Chatham Tri-weekly Planet

Monday, June 21. 1891 edition

"A Mother's Awful Deed"

- She drowns her two young children and herself - terrible tragedy at Blenheim -

A sad case of suppressed suicide happened Friday afternoon at Rondeau railway dock.
The bodies of Mrs. David Clark and her two children, a little boy and girl, both under 4 years of
age, were found alongside of the dock in about 3 feet of water. Her eldest son. 12 years of age,
had left his mother with the children about half an hour before the bodies were found, his mother
having sent him to deliver a parcel to his aunt, who lived nearby, evidently with the object of
getting him out of the way. The bodies were found close together, the youngest child being in
his mothers arms. The following words were written on a piece of the dock: "Do not blame
Garnet, I did it. David. shan't have those little ones, (signed) Maggie." Garnet was the eldest
boy's name. Mrs. Clark's husband left her last fall with 5 children.

On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Bray received a message to go out and hold an inquest,
which he did. A jury was impaneled, who after hearing evidence returned a verdict to the effect
that the unhappy woman committed suicide while in a fit of temperary insanity.

The funeral of the 3 victims of the sad tragedy took place Sunday from the house of Mrs.
Mackenzie, the mother of Mrs. Clark, near the Eau, and was the largest ever seen in that
locality, some 180 vehicles being in the coriege: large numbers also waited at Blenheim.
Service was conducted in the open air at the house of mourning by Rev. Mr. Godwin of
Blenheim, who took for his text the choice of David in II Samuel XXIV & 14th, "Let us now fall
into the hand of the Lord". The speaker solomnly exherted the people to strive through all their
difficulties and trials, to adopt David's choice to fall into hands of God rather than of man.

The large number of people at the funeral may be taken as a measure of the respect in
which the deceased was held. Popular feeling is strongly aroused by the shocking
circumstances, and runs high against the absent husband and his relatives at the Eau The
prevailing idea. whether right or not, is that Mrs. Clark was prosecuted beyond endurance.
Beside the log on which Mrs. Clark wrote her last message were found some letters, one from
her husband notifying her to get Ott the farm, and another written by herself conveying a sad
story of destitution and a burden too heavy to be borne, and of which it seems few, if any, who
knew her had any conception, as she was not accustomed to canvas her circumstances with
neighbors.

The little girl and boy who were drowned were 6 and 2 respectively, and the oldest
survivor, the boy Garnet mentioned in the message, is fully 15. The other two are about 8 and
10, both boys (Harry & Charley).
 It would seem that Mrs. Clark has labored under a fear that her children were going to be
taken from her. On Wednesday week she came to Chatham to take legal advice, and its nature
could not have been reassuring. There can be no doubt but that a conspiracy was in fact to take
the children.

On Saturday, Undertaker Ford, of Blenheim telephoned to Messers Colhart and Neilson

for their assistance in conducting the affairs of the funeral, and the former was promptly on
hand, everything being managed in a satisfactory manner.