Charlie died of polio. His death is described by his niece, Florence King, in "Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady":
The other stone was a tiny white one topped by a reclining lamb and inscribed with the wistful dates 1905-1910. It belonged to Mama's brother Charlie, who had died of polio when she was a baby. I loved the lamb and always patted it.
"Why did he have to die, Granny?" I asked one Sunday.
She shifted on the stone bench and sighed. "It was July, and so hot, the hottest day I ever saw. He went off to play and when he came home he turned the hose on himself. I always thought that was what did it -- President Roosevelt went swimming on a hot day. He took sick that night. The doctor came, but there was nothing he could do. The paralysis took his legs and rose up. When it reached his lungs, he was gone."
The other stone was a tiny white one topped by a reclining lamb and inscribed with the wistful dates 1905-1910. It belonged to Mama's brother Charlie, who had died of polio when she was a baby. I loved the lamb and always patted it.
"Why did he have to die, Granny?" I asked one Sunday.
She shifted on the stone bench and sighed. "It was July, and so hot, the hottest day I ever saw. He went off to play and when he came home he turned the hose on himself. I always thought that was what did it -- President Roosevelt went swimming on a hot day. He took sick that night. The doctor came, but there was nothing he could do. The paralysis took his legs and rose up. When it reached his lungs, he was gone."
Charlie died of polio. His death is described by his niece, Florence King, in "Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady":
The other stone was a tiny white one topped by a reclining lamb and inscribed with the wistful dates 1905-1910. It belonged to Mama's brother Charlie, who had died of polio when she was a baby. I loved the lamb and always patted it.
"Why did he have to die, Granny?" I asked one Sunday.
She shifted on the stone bench and sighed. "It was July, and so hot, the hottest day I ever saw. He went off to play and when he came home he turned the hose on himself. I always thought that was what did it -- President Roosevelt went swimming on a hot day. He took sick that night. The doctor came, but there was nothing he could do. The paralysis took his legs and rose up. When it reached his lungs, he was gone."
The other stone was a tiny white one topped by a reclining lamb and inscribed with the wistful dates 1905-1910. It belonged to Mama's brother Charlie, who had died of polio when she was a baby. I loved the lamb and always patted it.
"Why did he have to die, Granny?" I asked one Sunday.
She shifted on the stone bench and sighed. "It was July, and so hot, the hottest day I ever saw. He went off to play and when he came home he turned the hose on himself. I always thought that was what did it -- President Roosevelt went swimming on a hot day. He took sick that night. The doctor came, but there was nothing he could do. The paralysis took his legs and rose up. When it reached his lungs, he was gone."
Gravesite Details
The lamb tombstone has been replaced by a larger tombstone for the whole family.
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