Obituary--Carl Harden

Since I have been posting some rather lengthy obituaries lately, I decided to start a new theme of smaller obituaries. Many are about children or young adults. Apparently the shorter lives gave less history to be flowery about in the obituary. Many short obits are simply articles that appear in the community (gossip) columns. Either way, the shorter obituaries make no less compelling reading.

From the 5 August 1915 Fremont TimesIndicator:

Newaygo--Carl harden, son of Mr and Mrs. D.L. Harden, died in Butterworth hospital Grand Rapids, yesterday morning (July 26), from blood poisoning. The young man, who has been in the employ of the Henry Rowe Manufacturing company in this village for some time, was struck in the left cheek by a sliver of weed from the buzz saw which he was operating one day last week. At the time no attention was paid to the wound, which appeared trivial, but a few days later his face began to swell and symptoms of blood poisoning developed. Medical aid was summoned, but his condition grew rapidly worse and Monday evening he was taken to the hospital in Grand Rapids.--Register.

It seems so hard to believe in this day and age of antibiotics and antiseptics that someone could die of a sliver, but it is obituaries like this that help bring the conditions of the past to life.