Aaron Lewis was one of Birda's older brothers.
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| Photo from the personal albums of Bryce Merkley Photo cropped from original image |
According to these documents the following dates apply:
BIRTH: 17 Jan 1891- Midway, Wasatch, Utah*
DEATH: 16 Nov 1903- Vernal, Uintah, Utah
He was 11 years old when he died of diphtheria.
Newspaper notice:
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| SOURCE: Vernal Express 1903, Nov 21, p.3 |
Aaron, the eleven year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Siney Lewis of Lines ward, died Monday evening after a brief illness of what was pronounced diphtheria by the attending physician. The funeral occurred Tuesday.
Death certificate:
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| SOURCE: familysearch.org |
The following is an excerpt from the memoir, "Memories of My Father, Siney Lewis Sr." written in June 1958 by his daughter, Mary Hatch, regarding the passing of Aaron:
"In 1904, another dear little brother, Aaron, our baby boy,
passed away with that dreaded disease diphtheria. This was the first time in my life I ever saw my father
cry. His faith was almost
shaken. He tragically missed that
little shadow behind him, and his constant happy chatter. From then on Papa would fall and be
unconscious at times. None of the
doctors in those days seemed to know the cause. It was a very frightening thing to the whole family..."
The following is an excerpt from the memoir, "The Life of My Mother- Elizabeth Coleman Lewis" written by her daughter, Mary Hatch (date unknown) also regarding Aaron's passing:
"... Aaron, died of that dreaded disease diphtheria. Everyone was afraid to come near the house, and as was the custom, the burial was held at night. The little fellow was taken out on the lawn away from the house. A man placed him in a casket as if the disease were a crime or that the darkness prevented the spread of the germs. The family hovered together at a little back window and watched the light that slowly led the way to the cemetery. I wondered at that time if Mother could ever be happy again as I saw her burning his little clothes. I remember the unselfish courage with which we faced life again..."
The following is an excerpt from "My Life" (p.13) written by Mary Hatch 25 Dec 1956, also regarding Aaron's passing:
"... It was a January thaw, the water
was running down the road in streams.
Aaron came home from school sick.
He had walked in the water and his feet were wet and cold. The next day he was sick and couldn’t
go back to school and the next day he was worse. I was scrubbing the floor and, as I came near his bed, I
reached over and kissed him and talked to him. He didn’t seem too sick. He was always such a happy-go-lucky little boy and I can
still see his dear little face.
While I was still on my knees, I heard Minnie crying loudly in the
kitchen. As I went in to see what
the matter was, she and Mother were talking in whispers. She was telling Mother that Aaron was
going to die. We didn’t think of
it too seriously; we thought it just was a whim of a teenage girl. That night we carried our baby Birdia
up the stairs to bed. We were all
laughing and happy. In the night
Father rushed up the stairs with the sad news of Aaron’s death. They had Doctor Garret come but it was
too late. The poor little fellow
had gone to sleep, but after a short time, he awoke struggling for breath. He had died of diphtheria. Mother and Father were heart-broken to
stand by and be so helpless. None
of us ever saw him after his death.
It was almost unbearable for us all to be together and our little
brother to be in a dark room alone.
Outside of the family, we were alone- no one came to the house and , oh,
the precautions they took to keep the rest of us from taking it.
After a day or two, a man named
Cambal Lister, a neighbor, took him out on the snowy front of the house and
prepared him for burial. It was
night and just a few, just those that were needed, took a lantern for light and
went to the cemetery. To go in the
daytime, they might meet someone and everyone was so afraid they would get the
germ. We all sat at the little
back window and watched the light and wept to see our little boy taken
away. This was my first real
sorrow. Months after, when I’d
hear music, I’d have a hard [p14] time to control my emotions. Poor Father broke down and cried, he
missed so much the little pattering feet and the little shadow that was always
behind him.
Mother fumigated, scrubbed, and
burned everything she thought he had even touched while he was sick. The last things were his little
overalls. They were part of him
and her heart bled in doing this..."
The following is an excerpt from the "History of Charley Lewis" (p.8) written by Charlie Lewis and found in the personal albums of Patty Stewart, also regarding Aaron's passing:
"...I remember the night that we were all sick upstairs and Aaron had the diphtheria. Dr. Garret was the Dr. then. She would always put on a big robe when she would get out of her buggy and come in that so no germs would get [through] the robe.
She tried everything else and experimented with everything
she could there, but the last thing she did was put a needle in his spine, and
he died from the effects of that I guess.
I remember the funeral as it went up the road with lanterns on the
buggies at night. They had to bury
him at night ‘cause everyone was so scared of the diphtheria. I recall Dad coming upstairs and
telling us that Aaron had just died, and then I lay there in bed thinking about
his death, and feeling so bad about it.
I was eleven years old when Aaron died..."
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| Photo from the personal albums of David Ahrnsbrak Photo cropped from original image |
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