1907 - murder of Agnes Laurie

[helenmcasmith]

Not sure if anyone can help, but I am trying to track down some information about the possible murder of Agnes Laurie (from Scotland) in 1907, who was found in the Mississippi river in 1907. It was reported in newspapers late April 1907, but I am trying to find our what age she was and other details relating to her family.

[Ruskie]

I would have thought that newspapers would be a good source of information - don't they give you the answers you are looking for?

If she came from Scotland have you located her immigration?

[fastfusion]

the Mississippi river covers a few states or territories.......   does the newspaper article indicate to which state her body was found.....

>

then familysearch.org website does have a few listings pre dating 1907 so it may be an idea to take copies of those .......  ..  I did find online the following >

Agnes Laurie d 29 Apr 1907 buried Saint Peter's Cemetery, Normandy, St. Louis County, Missouri

Agnes Laurie d Apr 1907 Morgan, St Louis aged 56

and of the second entry it states on the image >   found in River...  of ScotLand    which is your lass....


the entry is on ancestry.com....


good luck with further enquiries..

 

[ShaunJ]

Both the Hull Daily Mail and Lancashire Evening Post of 29 April 1907 report receipt of a telegram from St Louis about the finding of her body. The telegram said that she was a lady of considerable independent means, formerly of Glasgow, and is said to have been a superintendent at a London school of cookery.

[Genealiza]

Death Certificate:

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/deaths.asp?BirthId=170827

[jorose]

The same report appears in a NZ newspaper:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=PBH19070619.2.34.19

At http://www.ellisisland.org a woman fitting that description arrived into NY in 1899.

At the time she was 46, occupation listed as "housekeeper", Scottish but resident in London.  Unfortunately there is little other information on her.  The papers at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ don't seem to have any info.

There is a Missouri coroner's record database but it does not cover the right period/time, I think:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/coroners/default.asp#searchDB
See also:
http://www.stlouiscityrecorder.org/deathrecords/coronermeresources.html

[ShaunJ]

That 1899 passenger manifest records that she had visited New York before, in 1884. Sure enough there is an Agnes Laurie - a tourist aged 26 - on the Devonia arrived NYC in December 1884.

[helenmcasmith]

Many thanks for all this help.  I have a World Ancestry subscription and found a few bits and pieces but I needed to know if she was around 56/57 years of age and more importantly, if she was single which the link to the death certificate confirms.  (- there were a few Agnes Lauries who were married in the shipping records).

If any of you need anything from Scottish archives, just let me know.

Regards,
Helen