Status - 40th Indiana - 4th Army Corps - 2nd Division - 2nd Brigade
The 40th Indiana remains on duty in Texas, stationed at
Green Lake near Port Lavaca.
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John Baer - Home, Tippecanoe County, IN
On September 21st, John and Jenny Baer welcomed their first child, a daughter named Araminta (there are some various spellings of her first name in some documents). Araminta would have four younger siblings, born over the next nine years.
When Araminta was 19, she married Daniel Alpheus Skinner (who went by his middle name) in Stockwell, IN. The newlyweds set up a farm and had 4 children who lived to adulthood; John, born in 1886; Merle, 1887; Glenn, 1891; and Clyde, 1893. An infant daughter died 5 days after being born in 1885. John was the father of John F. Skinner, Jr.
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We come now to July 3, 1900. Below is the article as it appeared in the Home Journal, Lafayette, Indiana July5, 1900.
HEROIC STRUGGLE AGAINST FLAMES
BATTLED UNTIL THE LAST WITHOUT HELP
DEATH IN ITS MOST AGONIZING FORM CAME TO MRS. D. A. SKINNER ON TUESDAY AT HER HOME IN LAURAMIE TOWNSHIP -- SADDEST OF ACCIDENTS
Mrs. D. A. Skinner met death in its most agonizing form on Tuesday at her late home in Lauramie Township, two and a half miles northwest of Stockwell. The particulars are harrowing in the extreme, and the community was shocked beyond expression. No more distressing accident, no more pathetic death has been recorded in Tippecanoe County.
The accident happened at 11:30 o'clock Tuesday morning. Mrs. Skinner had prepared dinner, and had just rung the dinner bell to call her husband and two eldest sons from the field, some distance from the house. Bread was baking in the oven, and meat was frying on the stove. After ringing the bell, Mrs. Skinner went to the range to take up the meat. She was in the habit of kindling the fire with coal oil, and a bottle filled with this inflammable liquid stood on the range shelf. The bottle was dislodged and fell upon the top of the stove. The bottle was broken, and its contents spread over the top of the heated stove. The coal oil ignited in an instant, and an explosion resulted. Mrs. Skinner was standing so near the stove that she was covered by the atoms of oil that were thrown into the air, and was soon enveloped in flames. Her two youngest sons were in the house, but they were too small to realize her peril or render material assistance.
They did not discover the accident until their mother's clothing had been burning for some time, and all they could do then was to run to the field to alarm their father and hasten his coming to the house.
Enveloped in flames, and alone in her peril, Mrs. Skinner was compelled to rely on her own resources for rescue from the danger that menaced her. Throwing herself upon the kitchen floor, she wrapped some loose carpet about her in an attempt to subdue the flames. She was partially successful, putting out the fire that threatened the lower part of her body. Finding that she could not extinguish the flames that were writhing about the upper part of her body, she went into an adjoining room with the intention of tearing the clothing from her. She succeeded in removing part of it, but part of it clung so closely to the seared flesh that she was unable to remove it. No one can describe the agony she suffered, or the thoughts that were flashing through her mind. She must have gone from one room to another in her desperation, for the carpet was burned in several rooms.
When her husband entered the house he found her lying on the couch. She had covered herself with a quilt. Her skirts were gone, but the upper part of her body was still inclosed in garments that had almost been burned away.
Drs. Fickle and Butler were called as quickly as possible, and the former was the first to arrive, reaching the Skinner home about an hour after the accident happened. Dr. Butler came a little later and both physicians did everything in their power to alleviate the suffering of Mrs. Skinner, but they saw at a glance that her burns were fatal. The burns were deep and extended to every part of the body. There was not a particle of flesh from the feet to the head that had not been seared by the flames.
Mrs. Skinner was conscious except when under the influence of opiates, and was in possession of all her faculties. She realized her condition, and had sufficient control to relate the details of the accident. She attributed her death to her own carelessness, as her father had warned her only a short time before to remove the bottle of coal oil from the range shelf. He told her that if she persisted in keeping it there, it would be responsible for her death. Mrs. Skinner lingered in consciousness until 7:15 o'clock that evening, and then the great physical pain that she had been enduring was soothed by the touch of death.
Mrs. Skinner was a daughter of John A. Baer, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Lauramie Township. and was 37 years old. She was born and reared in Lauramie Township. A husband and four sons survive. A member of one of the most prominent families in the township, she enjoyed a good social position, ad was admired by all who knew her. She was a woman of may estimable qualities, generous and hospitable, and was the center of an extensive friendship. She was devoted and loving in her family relations, and was loyal to every obligation in life.
The funeral was conducted from the Christian church in Stockwell yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, and was largely attended. Rev. Franklin Mikels, of Frankfort, delivered the funeral address, and the interment was made in the Johnson cemetery.
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More Information:
- The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 218.
- Events: 1865
NEXT POST: NOVEMBER 1ST
