Wordless Wednesday: The Death of Little Hazel


This post won't be wordless because there is a back story to the picture.  I found the picture recently, it is the first I have for Hazel.  She was the daughter of Joseph Allmen, the brother of my great-great-grandmother, Susanna (von)Allmen Berger.  Hazel's death at fifteen forever changed the lives of her parents and it also was a media sensation at the time.  Hazel, because of her young age, became the poster child for the Evansville race riot of 1903.  I've blogged about Hazel before but have since learned some more facts, like that her parents were also injured.  Hazel's mother (Missouri Myrick Allmen) took three shots in the shoulders and Hazel's father took some buckshot to the face.  Hazel herself took some buckshot to the chest which killed her.  I had read that all this happened on Court St. but now I'm reading that it happened on Division street.  Surprisingly, the The Atlanta Constitution had one of the best accounts of the events and what happened to Hazel.  According the paper, Hazel and her family were out driving and were attracted into town by the noise.  Apparently, in addition to the actual rioters, many people were like the Allmens and were just there out of curiosity.  Most surprisingly, a few women with infants in strollers were spotted in the crowd during the riot.

Comments

  1. Sad to read about the way in which she died, even sadder that life ended at a very young age for Hazel

    ReplyDelete
  2. Incredible story. Thank you, so much, for providing additional details!

    Bill ;-)

    http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
    Author of "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories"

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a terrible tragedy. So very sad.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting!

Popular Posts