JOHN O'LEARY

( • 1908)

FOND DU LAC MAN LOSES LIFE HERE

John O'Leary, Laborer, Killed by Blow From Timber While Moving House

SKULL CRUSHED BY BLOW

John O'Leary, believed to be a Fond du Lac man, employed as a laborer by H. Wettenkamp, house moving contractor, lost his life as result of a blow from a heavy timber while engaged in work on a contract west of the city Thursday. O'Leary's skull was crushed by the blow and death resulted in a few minutes. The body is held here pending advice from relatives who have not been from (sic).

O'Leary's injuries resulted from a blow from the sweep bar, a timber attached to the capstan which is used to wind the rope in moving the building and it is claimed that the accident was due to O'Leary carelessness in not obeying instructions as to the position he was to occupy in his work. Usually, the man in charge of the rope is seated on the ground, his head thus being lower than the sweep bar but O'Leary had remained in a partially upright position and when the sweep broke, he was caught by it, the blow striking him on the temple and tearing a hole in the head, the skull being crushed.

Little is known here relative to O'Leary's life and home, and it is not known whether he came from Marshfield or North Fond du Lac. A card from the North Fond du Lac aerie of Eagles shows O'Leary to be a member of that lodge while papers and a knife found on the dead man are marked J. O'Leary, Marshfield. O'Leary is believed to have been a single man and for a time made his home with the family of William Mackay. O'Leary had been out of work for some time and had but recently secured the position he occupied at death.

Manitowoc Daily Herald, Wis., July 3, 1908 P. 1

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