#52 Ancestors Week 43 - "Cause of Death"

I've spent most of my genealogy research time this week fooling around with the new features on ancestry.com so I'm just getting around to posting. For the "cause of death" prompt I thought about all of the times I had to go to google to figure out what some of the names of diseases given in antiquity for COD meant. Dropsy, Bright's disease, consumption, etc. The prompt also made me think of all the childhood deaths that could have been prevented with today's modern medicine.

Charles Clark Marr circe 1913

My subject this week would have been my paternal great uncle. Charles Clark Marr (1910 -1913) my grandmother's little brother. It's probable that I would have met him had he not died as a toddler. My grandmother and great aunt lived to be 92 and 100 years old  respectively. They both had vivid memories of what happened when their brother died.

I just recently found a family photo of the Marrs before Charlie, as he was called, passed away. He looked just as I pictured he would; a beautiful little blonde imp. 👼 My grandmother was very fond of him. He was the only  Marr son, and the last in our branch of the Marr tree. His father, my great grandfather Delaski Marr had two brothers. Ralph (1875 - 1879) and Freddie (1876 - 1879).  The two boys died within 10 days of each other. I could only find Ralph's death certificate, and can't make out what the cause of death was. If you have any idea what it is I would really appreciate if you would comment and let me know! You can click on the image to enlarge, but it really didn't help me at all.

Ralph Marr Death Certiificate

My great grandfather was 8 years old when both of his younger brothers died. I can only imagine how devastating it was to lose his only son as well. The story I remember is that little Charlie had eaten something that hadn't been refrigerated and he got a terrible case of food poisoning. His death certificate verifies that story. He died of gastro enteritis for a duration of one week, and he finally succumbed to heart failure after a duration of 4 days. My grandmother was nine years old, about the same age as her father was when his brothers died.
Both my grandfather and great grandfather were doctors and are listed as the attending physicians on Charlie's death certificate. His death left a lingering sadness in the family. He was never forgotten. I even gave my oldest son the name Charles for his middle name.

Here is the whole family photo that was taken just months before Charles Clark Marr died. My great aunt Frances Marr Adaskin, who I wrote about here is standing far left. Seated is my great grandmother Eunice Willard Little, and my grandmother Jean Treleaven Marr with the big bow in her hair is on the far right.

Eunice Willard Little Marr & children

circa 1913

10/31/2018 - An eagle eyed wizard figured out the Cause of Death for Ralph Marr is Tabes Mesenterica. It's a tubercular infection of the lymph glands in the abdomen. It is contagious, so it's possible and probable that the youngest son, Freddie contracted the disease from his older brother and that was his cause of death as well. 

Thank you! 
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