Edmund B. Polk, Spring Hill Cemetery, Mercer County, Kentucky

from The Harrodsburg Sayings, Mercer County Kentucky

Wednesday, September 5, 1900

Death of Ed Polk

Mr. Edmond B. Polk, son of Mrs. Alice Polk, died in Paris, Texas, last Tuesday night.  The remains arrived here over the Louisville Southern railway Friday morning, accompanied by the grief stricken family, Mrs. Polk, Mr. and Mrs. Hancock and child and Miss Anna Polk.  The body was taken to the home of Mrs. Polk’s half-sister, Mrs. T. C. Coleman, on Cane Run Street, and that afternoon at 3:30 o’clock, funeral services were conducted at the house by Dr. J. G. Hunter, of the First Presbyterian Church, and interment took place in Spring Hill Cemetery.

Ed Polk, as he was called by his many friends and acquaintances here, who had known him from childhood, was a lighthearted, jovial, unselfish young man, liked by all, and it was a great shock to them to learn that he had died by his own hand.  Tuesday night of last week, about 10 o’clock, at a hotel in Paris, the rash act was done.  A pistol was used and the shot was fired into the back of the head as he lay upon the bed.  He was to leave for his “old Kentucky home,” as he expressed it, the next day, and had secured a pass for himself.  At that time nothing seemed further from his thoughts than self-destruction.  He was wrapped up in anticipation of the visit and was full of life and joy, and his family believe the fatal shot must have been the result of an accident.  The deceased was twenty-eight years old and had been in Texas about two and a half years, serving as a fireman on a locomotive.  He belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and that organization will pay $1,500 to his mother.

The Sayings extends sympathy and condolence to the bereaved mother and two sisters.  Mrs. Polk’s sorrows are many, and especially to her do the hearts of the people in this community go out.  Her husband and three boys now lie buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, and the cup of her earthly misfortunes seems almost full.  May the Heavenly Father administer comfort to the much afflicted mother and to the sisters, and may the spirit of Christian resignation possess their souls until that day when all earthly mysteries will be explained.

Edward B. Polk, December 5, 1873 – August 28, 1900