Jesse does not write in his diary again until July of 1904, so he never mentioned the gruesome death of Mary’s aunt, Sallie Sharp McCormick. Before Mary and Jesse got married, Mary was living with her Uncle Ed and Aunt Sallie in Chillicothe and working for a seamstress. Mary likely helped Aunt Sallie with the housework, cooking, and minding her two young cousins, Claude and Brooks.
On Wednesday, April 6, 1904, Sallie apparently gave herself blood poisoning when she pricked her lip with a brass pin. Within hours the pin prick became painful and swelled up. A doctor wasn’t called until Saturday, April 9th, but he was not available until Monday, April 11th, and he declared that nothing could be done to help her. The swelling “extended over her face and head.” The pain was extreme until she died on Sunday morning, April 17th. It was said she died of a “phlegmonous abscess.”
The Chillicothe Constitution printed the news on the front page the next day. They said she was buried at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Sampsel on Tuesday, April 19th. It is likely that Mary and Jesse attended the funeral.
