The eroded inscriptions on this small double tombstone in the Chariton Cemetery are a challenge to read in early evening light, but it marks the graves of Isaac Rickets and his wife, Catharine (Simpson) Rickets.
Isaac died on Sept. 22, 1875, age 55 (he would have turned 56 had he lived until Nov. 10). Catharine died two years later, on Sept. 2, 1877, at the age of 60. According to my friend Roberta Tuller, whose ancestors these are, the Rickets had lived in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and (probably) Wayne County, Iowa, before locating in Chariton during the early 1860s. He was a carpenter by trade. And despite the way their surname is spelled on the tombstone, it usually is spelled "Ricketts."
The stone would not have been overly expensive when ordered --- it's small, rather thin and the marble, prone to erosion by the elements during the 140-plus years that it's stood here. But it appears never to have been tipped or broken, and that's a cause for celebration. It is the only stone like it in the cemetery.
Isaac's cause of death was rather dramatic, even for it's time; dramatic enough that brief paragraphs about it were published in several Iowa newspapers during late 1875, picked up from Chariton newspapers long since vanished.
Here's the paragraph published in The Muscatine Weekly Journal of Oct. 13: "Mr. Isaac Ricketts, an old and respected citizen of Chariton, took a dose of concentrated lye one night last week, through a mistake, which resulted in his death in 28 hours after taking."
Not a pleasant way to go and of course we'd like to know more --- but no more was reported.
To read more about Isaac, Catharine and many more in Roberta's extended family --- including a number of other Lucas County lines --- check out her excellent web site, "An American Family Story."
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