The Lonely Death of John Mannette
A pioneer’s remains discovered in a clearing near the Puyallup River, leaving behind only questions about a solitary life.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Among those buried at the Puyallup valley cemetery, one death remains a mystery. John Mannette, a veteran of the late rebellion, met a tragic end late last summer near his cabin across the Puyallup River. All that is positively known is that some charred, decayed remains were found by a neighbor boy in a clearing where Mannette had been burning brush. He was identified by friends, but the exact cause of his death remains purely supposititious. As he lived alone with no near neighbors, investigators believe he was either overcome by smoke or struck by a falling limb. Mannette, 49, had served in Company D of the Fourth Vermont infantry.
“Just how he came to his death is all supposititious, as he lived alone and had no near neighbors.”
The isolation of pioneer life often meant that tragedies went unwitnessed and unexplained. Today, the rapid development of the Puyallup Valley has turned those vast, lonely clearings into suburban neighborhoods, changing the landscape of how we live and die in the region.
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