Children
Park Willard Unangst
Sibling(s):
Elmer
F Unangst
Lydia Catherine Unangst
Edith Sophia Unangst
Della May Unangst
Pearl Hester
Unangst
|
Notes:
Easton Express, Saturday, September 11, 1920, Page 1
Dog Jumps Into Cistern where Mistress Had Drowned Self
Pet’s Actions led to Discovery of Mrs. Charles A. Unangst
Who Ended Life at Her Home on the South Side.
A temporary fit of insanity, believed to have been brought
about the grief over the death of an aunt to whom she was very
much attached, together with a delicate condition of health,
late yesterday afternoon caused Mrs. Lydia Unangst, 37 years
old, wife of Charles A. Unangst, of 1043 Lincoln street, to
end her life by plunging into a cistern on the back porch of
her home. The body was recovered shortly after 6 o’clock
by the woman’s husband after “Snooks.” A
pet French poodle, had led him to the place where Mrs. Unangst
had chosen to end her life.
When Mr. Unangst left home yesterday morning to go for work
at the Dixie Drinking Cup plant in Wilson Borough, his wife
was in the best of spirits and to her neighbors she appeared
cheerful throughout the day. At noon yesterday she entertained
her parents, Mr. And Mrs. Cyrus Unangst, of Williams Township,
at dinner and was in a cheerful mood when they left for the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Evans, 546 Line Street, where the
senior Mr. Unangst’s sisters, Mrs. Anna Catherine Hahn,
lay dead. Mrs. Hahn died on Wednesday from paralysis. For a
number of years she resided with her brother Cyrus and during
this time she and the junior Mrs. Unangst became very much
attached to each other.
That the suicide was carefully planned was evident after the
gruesome discovery was made. The last that Mrs. Unangst was
seen alive was shortly after ? o’clock. When Mr. Unangst
returned home he found all the doors and windows of the house
locked and he called to neighbors to ask if they had seen his
wife go out. He was informed in the negative and told that
she must be in the house. Fearing that she had become ill he
broke in a rear door and searched the house but was unable
to find her. Returning form an upstairs room to the kitchen,
he found the pet dog whining and making an effort to get from
the kitchen to the enclosed porch. Mr. Unangst open the door
and the animal darted out the plunged headfirst into the cistern
from which the Iron plate had been removed. When Mr. Unangst
saw where the animal when the realized that something had happened.
And peering into the cistern he saw the body of his wife floating
on the surface of the water. He called for help and then jumped
into the cistern himself, thinking that Mrs. Unangst had fallen
in but a short time before and that here might be a chance
of saving her.
For more than a half hour Mr. Unangst retained in the cold
water of the cistern, holding his wife’s head above the
surface, until neighbors came to his assistance, and with the
aid of a rope brought the body to the porch. Dr. O.M Richards,
who had reached the house by that time, said that Mrs. Unangst
was beyond all aid.
Mrs. Unangst was an exceptionally large woman, and because
of her size it is somewhat of a mystery as to how she managed
to force her body through the small opening in the cistern
top. It is thought that she went to the cistern head first,
and ‘Snooks’ is to been at the kitchen widow watching
her.
Mrs. Unangst had cleaned the house from top to bottom and
had covered the widows in the rear porch with Bon Ami, so that
her movement could not be seen from outside.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Unangst is survived by as
on, Park, aged 15 years; her parents and a brother, Elmer,
of Williams Township. She was a native of Williams Township,
and had resided here the past ten years, during which time
she attended St. Paul’s Lutheran church. |
