The Death of Luetta Spayd

 

What was special about the death of Luetta Spayd? It is always sad when someone dies on the cusp of adulthood, when one is about to embark on a major life step like marriage or motherhood, and doubly devastating when someone is an only child.

  Luetta was the only child of her parents, and she was about to marry Harry Barbour. She was only seventeen, or as her obituary said, “17 years, 5 months and 19 days of age.”

  Yet for her time, in a way, there wasn’t anything extraordinary about Luetta’s death, because it wasn’t unusual for teens and young adults to die. In Luetta’s day, infants and children accounted for half of all deaths in the U.S. Today, that figure is just one percent – a staggering change. 

     People died of things so easily cured today with antibiotics. One never knew when a simple cold or flu would turn to pneumonia and kill a previously healthy young person. A scratch from a rusty nail, a dog bite, or spoiled food could easily do one in. There were so many, many contagious diseases: diphtheria, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, pertussis, erysipelas, scarlet fever... then something like a burst appendix was almost always a death sentence.

  So most families knew what it was like to bury a child. Two of Lucius Taylor Barbour’s sons would die in their twenties, and a stepson in his early 30s (see previous blog posts "Lucius Barbour Gets a Pension," and "Lucius Taylor Barbour and the Keeley Treatment" for more on Lucius). My great-great grandfather Enos Patchett would lose two babies and a son, Jim, in his twenties – and most of his neighbors lost a young adult child, too. Death wasn't just for the elderly. Death was just a whole lot more common. In 1900, one in every 40 Americans died each year. In 2013, that figure was one in every 140 Americans.

  Luetta’s death and burial was the polar opposite of poor James Brown’s. James was the homeless, jobless “wayfarer” I wrote about in a previous post, “A Victorian’s Worst Fears.” He died a horrible, agonizing death of rabies in the Coffeyville jail and was given a pauper’s burial far from family and home.

  Luetta, ‘Etta’ as she was usually called, was “the pride and sunshine of the home” whose parents “lavished their wealth of affections upon her.” She was described as a happy and intelligent girl who had a host of friends and “won the affection of everyone who knew her.”

  And lots of people knew her. Cherryvale, Kansas, where the Spayds lived, had a population of about 3,500. Her father was the town blacksmith and wagon maker and owned Cherryvale Wagon & Carriage Works on Main Street. She lived there her whole life and was active in the Presbyterian Church and in Sons and Daughters of Justice, a quasi-fraternal organization/insurance company.

     Etta’s wedding to Harry Barbour, the son of Lucius and Alice Barbour, was supposed to take place around Christmas. In fact, their wedding was postponed when Harry became very ill, and just as he was recovering, Etta got sick. Etta was said to be suffering from “lagrippe” in February; her cause of death was given as malaria in one obituary and Bright’s disease in another. There were frequent notices in the newspaper that she was ill and not getting better.

     Etta was buried in her wedding gown, the dress “into which many loving stitches had been put,” one obituary said.

Death claimed her for a bride. Her obituaries stated what was so important to Victorians: proof that Luetta was valued, loved and belonged. Her casket was completely surrounded and covered in flowers; her Sunday School class sent calla lilies, and members of the class (all girls) served as her pallbearers. Sons and Daughters of Justice performed their rituals at the funeral. The organization placed a “Resolution” in the newspaper assuring the public that Luetta, their “sister,” was “worthy of respect and regard.” This was a commonly-seen thing in newspapers, these resolutions from fraternal groups, a copy of which was presented to Etta’s parents. A Presbyterian quartet sang; her parents’ home could not accommodate the crush of people wanting to pay their respects. 

     It was an ideal Victorian funeral. 

     Etta’s parents got a $500 insurance payout from Sons and Daughters of Justice, equivalent to about $16,000. Harry, his younger brother, his sister Edna and his mother Alice were reported to visit the Spayds frequently in the months immediately after her death. But life for survivors goes on, and Harry married Blanche Palen in 1911 at age 19. He served in World War I, and was assistant postmaster in Nowata, Oklahoma when his appendix burst. Peritonitis set in, and he died at age 28.  

     Sadly, the deaths of Harry Barbour, my great-grandfather’s cousin, and Luetta Spayd were not unusual. 

 

Note: Luetta was the fiance of my great-grandfather's cousin Harry (1891-1919). Harry is the son of Lucius Taylor Barbour and Alice Hatfield. His grandparents are Myron Fitch Barbour and Jane Suttenfield, who are my third great-grandparents.

Sources:

 

  “Mortality in the United States, Past, Present and Future,” University of Pennsylvania Penn Wharton Budget Model, https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2016/1/25/mortality-in-the-united-states-past-present-and-future

Newspapers:   

Harry Visits Etta: Coffeyville Daily Journal (Coffeyville, Kansas), 26 June 1907, p. 4.

Sick with LaGrippe: Cherryvale Republican (Cherryvale, Kansas),18 Jan 1908, p. 3.

"Miss Spayd Worse," Cherryvale Republican (Cherryvale, Kansas), 11 March 1908, p. 1.

“Called To Heavenly Home – Luetta Spayd Passed Away Yesterday Noon.” Cherryvale Republican, 23 March 1908, p. 1.

  “Miss Luetta Spayd Died Yesterday at Noontime,” Cherryvale Journal, 23 March 1908, p. 1.

   “Death of Luetta Spayd – At Her Home In Cherryvale After Prolonged Illness,” The Dearing News,” 27 March 1908, p. 1.

  The Dearing News, 10 April 1908, p. 1.

Insurance Payout: Cherryvale Republican (Cherryvale, Kansas),14 April 1908, p. 4.

"Guest Returned Home," Cherryvale Republican (Cherryvale, Kansas), 17 April 1908, p. 1.

Alice and son McKinley Visit: Cherryvale Republican, 14 April 1909, p. 3.

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