Burnham - Ethel
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 4 August 1899
This morning at Kirkpatrick, Ethel Burnham, a stepdaughter of Jerome Ward, met death in a peculiarly distressing manner. The girl, who was sixteen years of age, arose early and left the house to milk a cow. The animal was a rather uneasy beast and to prevent her getting away the girl haltered her and tied the halter to her wrist.
It is supposed that while Ethel was milking, the cow, worried by flies, started to run and dragged the girl from the milk stool. She thus lost control of the cow and was simply dragged to death. Her protracted absence from the house finally caused one of the family to start out in search of her, and that one saw the now wild cow dragging the dying and unconscious girl over the rough field. The animal was stopped as soon as possible and the girl was released, but she lived but a very short time. Her injuries were of a most frightful character.
Ethel Burnham is the same girl who several years ago was assaulted by a tramp, the crime causing great excitement in the north part of the county. The criminal was traced by bloodhounds as far as Cayuga, but there his trail was lost. -s
Source: Indianapolis Journal (Marion County, Indiana) 5 Aug 1899 p 3
Darlington, Indiana Aug 4 – Miss Ethel Burnham, the 16-year-old stepdaughter of Jerome Ward near Kirkpatrick in the northern part of the county went to a field to milk this morning and was dragged to death by a cow. She had fastened the halter strap around her wrist and the cow became frightened and ran around the field until Miss Burnham was dead. Miss Burnham was assaulted and nearly beaten to death by a tramp two years ago one evening near the same place while returning from school