The Brimfield Blashfields

One sad yet obvious reality of family tree research is that as yet there are no happy endings.  All of the people I research are dead.  I realize this.  However, sometimes I come across stories that affect me more than usual.  Case in point is the Blashfield men of Brimfield, Massachusetts.

Family member name: Orestes A. Blashfield (awesome name)
Tree branch: Webber
Lifetime: 1830-1892
Relation: My 3x great grandfather (my dad's dad's dad's mom's dad)

I was researching the date of death of my 3x great grandfather, Orestes Blashfield.  Here is what I found in Massachusetts Death Records for 1892.

1892 Brimfield, Massachusetts Death Records

The date of death was November 27, 1892, 126 years ago today.  I also found the cause of death was suicide.  So sad. Only 62 years old.  I was so upset about this and wondered what could have caused him to do this.

A few days later I looked at the same file again.  Here it is again.  Do you see what I missed the first time?

1892 Brimfield, Massachusetts Death Records

His 33-year old son, Frank, had passed away less than 6 weeks earlier of the rare problem of a rectal ulcer.  To make matters worse, it was noted on the 1880 census that Frank was "Insane." It may be that Orestes could not handle the grief and took his own life because of it.  Sadly, Orestes' wife and mother of their child lost both men in her life in a short period of time.  Her name was Julia Elmina and she would live another 30 years.

This is the family's headstone in Brimfield Cemetery that I visited with my mom a few years ago.

Brimfield Cemetery, Brimfield, Massachusetts