Tuesday, December 8, 1936

EDNA WRITES VERY LITTLE

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Henry went to G.R.

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Edna is writing very little these days. One follower of "Edna's Journal" expressed concern. Rest assured, all is well. Like for most of us, December doesn't leave much time for writing in journals.

Because Edna wrote so little on this day, I am going to fill the page with a story from 1879, one year before Edna was born. It is a story about Edna's Uncle Emanuel and Aunt Lydia.

Emanuel and Lydia

Lydia Cress was just 19 when she married Emanuel Bergy on April 30, 1867.

Emanuel was one of at least ten children born to Isaac Bergy and Nancy Huber, including Celinda Bergy. Lydia was one of ten children born to George and Caroline Cress. Both Emanuel and Lydia were born in Ontario, Canada but made their home together in Bowne, Michigan.

Emanuel's sister Celinda married Moses Weitz sometime in the late 1800’s. Celinda and Moses had two children, Edna Alice Weitz (1880) and Milton Burr Weitz (1882).

After marrying Emanuel in 1867, Lydia promptly gave birth to six children:

• Anna (1868)

• Albert (1870)

• Caroline (1872)

• Isaac (1874)

• Ella (1876)

• Edmund (1879)

In July of 1879, Lydia was already exhibiting signs of mental instability. She was grieving the death of her son Isaac who, at the age of 2 yrs. 3 mos. 21 days (in 1876), died from “inflammation of the lungs.” Also, sometime before July of 1879, several accounts indicate that Lydia had attacked her own brother with a butcher knife.

So it was when Lydia’s oldest daughter Anna came home from running errands on July 2, 1879 to discover her mother acting strangely. By that time, unbeknownst to Anna, Lydia had likely already shot three of her children.

Disturbed by her mother’s behavior, Anna left home in search of her father who was working in the fields. Upon her return, Anna discovered her mother dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Anna took her baby brother Edmund from his cradle and went to a neighbor’s house for help, not yet knowing that two of her siblings were dead and another wounded.

Albert (age 9) and Ella (age 4) died on July 2, 1879 at the hands of their mother.

This is where the story gets a bit tricky. Edmund perished on August 6, 1879.

Albert, Ella and Edmund are buried in the cemetery in Bowne Center. A single but large gravestone marks their resting place.

That marker (and accounts that Lydia shot three of her children) is what, for many years, led us to believe that Edmund perished as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted by his mother.

After doing a bit of research for this post, I have discovered that is not the case

An article in the Lowell Journal detailing “The Bowne Tragedy” clearly states that “Carrie (age 7) was found still alive” but there was little hope that she would recover. The article also states that Anna “seized the baby from the cradle.” Edmund was not yet three months in July of 1879. He would have been the baby that Anna took from cradle.

I found a death record for Carrie in 1939. After a bit of digging, I found a small article that mentioned her "miraculous" recovery. I have included that article and a few others referencing the tragedy at the bottom of this post. There are discrepancies between the articles with regards to which of the children perished. Carrie's unexpected recovery and Edmund's unexpected death so close to the tragedy must have been the source of confusion.

Carrie never married but was beloved by her nieces and nephews. Her tombstone is engraved AUNT CARRIE.

I found two death records for Edmund. One states that he died in July of 1879 from "inflammation of the bowels." The other states that he died in August of 1879 as a “result of shot from mother – murder.”

An 1879 article in the Lowell Journal substantiates that it was Carrie who was shot at the hands of her mother and not Edmund.

Lydia was early postpartum on July 2, 1879, having recently given birth to Edmund. She was likely still grieving the loss of her son Isaac. Edmund was probably fussy that day, already feeling distress from what would take his life a few weeks later.

According to one article, Lydia "had been inflicted for weeks with a mild form of insanity but was not considered dangerous."

Unbeknownst to her husband, Lydia had procured a revolver.

Lydia is buried near her three children in the cemetery at Bowne Center with a matching grave marker.

Emanuel would eventually remarry and have one more child, a son, with his second wife. They are buried in Caledonia, Michigan.

Anna. Anna the oldest of the Bergy children. Anna who was just eleven when she experienced an unspeakable tragedy. Anna marries and has three children of her own. One of whom she names Albert after her brother.

Anna died in 1939 at the age of 70. She is buried in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Caroline (Carrie) Bergy

Anna Bergy Emmons