Mickey Starling
reporter3@greenepublishing.com
In September of 1902, Madison native R. Wallace Parramore was found unresponsive on a bench in New York's Central Park. He was revived long enough to state his name before becoming unconscious and passing away a short time later.
Parramore, who was the son of Mrs. Imogene Parramore, was only 25 years old. A broken bottle containing carbolic acid was sitting next to Parramore and it was determined that he had ingested a small amount of the lethal chemical. Parramore was well dressed but appeared to be in declining health.
Earlier in the year, he was injured on a train while visiting Nebraska. The injury caused a severe fracture at the base of his skull. Though he lingered between life and death for several days, he underwent an operation that restored him to fairly good health. He returned to Madison for his recovery and eventually made his way to Saratoga, N.Y., where he was last heard from before news of his death was received by telegram.
T. J. Beggs happened to be in New York at the time and confirmed that the deceased was Parramore. His body was sent by train back to Madison, where it was greeted by many grief-stricken residents of the community.
Information for this article was taken from Elizabeth Evans Kilbourne's book, “Madison County, Florida Newspaper Clippings, 1901-1903.”
Several days later, Becky Jenkins, Parramore’s childhood nurse and a close friend to the family, suffered a stroke as Parramore’s body was being lowered into the grave.
Jenkins, who was well beloved in the community, was taken to her home, where she passed away that same evening.