Took Poison!

 While this may be a sad story to start with, it does have a happy ending. It also brought very good memories to my mind about another matter altogether. But first, let's learn who the article is about, and how he is connected to me. 

The article speaks of George A. Manning. His nephew, John Harvey Manning was married to my great-grandaunt, Roxie Mae Martin. I never met John but knew Aunt Roxie.

I'll let the article tell the first story. As always, the transcript is below.

Took Poison

Prisoner in Jail Came Near Ending His Life.

George A. Manning, who said his home was at Ewing, was found on the street Thursday afternoon very drunk. The marshal arrested him and took him to jail to sober up. Just as council adjourned Thursday night Frank White who was being detained in jail to testify as a witness in another case gave the cry of alarm. Policeman Elrod unlocked the door and White told him that Manning had taken poison and was dying. And his condition then did seem hopeless for he was certainly near death's door.

But Dr. Graessle was right there, having just come down from council meeting, and he administered an antidote and went to work to save Manning's life, if possible. His efforts were successful and in the course of an hour or two he began to get better. Friday morning Manning was up and anxious to leave town though he was feeling pretty sore and very much ashamed. He went to North Vernon where he said he had a brother.

Manning confessed that he had been carrying the poison for a month but never had the nerve to take it before. Why he should have taken it no one knows. There was certainly no good reason for it.

Don't worry about George. He got it together, married and died at 78 of heart disease in Houston, Texas. So, for him, it all turned out ok.

When I read that Dr. Graessle had saved George I was flooded with memories. He is the doctor that delivered me and my brother. I remember my mother taking me to checkups in his office as a child. He would set me up on his big desk and check me out. Then he'd tell me I could get candy from the jar that sat on that desk while he talked to Mother. When we were very ill, he would come to the house and check us out. After he was done with us, he'd sit at the kitchen table with my parents, have a cup of coffee, smoke his pipe and talk. He always had his pipe. My last year in High School I worked as a nurse's aide on weekends at the local hospital. His wife was ill and he would come up to see her all the time. You could smell him coming. He always smoked his pipe, and it was a lovely smell, rich, probably expensive tobacco. I would be busy and suddenly he was right in front of me. When I'd look up he'd say, "Ah, you're Madelyn's daughter!" He always remembered his babies. Everyone loved him. The last time I saw him was in 1973. He died in 1977. His memory lives on. 

Dr. Harold Peter "Bud" Graessle

1893-1977

Sources:

Newspapers.com; Took Poison; The Tribune, Seymour, Indiana; Friday, march 17, 1905; Page 2.

"Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZQ1-7SX), Entry for George A Manning and Lucinda Beck, 24 Aug 1895.

"Texas Death Index, 1903-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZDJ-GXW), George A. Manning, 28 Jul 1940; from "Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2006); citing certificate number 33226, Harris, Texas, Texas Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Austin.