Schmidt

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-204040
• Misfortune: 1859, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; poisoned by eating a poisonous herb

Notes:

SCHMIDT, PHILLIPY (Berlin) - A melancholy occurrence happened near Wellesley Village, in this county, on the afternoon of May 30th last, by which two boys, each three years old, the one a son of Nicolaus Schmidt, and the other of Jacob Phillipy, met with an untimely end by eating a poisonous herb. It appears from what we can learn of the sad calamity is that the deceased children in company with four others, the oldest of whom is 12 years old, were out rambling in the fields and swamps amusing themselves as children would naturally do in gathering wild flowers. While engaged in this manner, they came across, in their peregrinations, the fatal herb which bears a white flower, the name of which we have not learned, and in their innocence of the poisonous effect, all partook of it. In a short time after, they were seized with cramps and spasms of the severest description, plainly indicating that they had been partaking freely of some poisonous substance. Dr. Ballin of Petersburg was immediately sent for, and pending his arrival, warm milk was administered which is said to act as an emetic in cases of this kind, but the poison had, as far as the two youngest are concerned, gone too far in its deadly mission to be remedied by medical aid, and the little fellows died in the greatest agony, one of them biting his tongue through in his sufferings. Of the rest, we are happy to say two are convalescent, and the others are recovering. The effects of the poisonous herb is similar in its nature as those caused by strychnine.

Hamilton Spectator 7 Jun 1859

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-204039

Notes:

SCHMIDT, PHILLIPY (Berlin) - A melancholy occurrence happened near Wellesley Village, in this county, on the afternoon of May 30th last, by which two boys, each three years old, the one a son of Nicolaus Schmidt, and the other of Jacob Phillipy, met with an untimely end by eating a poisonous herb. It appears from what we can learn of the sad calamity is that the deceased children in company with four others, the oldest of whom is 12 years old, were out rambling in the fields and swamps amusing themselves as children would naturally do in gathering wild flowers. While engaged in this manner, they came across, in their peregrinations, the fatal herb which bears a white flower, the name of which we have not learned, and in their innocence of the poisonous effect, all partook of it. In a short time after, they were seized with cramps and spasms of the severest description, plainly indicating that they had been partaking freely of some poisonous substance. Dr. Ballin of Petersburg was immediately sent for, and pending his arrival, warm milk was administered which is said to act as an emetic in cases of this kind, but the poison had, as far as the two youngest are concerned, gone too far in its deadly mission to be remedied by medical aid, and the little fellows died in the greatest agony, one of them biting his tongue through in his sufferings. Of the rest, we are happy to say two are convalescent, and the others are recovering. The effects of the poisonous herb is similar in its nature as those caused by strychnine.

Hamilton Spectator 7 Jun 1859