A Tragic End for a Colfax Pioneer
A respected leader in Colfax social and church circles takes her own life during a period of mental decline.
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.
Colfax, Oct. 13.—Mrs. James Woodley, wife of one of the oldest settlers and most highly respected citizens of Colfax, committed suicide by cutting her throat Saturday evening. It is thought she was temporarily insane. She had been ill for some time, and her mind had been unbalanced. She was under the care of a nurse, who had left the room for a short time, and when she returned, found Mrs. Woodley with her throat cut and gasping for breath. She died in a few minutes without regaining consciousness. Mrs. Woodley was 63 years old and leaves a husband in Colfax and a daughter, Mrs. Walter Dodd, whose husband is a son of Charles H. Dodd of Portland, living in New York. She was an estimable woman and a leader in church and social circles. Her tragic death was a shock to this community.
“She was an estimable woman and a leader in church and social circles. Her tragic death was a shock to this community.”
Historical reporting on mental health crises often defaulted to the term 'insane,' reflecting the limited vocabulary and stigma of the era. Today, the loss of a prominent community member to mental illness remains a profound tragedy, though we now treat such events with a focus on systemic support and nuanced awareness rather than clinical dismissal.
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