Theodore Middleton was born a farmer’s son in Evesham in 1848. He grew up on the farm tending to the crops, but by the late 1860s he had struck out on his own, becoming a clerk in a local store. He soon established himself as a merchant, opening the Middleton & Bro. Store in the Evesboro section of town with his brother.
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| Middleton Store circled in red. Dr Woolston home circled in yellow. |
Mr Middleton and his store were well-known throughout town. He sold a variety of dry goods and food products. His store was located on the Evesboro Triangle which, much like today, was a retail hub.
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| 1876 List of Evesham Merchants. Mr Middleton listed as 'Dry Goods, Groceries, etc.' |
On March 14, 1883, he married Mary Emma Lippincott (daughter of Isaac Lippincott) of Haddonfield at the Haddonfield United Methodist Church.
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| The Camden Post 3/21/1883 |
A year later,
On Sunday June 20th, 1886, Theodore Middleton went missing. He had told his wife he was leaving his store to go out to the farm and never returned. His wife frantically gathered up a search party. He was found in the woods of Dr Elijah Woolston the next day, more than a mile from the store. Dr Woolston lived in what is now known as the John Inskeep House, the home of the Evesham Historical Society.
Mr Middleton was not in good shape. ‘His gashed body found far from home weltering in pools of blood – a desperate suicide of a farmer….with his life almost extinct.’ (1) His throat had been slashed and his wrists cut and he resisted all medical attention, stating he would just try again if they saved him. A 2 ounce vial of Laudanum (a medicine containing 10% powdered opium) was found empty nearby, along with an open penknife.
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| Camden Daily Courier, 6/22/1886 |
Motive for the suicide could not be determined. Both he and his brother were reported to have
excellent reputations as businessmen, and the purchase of the store a few years
prior had been amicable. Rumor had it,
however, that he brooded frequently that he had overpaid to purchase the store. A distant relative suggested there were
family issues behind the incident. Mr
Middleton himself, while conscious, refused to give an explanation, though at
one point mentioned that it was a result of something that had occurred 10
years prior. He continued to beg to
die. “One of the most determined
attempts at suicide that have ever occurred in this locality is at present
agitating the residents of Evesboro.” (2)
Doctor Woolston gave the patient little chance of
survival. “Theodore Middleton of
Evesboro, Burlington County, who made such a desperate attempt to commit
suicide on Sunday last, will probably die”. (3) “Physicians state that Green Tree
suicide cannot recover.” (4) “Drs
Woolston and Shroud have no hope for recovery.” (5)
At this point, newspaper stories about Mr Middleton
ceased. I was unable to confirm what
happened to him, though my assumption was that he had died. I didn’t think writing about a suicide
would be an appropriate story for a blog post, so I never completed the story.
Just recently, a friend showed me the power of Ancestry.com,
and the investigation continued.
The first thing I learned was that Mr. Middleton had not died from his suicide attempt He had lived an additional 24
years after the attempt, dying at the age of 62, which was well over
the average life expectancy for males born in the 1840s. Now I felt I could blog about it: despite some trouble early in
his life, Mr Middleton lived a long and happy life with his wife, married for 27 years until his death. He and his wife were buried side by side in Haddonfield. Mrs Middleton died in 1932.
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| Graves of Mary and Theodore Middleton, Haddonfield Baptist Cemetery, Haddonfield, NJ. |
And if you want a happy ending, you should probably stop
reading there. (And be forewarned the newspaper accounts of Mr Middleton's death are somewhat grisly.)
What I still couldn’t figure out was why he had disappeared
from the NJ Census records. The reason, which seems obvious in hindsight,
was that he moved out of state. Less
than a year after his suicide attempt, he and his wife moved to Milford, Delaware. Once I realized he moved to Delaware, it was easy to discover more about him. The Middleton's spent $4,800 to purchase land in Milford on April 5, 1887. Over time, Mr Middleton became a
large land owner and fruit grower, and was ‘one of the most respected citizens
of Milford'. He was an ‘all around
sportsman’ and a member of the Milford Rod and Gun Club, as well as the Milford Grange (a farmer's association).
Sadly, on July 5th, 1910, Mr Middleton went to tend to his chicken. He brought his shotgun with him to shoot
rats, which infested his barn and 'bothered' his chickens. While
putting the gun down, it accidentally discharged. “The contents blew off the entire side of his
head and face. He died instantly.” (6) "The entire load entered the left side of his head, blowing it entirely from his shoulders and scattering the ghastly fragments all around the room. His wife was present and was terribly shocked by the dreadful affair." (7)
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| Death Certificate - Cause of Death - "From gunshot wound by own hand accidentally discharged" |
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| Headline from Mount Carmel Item, Mt Carmel PA, 7/6/1910 |
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| Front page of The Evening Journal, Wilmington, DE - 7/5/1910 |
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| Mary Middleton's parents and brother, Haddonfield Baptist Cemetery, Haddonfield, NJ. There were several other siblings there as well. |
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| First Baptist Church of Haddonfield |
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| Dr Woolston's house - aka The John Inskeep House Photo courtesy of the Evesham Historical Society |
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| Cover of church registry and entry for Middleton marriage ceremony |
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| Mary outlived her husband by 22 years. Courier Post 9/24/1932 |
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(1) Camden Daily Courier 6/22/1886
(2) The York Daily, York, PA 6/23/1886
(3) The Philadelphia Inquirer 6/24/1886
(4) Camden Daily Courier 6/23/1886
(5) The Times, Philadelphia, PA 6/23/1886
(6) Mount Carmel Item, Mt Carmel, PA 7/6/1910
(7) The News Journal, Wilmington, DE 7/5/1910
(7) The News Journal, Wilmington, DE 7/5/1910