Laura Judd was the sister of Phoebe Judd Nower, my great great grandmother. Laura was born in Mason County, Kentucky on the sixth day of September 1865. She never married and remained close to her sisters all her life. It has been said that Phoebe's daughter, Myrtle, loved visiting her Aunt Laura.
Another sister, Joella Judd Coulter and her husband, John, had moved from Mason County to Missouri. Around 1890, Laura must have decided to join them in the area. According to Maysville, Kentucky newspapers during that time, Laura returned to Mason County often for visits with Phoebe. One item in the June 3, 1895 Evening Bulletin stated that Laura was returning to Leavenworth, Kansas after visiting with Phoebe's family. Her nephew, Ernest Nower, was accompanying her. By 1900, she was living in Buchanan County, Missouri in the household of her sister and brother - in -law, Joella and John Coulter. It was in her sister's home that Laura met her mysterious death. According to one newspaper source, Laura, during the night of July 4, 1909, accidentally drank carbolic acid which killed her. Her body was taken to Dover, Kentucky for burial in the Locust Grove Cemetery. On July 13, it was reported in the Daily Public Ledger that there was talk of the possibility of Laura being forced to drink the poison, however I could not find any other newspaper article mentioning this. I imagine her friends and family could not understand her untimely death and were looking for an answer. I think they had a difficult time believing her death at age forty-three.
