Edna CRAPO

Female 1893 - 1938  (44 years)


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  • Name Edna CRAPO  [2, 3
    • The Hartford Day Spring, March 9, 1938

      Burns In Stove Blast Fatal To Edna Balfour

      Sad Rites Held Saturday For Hartford Fire Victim, Mother of Five Children

      Friends and neighbors gathered in deep sympathy Saturday afternoon at the funeral rites held at the Zuver & Calvin chapel for Mrs. Edna Balfour, 44, victim of a fire tragedy at the family home on Beeny Road early last Wednesday morning.

      The Rev. A. E. Murphy, pastor of the Federated church of which Mrs. Balfour was an active member, conducted the services and burial was in Arlington Hill cemetery at Bangor, the family having formerly been residents of that community. Mrs. Grace Gearing sang, with Mrs. Leatha Combes as accompanist. Casket bearers were C. E. Rittase, E. W. Ewald, Dan Lightner and Lee Harley, members of the Hartford township board of which the husband of the deceased, Township Treasurer Leland S. Balfour, is also a member, together with Arthur Dowd, Bruce M. Boyers, Warren Clark and Edward Bonning.

      The death of Mrs. Balfour occurred at Mercy hospital, Benton Harbor, early Wednesday evening, nine hours after she was fatally burned in a stove blast. Use of kerosene that had been used to wash out the crankcase of a car to kindle a fire in a heating stove resulted in the tragedy.

      Mr. Balfour was starting the fire. As he poured the oil on kindling that had already been ignited the can of oil blazed in his hands. His first impulse was to carry the flaming can out of doors, but that became impossible and he hurled it through a door into the kitchen where Mrs. Balfour was preparing breakfast. She was trapped in the small room which instantly became a mass of flames.

      Before hurling the can, Mr. Balfour shouted to others in the house to flee. Their daughter and a girl friend, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Darlington, who was staying with her, ran from the house. Believing that his wife had followed them, Mr. Balfour himself ran out of doors only to learn that his wife was still in the kitchen.

      Rushing back into the inferno he found her lying on the floor, overcome by the flames, and carried her out of the house. He was severely burned about the face, hands and arms in the rescue. Mrs. Balfour suffered burns that nearly covered her body, while her clothing was partly consumed by the flames.

      She was rushed to the Benton Harbor hospital by Dr. Evan Garrett. The physicians immediately despaired her life. The shock of the extensive burns, they feared, would prove fatal, and it di within a few hours, although every effort was made to ease her suffering and save her life.

      Mrs. Balfour told physicians at the hospital that had she not waited in the kitchen to pump a pail of water with which to fight the fire she would not have been burned. It was then that she was trapped by the flames, she said.

      The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Crapo, Mrs. Balfour was born in Amherst Nebr., on May 9, 1893, but had long been a resident of Bangor and Hartford. She was an able assistant during the three years her husband has served as township treasurer. Outside of her home her major interest was in the work of the Federated church, where she was a member of the Loyal Daughters class, teacher of the intermediate class of girls in the church school, and chairman of the Dorcas circle of the Woman's Council.

      Besides her husband, she is survived by five children, Kenneth C., Marshall E., Leland S., Jr., Hildreth A., and Wendell Herbert, all of Hartford. She also leaves three sisters, Miss Edith Crapo, of Kalamazoo, Mrs. Laura Hunt of Lawrence and Mrs. Mabel Morehead of Bangor, and other relatives.

      The Balfour home, known as the Patrick Carney place just west of the village limits, was damaged before Hartford firemen cold extinguish the blaze. The flames had been partially checked by a small fire extinguisher before the department arrived, but the kitchen in which Mrs. Balfour was trapped was badly scorched, doors charred and other repairs made necessary.
      [1]
    Birth 9 May 1893  Amherst, Buffalo Co., Nebraska Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3
    Gender Female 
    Census 1900  Living with parents in Grant, Buffalo Co., Nebraska Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Census 1910  Living with parents in Arlington, Van Buren Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Death 3 Mar 1938  Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Burial Arlington Hill Cemetery, Bangor, Van Buren Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I13670  Main Tree
    Last Modified 3 Jul 2019 

    Father Franklin B. CRAPO,   b. 3 Dec 1847, St. Joseph, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Oct 1921, Bangor, Van Buren Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 73 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Rosanna WILLIAMS,   b. 14 Dec 1851, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 7 Apr 1926, Bangor, Van Buren Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Family ID F15641  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Leland Stanford BALFOUR,   b. 1890, Bangor, Van Buren Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Mar 1950, Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years) 
    Family ID F32075  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 1 Nov 2015 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 9 May 1893 - Amherst, Buffalo Co., Nebraska Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1900 - Living with parents in Grant, Buffalo Co., Nebraska Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1910 - Living with parents in Arlington, Van buren Co., Michigan Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Arlington Hill Cemetery, Bangor, Van Buren Co., Michigan Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S02329] Find A Grave Website.

    2. [S00091] "The Peter Crapo Clan" by Richley H. Crapo, (Name: Name: Updated 7 Dec 2005;;).

    3. [S10716] Email from John N. Haas dtd 23 Jun 2019.

    4. [S7926] 1900 Census Grant, Buffalo County, Nebraska.

    5. [S7924] 1910 Census Arlington, Van Buren County, Michigan.