Two small headstones shaped like pillows stand side by side, each bearing a name in raised lettering --- "Palmer" and "Cecil." Located just south of the Chariton Cemetery's north driveway, a quarter of its length in, they are separated from the asphalt by another grave, this one marked by an even smaller stone of red granite inscribed, "Nellie Libby, 1873-1926," still snowed in after this year's mid-November storms.
There's no way to tell from the stones who these people were and no clue other than proximity and the similarity of their stones to tell us who Palmer and Cecil were.
Cecil, as it turns out, was a little girl, only eight years old when she died on July 6, 1897. Her death was attributed, according to a brief obituary published in The Chariton Herald of July 8, to inflammation of the stomach that resulted from consuming too many green apples two weeks earlier. "Inflammation of the stomach" is the cause of death given in Lucas County records. Was it appendicitis? We'll never know.
Palmer was Cecil's little brother, only seven when he was killed two years later in an accident on the northeast corner of the the square at the intersection of North Grand and Braden on Nov. 20, 1899. Both were children of Nellie (Proctor) and Carl Amos although their parents had divorced in 1894 and Nellie was raising them as a single mother.
Details of the accident that killed little Palmer were included in the following report, published in The Chariton Democrat of Nov. 24:
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On Monday evening, November 20, about five o'clock, Palmer Amos, the little seven year old son of Nellie Amos, met with an accident which resulted in almost instant death.
During the absence of his mother, who has been in Burlington at the hospital taking a course for trained nurses, he has been making his home with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Proctor, who reside on North Grand street.
On Monday evening he started down town on an errand and jumped on a wagon loaded with coal. When he reached the northeast corner of the square, near Stanley's grocery, he either jumped off, or slipped and fell, and the hind wheel passed over his head, crushing it and causing death in about five minutes.
The driver of the wagon, Frank Wright, stated that he did not know that the boy was on the wagon. The unfortunate lad was carried to Dr. Yocom's office, but life was extinct. His mother was summoned from Burlington and arrived the same night.
The sad affair has cast a gloom over the entire community and expressions of sorrow were heard everywhere. Although a home has been rendered desolate and a lovely flower has died, the bereaved ones can console themselves with the assurance that he is now safe in heaven.
Palmer Amos was born in this city July 15, 1892, and his short life was spent here. He was a bright, lovable child, and all who knew him were much devoted to him.
Funeral services, conducted by Rev. Vollmar, were held at the family residence on Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock, the school children attending in a body. A large number followed the remains to the Chariton cemetery where they were laid to rest by the side of his sister, Cecil, who died two years ago.
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Some years after her children's deaths, Nellie --- who had trained as a nurse after her divorce --- moved to Vermont to work and married Palmer Mahew Libby, who died about 1920 in New Hampshire. About 1924, Nellie moved to Los Angeles, where a brother lived. She died in Los Angeles of a stroke on Sept. 25, 1926 --- her 54th birthday.
Three of Nellie's sisters still were living in Chariton when she died --- Jennie Rose, Mary Ellen Curtis and Elizabeth McKinley --- and they arranged to have her remains returned to Chariton for burial beside her children.
Carl Amos? He apparently relocated to North Dakota where he lived and died.
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