Tennessen, Patricia

Other Events:

• Obituary: 14 Sep 1944; Milwaukee Journal

Notes:

Obituary:
FOUR CHILDREN DIE OF SMOKE, Kerosene stove blows up in Sherwood farmhouse as parents milk
Journal special correspondence, Appleton, Wisconsin-Four small children perished Thursday as their parents tried vainly to rescue them from a smoke-filled farmhouse at Sherwood, 14 miles east of here in Calumet County. The children were those of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Tennyson. Coroner John Knauf of Calumet County said they were asphyxiated after a kerosene stove exploded and sent clouds of smoke through the two-story frame structure, all the windows of which were closed. Damage to the house was limited chiefly to that caused by heat and smoke. According to Knauf, the parents were milking in their barn when Mrs. Tennyson noticed smoke coming from the direction of the house. Hurrying to the house, the father and mother saw flames through the windows of the first floor and shafts of smoke emanating from the door jams and window casings. Unable to get through the doors, they got ladders with which they reached the second floor where the children were sleeping. Climbing through a window Tennyson, removed the oldest child, Joseph, five, but was prevented by smoke from reaching the others. Volunteer firemen, summoned from Sherwood brought out the others - Patsy, 3; Francis, 2, and Phyllis, 5 months. All were dead when removed from the house, the coroner said.
Milwaukee Journal September 14, 1944

Kaukauna Times 9/15/1944
An exploding old stove resulted in the deaths of four small children in Forest Junction. Thursday morning. The three daughters and son are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Tennessen. According to a report the mother had lit the stove at 7 am to heat water then went to the barn to help with milking. She returned about twenty minutes later to find the house filled with smoke. She could not enter the house to call the fire department due to smoke. She drove to town to turn in the alarm. The firemen arrived with masks and entered the house finding three of the children in bed and one child on the stairs. Josephine, age 5; Patricia, 3; Frances 1½; and Phyllis, 5 months.