The Mysterious Death of Miss Laura F. Judd

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.

The Nower Family

Last week I wrote what I know about Paul Nower and included a picture of him.  Over the weekend, my mother commented to my father and me that Paul really didn't resemble his sister, my great-grandmother, Myrtle, at all.  Looking back through all the entries of this blog, I realized that I have never posted the great photo I have of Paul's whole family.  The picture isn't dated and its actually a copy of the original, but looking at the dates of birth for each of the children, I am guessing that it was taken sometime in the 1890's.

The family posed for their picture in front of their home in Dover, Kentucky.  They were, what I suppose we would call, an upper middle class family in their small town.  During this time, Samuel was a constable in Dover.  His granddaughter, Frances, told me the story of how her mother, Ella Myrtle, was raised with affluence and even had a nanny who cared for her needs.  She said that Samuel was a banker, although, as of yet, I haven't found any evidence of that occupation for him.  I think the photograph is evidence of the Nower family's economic standing in Dover.  Everyone looks well dressed.  Samuel has a visible watch chain and the table looks like it is well made with, maybe, a marble top.

Beginning on the left in the front is Paul standing next to his father, Samuel Jackson Nower.  Mother, Phoebe Jane Judd, is seated beside her only daughter, Ella Myrtle.  Myrtle, as she was known, was born in Dover in 1884.  In the back, on the left, is Ernest William, who was born in Illinois in 1887.  Finally, there is Clarence Rigdon.  He was born in 1880.  A son, Samuel Judd, was born in 1888, but lived only five months.  

Samuel Nower Murder

Samuel J. Nower was only 22 years old when he was shot and killed in July 1836. Born in about 1814, Samuel was a son of Alexander Nower and Martha Morrison. At the time of his death, he was married to Sarah R. Judd, a daughter of Daniel Judd and Rachel Nower. The couple lived in Mason County, Kentucky.

In 1836, the Ohio River town of Dover, Kentucky had just been chartered. At that time, it was a bustling little town with boats stopping on their journey up the Ohio. On Saturday, July 9, Samuel, for reasons unknown, was in Dover. According to a newspaper article found in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Thomas Reeder shot Samuel. Reeder claimed it was in self-defense and was later acquitted of the crime.

Samuel did not die immediately as the newspaper article states that on Monday, July 11, he was still alive and that there was some hope for recovery. We now know that he did not live. Sarah was left a widow and her son, Samuel Jackson Nower, who was born in October of that year, never had a chance to know his father.

Ella Myrtle Nower

Described by her daughter as "little, but mighty", Ella Myrtle Nower was born May 7, 1884 into a very, for the time, affluent family. Her father, Samuel J., was a respected banker in Dover, a small town on the Ohio River in Mason County, Kentucky.

The third child and only daughter, Myrtle, as she was known, had four brothers. Earnest and Clarence were born in 1877 and 1880, respectively. Baby Samuel Judd, born February 28, 1888, lived for only four months. Myrtle's youngest brother, Paul, was born in 1890. Their mother, Phoebe Jane Judd Nower, hired a nanny to help in the raising of her young children.

In 1907, Myrtle married Frank Bernard Clark and soon started their family which would consist of six children, four girls and two boys. Her daughter, Frances, remembers her mother as a hardworking woman, "pumping water from a cistern or well, scrubbing clothes on a washboard, canning all our food, sewing clothes". While life was not as comfortable as her childhood had been, Myrtle was known to give parties where as many as seventy-five chickens were fried and served along with the commercial bought ice cream for dessert. Her younger children, Evelyn, Frances, and Irma, dressed alike for these occasions, would serve "goodies" to their guests. Other times would see Myrtle managing her family on very little. No matter the circumstances, however, her determination and strong will earned her the respect of her children and grandchildren.

Frank and Myrtle spent most of their married life in the towns of Dayton, Fort Thomas, Covington, and Dover in northern Kentucky. Toward the end of their lives, they lived on Second Street in Ripley, Ohio. It was at this residence that Myrtle became a widow on September 20, 1960. In June of the following year, with her health rapidly failing, Myrtle was moved to the Georgetown Nursing Home (Georgetown, Ohio) where she died of liver cancer on December 7, 1962. She is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Dover, Kentucky.

A Kentucky Genealogy

The roots of my family straddle the Ohio River following the creeks and roads into southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. This blog will concentrate on the Kentucky side of those roots.

The early members of these families did not, all of a sudden, find themselves living in the counties of northern Kentucky. They came from places like Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Some crossed the river from Ohio and settled in Kentucky.

Some of the families that share these Kentucky roots and will be discussed in this blog are

Clark, Dean, Judd, Miller, Nower, Stairs, and Wayson.

I look forward to sharing their lives with you.