It’s time for another gruesome family history installment. Today’s victim is William Jay Claton, my fifth cousin four times removed. He had more than his fair share of terrible events befall him; the title of this post is not even related to his horrific death
William was born 19 June 1877 in Illinois, the son of William H. and Sarah E. (Cline) Claton. In 1880 the family was living in Tazewell County, enumerated one household away from the elder William’s sister, Florence, and her family. Also living with Florence was her and William’s mother Elizabeth (Hawkins) Claton, as well as their paternal grandmother, Margaret (Gaston) Claton.
The entire Claton family seems to have suffered from incredibly bad luck (or health). Of the five family members in the household that year, three had entries made in the “Sick” column by the census enumerator. William, Sr., 36, has “Flesh Wound” recorded by his name. Lewis F., 13, has “Hip Disease” recorded, and the “Disabled” box checked. Frank E., 10, also has the “Disabled” box checked, along with a cryptic “Ruptured” in the “Sick” column. William, Sr., is not marked as “Disabled,” so perhaps his flesh wound was only a recent injury. “Willie,” aged 2, appears also, with no sickness or disability noted (yet). Lewis would live to the age of 73, but Frank would die at age 46.
The 1900 census shows William and Sarah, still in Tazewell County. Sarah’s enumeration notes that she had given birth to four children, three of whom were still living. In 1882 another child had been born and died, a daughter, Anna Alida. Also with William and Sarah were the younger William and his new bride, Magdalena (born Magdalena Snyder on 31 August 1881). William and Magdalena were married 31 May 1900, just in time to be shown as a married couple as of the Census Day enumeration date of 1 June.
By 1910 William, Jr., and Magdalena were living in Pekin, Illinois, at 360 S Capitol Street, a house built in 1902 that still stands. William is listed as being the owner of a saloon. With the couple are their children Louisa, 8, and “Wilber,” 2. In 1912 the family is still living at 360 S Capitol; they appear in that year’s Pekin City Directory as “Wm. J., lab[orer], and Mrs. Maggie Claton.” The same directory lists a number of different saloons in operation, but William’s name isn’t specifically associated with any of them.
The next appearance of William I have found is his World War I Draft Registration Card, dated 12 September 1918. Here his full name is listed, along with his birthdate and an address of 608 Derby, Pekin, Illinois. This house no longer appears to be standing. William is listed as a laborer at the Corn Products Refining Company on South 2nd in Pekin. He is described as tall, with a medium build, gray eyes, and light hair. All pretty standard fare until the section where the registrar is asked to describe any physical disqualifications in detail. Here the registrar has written, with bland understatement, “None except right eye is out.” There must be a story here, but unfortunately, I have yet to find any details. I did learn that the Corn Products Refining Company was created in 1906 through a merger of a number of U.S. corn refiners. It produced both Argo corn starch and Mazola corn oil. It has undergone a number of mergers and name changes since that time and is now known as Ingredion.
In 1920 William and Magdalena were enumerated in Spring Lake, Illinois, one household away from William’s brother Lewis. With them were Wilbur, now 11, and William E., 8. It appears that by this time daughter Louisa had married (or had at least moved out on her own), as she would live on until 1989. William is listed as being a farmer by occupation.
Less than two years later, however, William seems to have changed careers again, leading to his tragic demise. The Metamora (Illinois) Herald of 24 March 1922 describes the event of 102 years ago today in grisly detail in an article titled “Meets Horrible Death.” Some of you may want to skip ahead to the next paragraph. According to the author, William was at the Liberty Yeast Corporation plant in Pekin and was helping to unload coal with an elevator when his foot was caught in a belt. He was dragged into the machinery and “terribly mangled.” The article describes how both feet were torn off and his limbs “crushed into a pulp up to the hips,” and added, almost as an afterthought, “he also received internal injuries.” Mercifully, the article also states that he died instantly. One wonders if having only one eye might make an individual more susceptible to missteps in situations like this one.
William was laid to rest in Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin, leaving his widow Magdalena to raise two young boys on her own. In 1930 she was enumerated as “Margaret Clayton,” 48, at 1009 Summer Street in Pekin, along with both Earl and Wilbur, then 19 and 21. They were living in this still-extant house along with the owners, Alexander and Leone Anderson (and their three children), who listed the home’s value as $4500. Magdalena’s occupation is listed as leather worker at a saddlery.
The passage of another ten years finds Magdalena living at the Oak Knoll Sanitorium in Mackinaw and working there as a cook. She would survive a further 7 years before being buried beside her husband at the age of 65. However, according to her obituary, the last five of those years she spent as a house mother in a sorority house in Colorado Springs. I have yet to iron out those details, but it sounds like she continued to find purpose until the end of her life.
Son Wilbur died at age 58 and is buried in Pekin’s Glendale Memorial Gardens, and William Earl served in the U.S. Army and died at age 66 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Lacey, Washington. When William’s sister Louise died in 1989, she was also buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. One hopes that William Jay Claton’s “horrible death” really was instantaneous, and that his widow and children were able to overcome this tragedy as they moved forward with their own lives.