SOURCE: THE MONTICELLO EXPRESS, MONTICELLO, IOWA, OCTOBER 7, 1897, PAGE 4
A CHILD'S SKULL CRUSHED
A Distressing Accident in Wayne Township, Witnessed by the Mother Little Mary Toenjes, the three year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Toenjes of Wayne township was instantly killed, last Monday afternoon, by the wheel of a loaded wagon passing over her head and crushing it beyond recognition. The horror stricken mother of the child saw the terrible accident, but was too far away to prevent it, or to render the child any assistance. Mr. Toenjes who is a prosperous and well-to-do farmer was preparing to build a new house next summer, and a large number of his neighbors were engaged in hauling the stone from Anamosa for the foundation. The stone was being unloaded at one spot, and when several teams drove up they stopped and waited their turn to get to the stone pile. Several of these teams were thus standing, when an apple which had been given to little Mary rolled under the wagon. She crawled after the apple and securing it was creeping out in front of the wagon wheel. The mother who was near the house glanced up just in time to see the horses start forward. It was a sight that will haunt her memory all the days of her life. It will be in her vision by day and disturb her dreams at night. The wheel of the loaded wagon passed onto the head of the little one and crushed her skull and pretty features into a shapeless mass. The merciless wheel ground the life out of the child almost instantly.
The mother was overcome by the awful sight. The neighbors, many of whom were present, tenderly picked up the mangled form of the child, and offered consolation to the distracted mother. No one was in charge of the wagon at the time and no one can be blamed for the accident. Mr. Toenjes was after a load of rock, and did not return home until sometime later. The news was broken to him as gently as its distressing features would permit of. When informed of the terrible death that had befallen his innocent little girl he fainted away, and it was fully two hours before he could be restored to consciousness. The funeral of the little girl whose exact age was 3 years, l months and 6 days was conducted by Rev. V. Mardorf, last Tuesday afternoon, and was very largely attended, for Mr. and Mrs. Toenjes have a wide circle of friends whoso hearts are warm with sympathy for them. The deceased was next to the youngest of a large family of children.