Mellie Zimmerman’s Wash Day Accident
My great grandfather Parker L. Zimmerman married three times. After a couple of months marriage to Victoria Harris during 1897 in Franklin County, Missouri, Parker moved to Bollinger County, Missouri to be closer to his family. His parents, Samuel and Sarah Zimmerman, lived in Dongola, Bollinger, Missouri.
On March 31, 1902, 27-year-old Parker married his second wife, 22-year-old Mellie Bollinger. Mellie was the daughter of Henry and Catherine Bollinger. Not long after their marriage, Parker and Mellie moved to the farm of one her relatives, Albert D. “Dell” Bollinger in Advance, Missouri.
Parker Zimmerman on the left and Lonnie on the right in Fornfelt, Missouri in the 1910s
Over the next several years, Mellie gave birth to Lonnie in August 1903, William Rueben on August 1905, twins Ollie and Dollie in April 1907 and Ida May in January 1909. Ida May died ten months later on October 14, 1909.
Iday May’s Simple Headstone in Collins Cemetery, Dongola, Bollinger County, Missouri (November 5, 2022)
Only two months after burying Ida May, Mellie and her mother, Catherine, were washing clothes in tubs on December 15, 1909. The tubs sat over open flames to heat them. Tragically, Mellie moved too near the open flame. The flame caught her skirt on fire and quickly spread over her entire dress.
Her mother Catherine beat out the flames which severely burned Catherine’s hands and arms. The flame severely burned Mellie over her body. Mellie suffered for ten days before dying from the burns on Christmas Day 1909.
Photo of Mellie Zimmerman’s Headstone from the Author’s Collection – November 5, 2022
Parker erected a large monument for Mellie in Collins Cemetery in Dongola, Bollinger Cemetery. Engraved on the bottom of the stone is the following epitaph. “Mother thou hast flown from us to the regions far above. We to thee erect this stone consecrated by our love.”
Parker’s Inscription to Mellie on her Headstone in Collins Cemetery (November 5, 2022)
Parker also added Ida May’s information on the right side of Mellie’s memorial stone to supplement the simple headstone they installed after her death. Ida May’s grave lies between her mother’s grave and her grandparent’s grave. Sarah’s and Samuel’s are located to the right of Ida May.
I knew a local newspaper wrote about the tragic accident, but I always looked in the Bollinger County newspapers. After I realized Advance is in the northern section of Stoddard County, I checked the Stoddard County newspapers and found the article in the Bloomfield Vindicator.
Ida May’s Information on Mellie’s Headstone (November 5, 2022)
During the ten days Mellie lived after her accident, she asked her best friend, Margaret Lydia “Dollie” Story, a local schoolteacher to help Parker with the four surviving children. “Dollie” helped Parker after Mellie’s death. Parker married Dollie in 1910.
Dollie was my great grandmother. Parker and Dollie had seven more children. Parker continued living on Dell Bollinger’s farm for several more years before moving to Scott County to be closer to his brother William.
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Sources: Bloomfield Vindicator (Bloomfield, Missouri), December 31, 1909, p. 8
