1879 Diptheria and The Palmertons

In 1879, Frank Palmerton suddenly passed away from diptheria. The above article was published in The Fowlerville Review, showing how this disease would sweep through a family, laying nearly everyone in a household very low.

Fortunately, L.S. Palmerton recovered and lived until 1921, passing away at the age of 77. His headstone can be found in the Greenwood cemetery.

An early picture of L.S. Palmerton can be found in my book, The Fowlerville Chronicles, on page 134. In that particular photograph, positioned in front of the L.S. Palmerton Lunch Room, the names written on the back side (by Nellie Glenn) indicated L.S. was the second one from the left, with a crutch. I am wondering if that crutch became part of his everyday use around 1896 due to a couple of short articles I found in The Fowlerville Review:

L.S. Palmerton, who has been confined to his house by an injured hip for the past six weeks, was able to be on the street, with the aid of crutches, on Wednesday.

And, L.S. Palmerton has rented the brick store, of which he was formerly the owner, and has opened a grocery and lunch counter. It is a well known fact that he is totally disabled for any manual labor and we bespeak for him a share of the public patronage.