WILL BRADFORD
PATHETIC DEATH
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TRANSCRIBED BY : TINA EASLEY
FROM THE "DAILY SOLIPHONE "
May 3, 1902
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/
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WILL BRADFORD YEILD TO THE GRIM DESTROYER AFTER INTENSE SUFFERING
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DEPLORABLE ACCIDENT ROBS PARAGOULD OF ONE OF HER BEST YOUNG MEN .
A SORROWING FAMILY .
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WHEN THE SHOCKING TIDINGS WENT FORTH YESTERDAY THAT WILL BRADFORD HAD BEEN SEVERELY , PERHAPS SERIOUSLY INJURED WHILE AT HIS POST OF DUTY AT THE BRADFORD STAVE COMPANY'S PLANT , THERE WAS INTENSE ANXIETY THROUGHOUT THE CITY , PARTICULARLY ON THE PART OF HIS ASSOCIATES , BUT FEW THERE WERE WHO FANCIED THAT BEFORE THE SUN ROSE THIS MORNING TO KISS THE TEARS OF NIGHT AWAY HIS SPIRIT SHOULD HAVE RETURNED TO THE GOD WHO GAVE IT.
WILL BRADFORD DIED AT 5 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING , AFTER ABOUT TWENTY HOURS OF INTENSE SUFFERING , DEATH RESULTING FROM A COMPLICATION CAUSED BY THE WOUND IN THE BOWELS RECEIVED YESTERDAY AT THE FACTORY . ALTHOUGH GIVEN THE VERY BEST MEDICAL ATTENTION OBTAINABLE , HIS LIFE WAS DESPAIRED OF YESTERDAY EVENING , AND THE SUFFERER HIMSELF REPEATEDLY TOLD THOSE WHO WERE WATCHING AT HIS BEDSIDE THAT THE END WAS BUT A QUESTION OF A BRIEF TIME. HE WAS CONSCIOUS ALMOST TO THE LAST , AND FROM TIME TO TIME ADDRESSED THOSE ABOUT HIM AND CALLED FOR SPECIAL FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO WHOM HE CONVEYED MESSAGES , BROKEN SOMEWHAT BY HIS SUFFERING AND DELIRIUM .
THE REMAINS WILL BE TAKEN ON THE CANNON BALL TONIGHT FOR GOSHEN , IND. TO BE INTERRED IN THE FAMILY BURYING GROUND , ACCOMPANIED BY THE FAMILY AND IMMEDIATE RELATIVES.
WILL WAS A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE MACCABEES , AND CARRIED A LIFE POLICY IN THAT ORDER. LAST SUNDAY HE PARTICIPATED WITH THE LODGE IN THE OBSEQUIES OVER THE REMAINS OF LUTHER GREEN , AND WAS HEARD TO ASK THE SIGNIFICANT QUESTION , " I WONDER WHO WILL BE THE NEXT TO TRAVEL THIS MYSTERIOUS ROAD ? " LAST YEAR HE UNITED WITH THE METHODIST CHURCH DURING THE REVIVAL MEETING HERE , AND HAD LIVED AN EXEMPLARY LIFE . HIS GOOD CHEER AND OPTIMISM WAS A STRONG CHARACTERISTIC. HE WAS IN HIS TWENTY-FIRST YEAR AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.
AS A TOKEN OF THEIR LOYALTY TO HIS MEMORY , A COMMITTEE OF HIS ASSOCIATES CIRCULATED A SUBSCRIPTION FUND TODAY AND READILY RAISED $ 50 FOR A FLORAL OFFERING WHICH WILL BE ORDERED FROM MEMPHIS AND PLACED UPON HIS CASKET TONIGHT. THE LIST WAS STARTED BY BOB CARPENTER , TOM JOHNSON AND GUS JACKSON , AND WAS LIBERALLY CONTRIBUTED TO BY THE LEADING CITIZENS OF THE CITY.
THE BRADFORD STAVE CO. HAD RECENTLY ESTABLISHED A BRANCH PLANT AT KEO , NEAR LITTLE ROCK , WHERE MR. BRADFORD INTENDED GOING , LEAVING WILL IN CHARGE OF THE BUSINESS HERE .
ALL PARAGOULD DEEPLY SYMPATHIZES WITH SORROWING PARENTS , RELATIVES AND FRIENDS IN THEIR SAD AFFLICTION.