Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Killed By A Joke

I spent a couple hours today happily doing research on the cemetery I just visited with my friends Lori and Teresa. I took lots of photos of gravestones and was trying to see if I could find additional information on some of these people on the interwebs, even though they all died in the 1800’s (or most of them). I felt the lure of Ancestry.com, which would make my research so much easier. But Ancestry.com is Expensive.com, so for now I’m just taking the peasant’s approach by googling names and seeing what comes up. If you have a better idea that is still free, do let me know.

Anyway (I do get to blathering), in my researches, I came across a document of information about people who lived in our area back in the day. I didn’t have time to read them all, but as I was scanning down the list, my eyes were arrested by the headline “Killed By A Joke.” Let me share with you the sad story of what happened to poor Mrs. Mahamuel, as reported in The Aitkin Age on July 22, 1893.

“Mrs. Duhac, a widow daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mahamuel, was visiting her parents in Rice County. Joseph Duchene, a young farmer living in the vicinity, called one evening to see Mrs. Duhac. The young people in the neighborhood thought they would have some fun when they saw Joe go there, and went to Mahamuel’s residence to charivari the people. Mrs. Mahamuel, when she heard the horrible noises, went out to interview the crowd. They ran down the road and she followed them. About 15 minutes afterward one of the neighbors, who was passing by, found the old lady lying in the road dead, her face being buried in the dust.”

Well! They don’t write obituaries like that anymore! I had to look up “charivari,” so I’m going to assume you don’t know what that is either: “A mock serenade of discordant noises, made with kettles, tin horns, etc., designed to annoy and insult.” Rude.

I really want to give awkward kudos to the person who came up with the title “Killed By A Joke,” to describe the passing of Mrs. M. I’m still not actually sure how she died, are you? Did she die of fright? Overexertion? And why didn’t any of those young people help her out? How awful to have a prank go wrong in such a disturbing way. I respect Mrs. M. for getting off her comfortable chair to go “interview” the crowd. The way that’s phrased, you can almost imagine her out there like a roving reporter. “Could you tell me what your name is and why you are banging on kettles outside our home?” And then she followed them when they ran off! Yes, Mrs. M. had an admirable amount of moxie. I like to think of her fixing her steely eyes on those rabble rousing youth and scaring them off.

For man also knoweth not his time;
as the fishes that are taken in an evil net,
and as the birds that are caught in the snare,
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,
when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Ecclesiastes 9:12

Mrs. Mahamuel, the evil times fell suddenly upon you. I hope you were ready to meet your Lord.

I’ll probably bury this one in the dust in the morning.,