Florence Irvine Dies from Burns received in House Fire, March 1895

Florence Irvine died tragically at the age of 27 in March, 1895, due to burns she received in a fire at home.  By the time her mother (Agnes Moran Irvine) found her, her upper body was engulfed in flames.  There was little that could be done except to give her morphine injections to make her comfortable till she passed away.  It is assumed that Florence was trying to put out a fire started by having quilts on a rack too close to the fireplace in her bedroom.  

Florence was the daughter of Agnes Moran and Benjamin D. Irvine of Dresden, TN.  This clipping was found in the personal papers of the Moran family.  I presume that it was published in the Dresden Enterprise soon after the death of Florence in March, 1895.  J.W. Moran and Sophia Riley Gunn Moran were Florence's Aunt and Uncle.

1895 was going to be a very sad year for the J.W. Moran family culminating in the death of  Sophia Riley Gunn Moran in October, 1895. 

A Lamentable Affair.

Once again is a Dresden home in 

sorrow on account of the ruthless hand

of death, caused by an accident that

brought sorrow not only to them, but 

to their many friends as well.  May 

God in His infinite wisdom and mercy 

turn away from any of our homes again

such a sad and awful visitation.

Wednesday morning about eight

o'clock Mrs. B.D. Irvine, who was in 

an adjoining room to her daughter,

Miss Florence, heard an unusual noise 

and rushed in to find her a mass of

flames from her waist up.  The horror-

stricken mother, assisted by others who

soon reached her gave as immediate

relief as possible, and Dr. A. Finch

was soon on hand to administer as

much ease as possible to the dying 

girl.  For about twenty minutes, until

morphine administered hyperdermically

could take effect, she suffered much,

but after that she became easy and 

died at 12 o'clock, quietly, surrounded

by parents and brothers, who loved

Miss Florence most devotedly.  The 

entire family is heartbroken, especially 

the loving, Christian mother, who has 

?? unusual degree of earth's sorrows

?? which,however she has

?? a woman can who draw 

her consolation from a Diving Father.

There is not a heart in Dresden today

that does not go out in sympathy to

them in their bereavement, but in such

hours God alone can comfort and sus-

tain.

Miss Florence has been afflicted

since a small child with convulsions.

And? her mother has all these years

?? day and night to prevent

??? such it is not

?? she had a spell.  She was

making the beds there being two in

the room, the quilts from one lying on

a chair in front of the fire, and partly

burned up when discovered.  The

supposition naturally is that Miss

Florence tried to extinguish the flames

and ??? fire, as the lower

?? es were not burned.