By Alan Wills

WHEN Kentmere-born Mary Newton and Firbank blacksmith Edward Taylor went to Kendal Parish Church in April, 1845, to get married they might have had second thoughts if they could have foreseen the catastrophic behaviour of one of their grandchildren.

They emigrated to Indiana, USA a few weeks later and had two daughters, Agnes and Esther Jane, before Edward died at the age of 26.

Mary cleared off to Iowa with her American second husband, leaving the girls with Edward's brothers in Indiana.

Having married Thomas Phillips in 1869, Esther Jane had ten children, including Arthur Thomas Phillips, who was born in Marshall County, Indiana, on February 4, 1878, and went on to marry Mary Henrietta 'Etta' Taylor (no relation).

Etta had a disabled sister, Marion Adelaide 'Addy' Birmingham, a school teacher.

In 1930 Arthur and Etta were living in Cashmere, Washington State. He had been despondent for some time due to unemployment and because he had accused Addy of encouraging Etta to divorce him

he had even been making threats towards Addy. He finally went off his head a t 6.30am on March 10.

Leaving his wife and child asleep in bed he walked 100 yards to the back door of Addy's house, carrying his Savage hunting rifle, and called loudly for her to come outside.

Suspecting his motive she refused, locked the back door and retreated to the bedroom where her husband was, locking the bedroom door.

Arthur shot the lock off the back door, entered the house, and fired more shots at the bedroom door which Addy was trying to barricade with her crutches. She sustained one bullet wound.

Addy's husband had got out a .33 revolver but, still recovering from a serious illness, he was unable to load it fast enough.

The bullet which struck Addy entered the costal area, tearing part of it away, and struck the right hip, cutting away a piece about the size of the palm of the hand.

Arthur went outside into the orchard and shot himself in the head, dying instantly. Witnesses said that he looked demented.

Addy made her way to the telephone and calmly called the Cashmere school to say that she would be unable to report for duty that day due to an accident which had just occurred.

She then called her doctor, who rushed to the house and took her to the Deaconess Hospital, where she died on March 31, aged 49.

Arthur's second cousins in Westmorland probably carried on their normal lives in blissful ignorance of the disaster.