Mrs. A. G. Bentz (Catherine Hershey Bentz), wife of a prominent farmer living outside of Memphis Nebraska (Saunders County), committed suicide in April of 1903.
Catherine had been confined in the insane asylum at Lincoln, Nebraska but was discharged sometime in January 1903. While it was hoped that she was cured, a very close watch was kept over her by the family.
But finally her opportunity came, she slipped into the cob house where the kerosene can stood, poured oil all over her clothes and over a quilt which she wrapped around her and set them on fire. As the flames flared up, she ran out screaming around the house. A son-in-law seized her and tore off the burning clothes. Medical aid was obtained and everything done to save her life, but she died in a few hours.
Funeral services took place at the U.B. Church, near Memphis, Wednesday afternoon. Interment in Ashland (Saunders Country, Nebraska) cemetery. Catherine was 52 years old.
This story was not passed down so the only details I know at this time are from the newspaper articles I found in several different newspapers.
Many questions that may never be answered surrounding her mental illness since this event happened almost 120 years ago. It will be interesting to do some research to see what the medical industry says about mental illness during the early 1900s and how the insane asylum hospitals were used compared to current day use.
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