A Tragic Loss in Ballard
A mother succumbed to illness just days after her infant died, leaving behind a family story of abandonment.
Mrs. Alice Foster, wife of James Foster, died of consumption at Ballard yesterday. Her child, which was 3 weeks old, died Sunday of inanition. This was due to the fact of its having been born when the mother was in the last stages of consumption. The woman's husband left about the first of July for the mines, and it is supposed he abandoned her, as nothing has since been heard from him. The funeral of mother and child takes place at 10 o'clock today from the Seattle Undertaking Company's rooms.
“This was due to the fact of its having been born when the mother was in the last stages of consumption.”
This tragedy highlights the stark reality of survival for women in the 1890s, where lack of social safety nets and medical care for conditions like consumption, combined with spousal abandonment, often proved fatal. It serves as a reminder of the human cost of the era’s 'boom and bust' economy.
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