A penciled notation identified Mr. Tyson’s age, 39 years.

We have not heard of a sadder death in a long time than the death of George Tyson, which occurred at the St. Bernard hospital in Council Bluffs at about 11 o’clock last Friday evening.

As was noted in these columns last week, Mr. Tyson was taken sick on Wednesday, the 25th, by a severe pain in his arm and wrist, extending to the neck and head. He thought it was rheumatism and so did Dr. Clark, of Herman, who gave him some medicine for it. He took this medicine in water every hour up to about 3 o’clock that night when it strangled him so to swallow it he could take no more. A strange fear accompanied the effort to swallow until he absolutely refused to attempt to take water in any form.

The pain was located in the wrist in which he was bitten by a mad dog almost a year before and it persisted so that he could not help but connect that instance with his condition at that time. When he asked Dr. Clark if the bite could have anything to do with it, the doctor told him he did not think so.

Sunday afternoon Dr. Allison, of Omaha, was sent for and admitted there were symptoms of rabies, or hydrophobia, but told Mr. Tyson it was only in his mind for a year was too long a period of incubation for the rabies germ. He did what he could to disabuse his mind of the thoughts of hydrophobia, but Mr. Tyson remained the same and steadily refused to eat a bite or to drink a drop of water until last Wednesday morning, just before he was taken to Omaha he took a drink with great difficulty and permitted his wife to wash his face in water. The fear of water was real and positive to him for he would fairly shake at sight of it, and this, as everyone knows is an unfailing symptom of rabies.

In Omaha Dr. Lord was consulted and he agreed with Allison that it was only pseudo-rabies, but Mr. Tyson continued to get worse and was out of his head most of the time. He made so much disturbance at the Memorial hospital that he was taken to the St. Bernard hospital in the Bluffs where death came peacefully at about 11 o’clock Friday evening, his wife and his brother Peter being present when the white horse and his rider came for the spirit of the poor sufferer. It was a sad hour, for the case had been such a strange one, puzzling even the physicians, for they could not believe death could ensue from pseudo(false)- hydrophobia.

We learn that Mr. Tyson was not treated for mad-dog bite, though he went to Omaha for that purpose and remained a week. He had planned to go to Chicago to take the Pasteur treatment but Dr. Summers said they could get the serum and treat him there just as well. He tried to get it but could not and by that time the slight wound had healed over and in consulting with Dr. Bridges, they told George that they believed he would be all right and he went home.

The body was brought up Saturday and the funeral was held at the Baptist church at 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon, Rev. G. L. Conley officiating. About seventy members of the Odd Fellows lodge attended in a body and took charge of the remains at the conclusion of the service at the church. The pallbearers were: Clark O’Hanlon, Ed Pilcher, Oscar Mathews, Ed Beard, Marvin Gollehon and Fred Anderson.

George, son of Mr. and Mrs. Watson Tyson Sr. was born Feb. 21st, 1869 and was married to Miss Abbie Sheets, Dec. 16th, 1903. Besides the grief-stricken wife he leaves a son, Ned, three years of age; the father; two brothers, Peter and Watson Jr.; and three sisters, Mrs. c. B. Hain, Mrs. I. D. Warrick and Mrs. W. F. Burdick. Mr. Tyson was an exemplary young man, being clean, industrious and frugal, and had already earned himself a farm and home, located 8 ¾ miles north of Blair. The entire community extends heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved ones in this poignant grief.

~~~Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file at the Blair Public Library.~~~