Title

David (1864-1908)

Abstract

My life was cut short by an incurable disease at age 44. My name once was David. I was born January 21, 1864, in Milwaukee County Wisconsin, but most have forgotten who I was. There is no memorial of my life and what remains of my body could be on a shelf at the University of Wisconsin or under a building or a road. I died of an incurable disease that makes many feel uncomfortable. They will judge me by this word, but it does not define me. Syphilis. It ate away at my brain. I do not know how my life got this way. I was a good son to my parents John and Rosina, who owned a farm and to my three siblings, Charles, Caroline, and John Henry. Being the youngest, you might think I was spoiled, but I attended school at age 16 and was a hard worker. I never married even though I wanted to. I never thought I had enough to offer a woman to have my children. I was a lineman for the railroad, a very dangerous job. I even moved to Jacksonville, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri, for more opportunities, but it did not work out and I moved back to Wisconsin. After that, my disease progressed and I died on July 13, 1908, at the Milwaukee County Hospital. I could not afford a good doctor or a proper burial, so I was buried in the Poor Farm Cemetery. Maybe, my remaining two siblings did not have the money to give me a proper burial or they were too ashamed of me and wanted to forget me. My burial number was eventually removed and no one remembered me until my cousins Jude and Jessica found the remaining records of my life.

Note

Fictive Narrative

This item was contributed a teacher, not a student.

Date

November 2, 2025

Creator

Jessica Piemonte