John O'Donel
Birth: 6 Apr 1831 Galway, Ireland
Death: 4 Aug 1914 Prescott, Yavapai, AZ
Entered Pioneer's Home March 4, 1911 at age 80
Lived there 3 years and 5 months.
Little is known about John O'Donel. Had it not been for the unusual circumstances of his death he might not be remembered at all. An immigrant from Ireland, he remained single and had no children.
He became a U. S. Citizen in San Diego, California in 1883. He is listed in the 1900 census in Flagstaff, at that time an "Inmate" at the county hospital. By 1910, when he would have been 80, his occupation is listed as "County Charge". It is all together possible that had the Arizona Pioneers' Home not been established he would have lived out his days in far less comfortable circumstance.
Whether he walked off the porch by accident, a victim of poor vision and disorientation, or whether he was tired and sick of being old and inform and deliberately chose to end his life, there is really no way to tell. A coroner's inquest was held and a jury determined that cause of death was "fall from porch" which is legally stating the obvious. How the man came to fall from the porch, we simply don't know. Testimony was given at the inquest that he was "practically blind" and was "not rational" , so in all likelihood it was just an unfortunate accident.
Birth: 6 Apr 1831 Galway, Ireland
Death: 4 Aug 1914 Prescott, Yavapai, AZ
Entered Pioneer's Home March 4, 1911 at age 80
Lived there 3 years and 5 months.
Little is known about John O'Donel. Had it not been for the unusual circumstances of his death he might not be remembered at all. An immigrant from Ireland, he remained single and had no children.
He became a U. S. Citizen in San Diego, California in 1883. He is listed in the 1900 census in Flagstaff, at that time an "Inmate" at the county hospital. By 1910, when he would have been 80, his occupation is listed as "County Charge". It is all together possible that had the Arizona Pioneers' Home not been established he would have lived out his days in far less comfortable circumstance.
Whether he walked off the porch by accident, a victim of poor vision and disorientation, or whether he was tired and sick of being old and inform and deliberately chose to end his life, there is really no way to tell. A coroner's inquest was held and a jury determined that cause of death was "fall from porch" which is legally stating the obvious. How the man came to fall from the porch, we simply don't know. Testimony was given at the inquest that he was "practically blind" and was "not rational" , so in all likelihood it was just an unfortunate accident.
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