Martin Van Buren Bates and Anna Swan Bates lived comfortably in Seville, Ohio, in the 1870s and 1880s. They earned good incomes working as circus attractions, and they owned a productive farm with a comfortable home.
Martin and Anna were also active members of the local community, including regularly attending a Baptist church. But all was not perfect. Their desire to add children to their family was unsuccessful; a daughter was stillborn and a son lived less than a day.
Then, in 1888, Anna Bates died unexpectedly of heart failure on Aug. 5, the day before her 42nd birthday.
Although Anna’s ex...
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