The Death of Dr. Richard C. Mackey

This undated photo shows Dr. R.C. Mackey in later years.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

As the summer of 1919 gave way to fall, Dr. Richard Mackey was past his 67th birthday and feeling his age. The autumn and winter of 1918-1919 had been exhausting: his son, Dr. Dwight, away with the army and the full weight of their joint practice on his shoulders when the Spanish flu epidemic kept him, like all the town's doctors, "on the go night and day." Stress and overwork had shaken his health.

But even after his son's return, Dr. Richard continued to practice medicine as much as he could. He had made several house calls on Friday, October 31, and was in his office on Saturday when he seemed to suffer a mild stroke. He went home, got some rest, and during the daylight hours on Sunday he was up and about the house, but that night he took a turn for the worse. By the next day he was unconscious in his bed.

And so he remained. At moments here and there he seemed to recognize his surroundings, and the family took courage. Those moments passed, and days went by with the doctor unable to take any substantial nourishment. But still he clung to life, all through the month of November. It was not until the morning of December 1, about an hour after sunrise, that he quietly passed into death.

We will let the Gazette sum up his life:


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So if the 1890 census had not been lost, it would have shown Dr. Richard and Ruth Mackey living in the village of Deep River. I do not know where their little son Robert is buried.

In fact I had a difficult time finding Dr. Richard's grave marker, in spite of every indication that it should be in Crown Hill Cemetery. I finally found it by poking a stick into the ground approximately where the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society said it would be — and there it was, under a solid inch of soil. I have excavated it as well as I could with my bare hands. Maybe one of these days I will take some tools there and try to do better.


(Click on image to enlarge)


Sources:
♦ "Dr. R.C. Mackey Passes Away." Hobart Gazette 5 Dec. 1919.
♦ "Dr. R.C. Mackey Suffers Stroke of Paralysis." Hobart News 6 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 13 Nov. 1919; 27 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 7 Nov. 1919; 14 Nov. 1919; 21 Nov. 1919; 28 Nov. 1919; 5 Dec. 1919.
♦ "Two Hobart Citizens Pass Away the Past Week." Hobart News 4 Dec. 1919.