Maud E. Smith Lloyd (1888-1920)
(Mrs. Oscar M. Lloyd)

Mrs. Oscar Lloyd Drowns in Verdigris

Last Saturday this community received a shock that caused the people much sorrow, when it became known that Mrs. Oscar Lloyd, one of the most prominent and best liked women of Altoona, had committed suicide by drowning in the Verdigris River. When the husband left home Saturday morning, his wife seemed to be in good spirits, and cheerful, but when he returned home at noon, she was not there. He immediately went to the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Lloyd, and then to the home of Mrs. C.E. Hayhurst, Mrs. Lloyd's mother, but the missing woman was at neither place. Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Hayhurst then began a search. They were informed by some of the neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd that they saw her going toward the river that morning at about nine o'clock. The men then went in the direction of the river, which is due west of the Lloyd home about a mile, and they tracked the woman right to the water's edge, her heel prints being visible in the soft ground leading to the water. The community was soon aroused and the search for the body began, but it was not found until about four o'clock in the afternoon.

The scene of the suicide is in rather an out-of-the-way place. She walked a mile or more to reach it. There were nearer places, and in order to reach this particular place, it was necessary for her to climb over two or three logs and through underbrush. The body probably had been in the water six or seven hours when found.

Funeral services were held Tuesday at the M.E. church, conducted by the Rev. J.R. Creamer. Mrs. Lloyd has been in very poor health for the past two years. She suffered a severe nervous breakdown, following an attack of influenza. Mr. Lloyd took her to California in the hopes of benefiting her health, and when they returned, she seemed better, but undoubted her mind became affected and she decided to end it all. In the death of Mrs. Lloyd, Altoona loses one of its best liked and most prominent young women. She was very popular in club work, and during the war, was a ready and willing worker in all the activities, She was always pleasant, kind and generous. Her death brings deep sorrow to all who knew her and the bereaved relatives have the most profound sympathy of all.

Maud E. Smith was born in the state of Illinois, near Sherburnville, Kankakee County, September 9, 1888, and died at Altoona, Kansas, on Saturday, May 29, 1920, at the age of thirty one years, eight months and twenty days. She with her parents moved to the state of Indiana,near Lowell, where she grew to womanhood. She attended the schools of that state and later became one of the teachers, where she was much beloved by patrons and pupils of the district. She came with her parents to Wilson County, Kansas, and located in Altoona in 1910, where she again took up her work, teaching in the public school. She taught one term at the Bell school district and was four years an efficient and much loved instructor in the Altoona city school. She was united in marriage to Oscar M. Lloyd, of this city, on September 1, 1915, by the Rev. Sinclair, of Kansas City, Kansas. She was converted and joined the Christian church in 1908, and since that time, has lived a consistent Christian life, and during the seven months of her illness, when reason was tottering on its throne, she was a constant seeker after divine truth. Mrs. Maud Lloyd was a woman loved by all. She was a lover of children, though denied the privilege of motherhood, she mothered all the children in the part of the city where she lived. Several children were taken into her home and loved and cared for when parents were ill or out of town. For more that three years she has been a regular attendant at the Methodist church and has taken an active part in all its services, and during that time she has never failed in the call of duty. Meek in spirit, kind in word and deed, prayful, aye, yearning after God.

She leaves to mourn her passing from this life, her husband, in whose life she was the light, her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Hayhurst, her brother Keith and sister Dorothy, all of Altoona, and two other sisters, Mrs. W.D. Creamer and Miss Georgia Smith, of Kansas City, Missouri, and other relatives and a host of friends, who to-day weep with the sorrowing loved ones, who in spite of the tears, rejoice in the fact that they have known her and loved her, and that precious memory will cheer them over the many dark hours, through which they pass. No, thank God, the God of love, she is not lost, only gone before.

The beautiful floral offerings and the presence of friends at the service spoke only a part of their love and sympathy. Until the dead hear the voice of God in the resurrection, she will sleep in the Altoona cemetery.

The following relatives from out of town attended the funeral: Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Creamer, Miss Georgia Smith, and Miss Marjorie Lloyd of Kansas City, Missouri; Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Smith, Mrs. Ad. Clark, Mrs. Fred Hayden and Mrs. John Hayhurst, of Lowell. -- The Altoona (Kansas) Tribune.