Person:Kenneth Snell (1)

I was 5 years old when our baby was born and can never remember him as being well.I remember that he was an exceptionally pretty baby,at least he was to me.He must have been in A good deal of pain because he cried all the time.The DR. inserted contaminated cotton in his naval and he got the diptheria that way.It spread like wildfire and before they knew what was happening Margaret,Jerry and I had it too.You would never imagine what went on in that house for the next couple of months.The county came in and slapped A big red sign on our house stating that no one was to come or go.Our food was brought in and the Dr. came daily to swab our throats with what looked like shoe polish.I was delirious most of the time but I remember being thirsty ;always crying for water.Everyone crying,moaning,calling for mother.She never slept,just went from one child to the next and then started all over again.My dad?His buddy,Jerry Powell, was at our house most of the time with bootleg liquor.So the two of them stayed drunk most of the time.At exactly one month our baby died.My mother had to borrow A dress to go to the funeral.No one else was allowed to go.When I got off my mission I went to that little cemetary to locate Kenneth's grave.I was going to do something about it.I was never able to locate it but will try again sometime.There were headstones there that would turn your head but my little brother did'nt have so much as A rock to show where they had laid his little body.I wept tears that day and then A most peaceful feeling came over me.I was impressed to know that the Lord knew where he was.It was more than just my reasoning;A voice whispered it to me.I had peace within as I left that hot snake infested cemetary.He was'nt there at all.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Illinois, United States. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947.
2. ↑ individual. Greenville Newspaper. (In the Greenville, Ill newspaper dated Thursday Jan. 6,1938).