One
of the first things I noticed when I initially began compiling my family tree
was how many ancestors grew up not knowing either their mother or their father.
One of the other examples that I have previously written about was that of
Jacob Worth who remains interred with his fellow Union soldiers at the bottom
of Mobile Bay having fallen victim to a Confederate torpedo while aboard the
USS Tecumseh. This is a tragic tale but one which has the documents and facts
by which we can determine exactly what happened. That isn’t always the case
which is what I faced when looking at the life and death of my great great
grandfather Samuel Warner Ardis.
The
day following his early demise, on Monday, September 1, 1902, The Philadelphia
Inquirer printed a story under the sensationalize headline “DEATH USED
PHILADELPHIA AS A TARGET” with one of the many bulleted subheads stating “Element
of Mystery in Case of Samuel W. Ardis Dispelled by Investigation”. Having been
printed only a day following his death, the coroner’s inquest was still pending
but the details suggested that heart disease played a factor. However, some of
the details remained a bit fuzzy.
To
that point the investigation suggested that Samuel Ardis, who was employed as a
clerk with the Reading Railway Company, was taken in by a stranger on his way
home after falling ill shortly after his departure from work. Early the
following morning, Sunday, the police were notified that Samuel Ardis had died
suddenly at the house at some point during the night. When questioned later, my
great great grandmother stated, according to the report that she was in “total
ignorance of her husband’s movements since Saturday”.
While
the autopsy later revealed, and was recorded on his death certificate, that the
cause of death was pneumonia, we will never have a complete picture as to what
transpired that night. The only facts that we know are that he died just over a
month after his 3 month old son, Thomas J. Ardis, passed away and left his wife
to care for their only remaining child, my great grandmother, Sarah Mabel
Ardis, who turned three only four days after he baby brother died. In the span
of just over a month, my great grandmother lost her father and her brother with
her birthday falling in between. I can’t imagine what must have been going
through her, or my great great grandmother’s, mind as all of this is happening.
We
know a little but the mystery, and questions, still remain… Did he knock on a
door or was he found and brought inside? Did he know the people / person who
took him in? If so, how did they know one another? Did he know that he was
sick? Did anyone notice at the office or was he seemingly ‘fine’? Why weren’t
there any signs that this could happen? All these questions I want to have
answers to but know that will probably never happen.
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