Suicide by Shotgun: Susie Pitman Rutledge

The grave marker transcriptions for Morris Cemetery, Pritchett, Upshur County, Texas on line at TXGenWeb had a curious little notation: "Rutledge, Susie Lee, unmarked (info from old records)" This was unusual because there were so many Rutledges in the cemetery with lovely gravestones. The son of one of them, Elbert Thurston, had a wife named Susie in the 1930 census. Her age in that census would make her a suitable candidate for this burial.

Off to the Texas Death Records online at FamilySearch.org. Sure enough, there's Sue Rutledge, died in Harrison County, Texas, on 6 Sep 1938, 2 days later than the notation on the cemetery site, but with a birthdate that matches it.

She was 27 years 11 months and 14 days old when she died. Well, "died" is the wrong verb. According to the death certificate the cause of death was suicide by gun shot, from a 410 gauge shotgun, in her home in New Hollisville, Harrison County, Texas. She left her husband with three small children, the youngest only 2 years old. Newspaper accounts say she left letters to various members of her family.

She was living at a tourist camp near Lubbock when she shot herself. She and her husband started out farming in Upshur County (at least that's what they were doing in the 1930 census). Later they moved from Upshur County to Gregg County, where two children were born, then on to Harrison County.  In 1940 Elbert was an inmate at a State Prison Farm in Fort Bend County, Texas. I coul

Thousands of farmers lost everything in the Great Depression. This family was one of them.