. It was first rumored suicide, but later reports seem to point to the theory of accident. It developed at the coroner’s inquest that at about 10 o’clock, March 29, Mr. Marr asked for a gun and some shells for the purpose of shooting a dog which was annoying the cattle. He was then seen going about the barn-yard and straw-piles apparently searching for the dog. There were evidences of a dog having been in the vicinity as fresh tracks were found in the frost. At this time with the exception of Jas. Marr, all of his sons had gone after hay a distance of six miles and returned about 12 o’clock at which time a shot was heard coming apparently from the timber. When the family sat down to dinner Mr. Marr was missed; search being made his body was lying on its back with a gun shot wound just below the heart and with shot gun lying by his side with the left barrel discharged. The body lay with its head to the north and the knees slightly bent under. The gun was almost parallel with the body at a distance of about two feet with the butt of the gun to the north and about in line with the shoulder. A piece of binding twine had been looped through the trigger guard. Near where the muzzle rested the straw had been scraped away as though someone had slipped or sprawled and the ice beneath was exposed. It is impossible to reconcile the position of the gun and the presence of this slip with the theory of suicide. By actual measurement it was demonstrated that deceased could not have discharged the gun by means of his foot as the charge would necessarily have entered much higher in the body. The character of the wound shows that the gun must have been at right angles to the body when discharged and near enough to burn the clothing. The deceased wore a heavy paid of buckskin mittens which had not been removed. It was suggested that the string might have been attached to the gun in order that the trigger might be pulled without removing the mitten. On the arrival of Dr. Simons the coroner, a jury consisting of N. M. Jewett, I. J. Cashman and E. J. Kruger, was sworn in and after hearing the evidence the following verdict reached thus leaving the question as to suicide or accident entirely unsettled. It will probably never be known whether it was accident or suicide. While there are evidences that point both ways neither are satisfactory.
Verdict: Inquest held on body of Wm. Marr.
We, the jury do find that said deceased came to his death by being shot by a shot gun in his own hand March 29, 1899 at 12 M. in Afton Township, Howard County Iowa, in his own premises.
N. M. Jewett.
I. J. Cashman.
E. J. Kruger.
Dr. Simons, Coroner.
Those who saw the body in the original position are almost without exception in favor of the theory of accident. The deceased was born in Germany in 1840. At the age of four he crossed the ocean and for a short time resided in New York from thence he moved to LaFayette county, Wis., where he married to Rosalind Yager in 1865. In 1866 be moved to Iowa and has since that time resided on his farm in Afton township. When he came to this county he had a team, cow, and about $100 in money. He purchased the 80 acres of land near his late home. Here he has accumulated a fine property and reared a fine family, all of whom are left to mourn his loss. Of a retiring disposition yet popular among those who knew him, a genial, jovial man, a kind friend and a royal neighbor, a hard worker, a man of excellent habits, good judgment and superior business ability. He has at times acted queer since the burning of the barn last fall, and had melancholy spells. But at the time when James last saw him he was apparently in as good spirits as ever. At the time of his death he was a member of St. Patricks church at New Haven and a director of the Riceville State Bank.—Riceville Recorder.