| Obit For | Benjamin Decocque |
|---|---|
| Headline | FOUND DEAD ON THE FLOOR |
| Text | Benjamin Decocque (normally spelled Decocq), an old French Farmer who lives 3 1/2 miles east of Medoc was found dead on the floor of his house Saturday morning.
The old man is a widower, his wife having died about two months ago, leaving him two small children, hardly old enough to talk plain. They were the discovers of his dead body. About 9:00 o'clock yesterday morning, while at play about the house, the little children found their father lying on the floor where death had overtaken him. They thought him asleep and tried to waken him. Failing in this, they went to a neighbor's house and informed them that papa went to sleep on the floor and would not wake up. News of the old mans death spread rapidly and the house was soon full of neighbors who would not touch the body until the coroner was present. He was to have been at the house to hold an inquest Sunday morning. An effort was made to make inquiry of him at Webb City by telephone this morning, but he has no phone and the drug store people whose phone he uses refused to call unless he was wanted to view a body, so the result of his inquest could not be determined. Decocque had been very unfortunate besides the loss of his wife, his farm of 160 acres of land was recently sold under a mortgage of $1500. Research Note: He was born in 1832 in Calias, France. It is believed that Ben and his wife Martha, are buried in the Pine Cemetery near Modoc, MO, although no headstones or records can be found. |
| Newspaper or Funeral Home | Carthage Evening News |
| Date | March 14, 1898 |
| Death Cert Link | - |
| Resource | - |
| Submitted by | Don Warner - Deceased |
