The body of Charles Svenson of this place was found in the doorway of his jewelry repair shop shortly after 4 o’clock Sunday morning by Frank Hadley and Oscar Claycomb, who were returning home from a dance and saw the body lying in the doorway as they were passing by. Svenson had evidently been dead for some time as the body was cold when found. It was devoid of all clothing save an undershirt.

Svenson came here about three years ago from Fremont and opened up his little jewelry repair shop, living alone in the back part of the building until the last year, since which time Gus Young, a blacksmith in the employ of W. G. Pfeiffer has been sharing his quarters.

The men dwelt here amid the most disgusting filth, leading an existence under the most revolting conditions, and the evidence of this was plain to those who entered the place Sunday morning, Dr. Davies and Mayor Echtenkamp having been summoned as soon as the body was found.

Dr. Davies had advised Svenson several weeks ago that he was suffering from heart disease and recommended that he go to the county poor farm where he could be taken care of under sanitary conditions, but the doctor’s advice was ignored.

When the body was found, the feet an legs were projecting through the doorway, and it is evident that he sought fresh air and then fell backward into the doorway, the attitude of the body indicating that death had been instantaneous. He was about 50 years of age, unmarried and without immediate relatives so far as is known here. Unless the body is claimed by someone, it will probably be buried in the potters’ field.

#2-June 24, 1909- Arlington Review Herald

Note-Name from burial records have his name recorded as Carl Svenson.

He is Found Lifeless Early Sunday Morning Lying in Doorway of His Shop

On last Sunday morning at about 4 o’clock, Frank Hadley and Oscar Claycomb were returning home from a country dance and as they were passing Carl Svenssen’s jewelry repair shop one of them noticed what they at first supposed to be a man under the influence of liquor, lying in the doorway, divested of nearly all clothing. On investigating they found it to be the dead body of Svenssen, and Dr. Davies and Mayor Echtenkamp were notified and soon reached the scene. Svenssen had been suffering from heart trouble and it is probable that he came to the door for air and then fell backward in the doorway, dying almost instantly. He had been advised some time ago by Dr. Davies to go to the poor farm where he could receive proper care and treatment but he evidently did not realize the necessity for doing so; at least he did not take the doctor’s advice.

Svenssen came here three years ago from Fremont and located in the building where he has been ever since and in some way managed to live from the scant trade which came to him in the jewelry repairing line. Little is known of the man’s former history. So far as is known he was unmarried and seemed to have no relatives near, though it is said that he had a brother and cousin in Fremont and that they were here on Monday when Svenssen was buried. The intention at first was to bury him in the Potter’s field but friends took the matter up and succeeded in getting others to contribute for the purchase of a lot in the cemetery, as well as to defray funeral expenses and on this lot he was buried Monday afternoon.

#3-June 24, 1909- Arlington Review Herald

Svenssen’s death brought to the attention of many a condition that had been thought to exist by all who had ever had occasion to enter the door of his shop and who had managed to endure for a few moments evidence of the filthy condition of the interior of the building occupied by Svenssen, his only companion being Gus Young, a blacksmith, who, while Svenssen was lying dead in the doorway, was peacefully sleeping in the wretched room in the rear of the building.

That the owner of the building and the town authorities permitted such a menace to the public health to exist unmolested is a matter of much comment and the more so when the habits of the occupants of the building and the conditions existing therein, were pretty well known. There are many communities where such conditions would not be tolerated and where the board of health would either compel people who endeavored to conduct a place of business to do so decently or move out.

We have spoken a little plain in connection with this case, not with the intention of wishing to speak disrespectful of a man who has gone hence, but in hopes that nothing of the kind will ever be permitted to exist here again. Svenssen was his own worst enemy, he never having been known to molest anyone, and no doubt had he not been the victim of his own excesses, he would have been a good citizen and a prosperous business man. As low as he was in the scale of human existence, he was greatly to be preferred to that Fremont brother who flatly refused by his silence to give Carl a respectful burial, or consideration for was “he not after all my brother.” Blood ought to be thicker than pride, and Carl was only one of countless hundreds who have played a losing part in life’s great drama, and where earthly pilgrimage has been such that there was no one who knew him but pitied his condition and deplored his excesses. In spite of his mode of living and general condition, he had many good traits of character that should be remembered and all else forgotten.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

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