McKAY

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Saturday, December 07, 2013 at 06:52:36 :

San Anselmo Herald
Saturday, October 19, 1912
page 3

Marin County Teacher Drowned

MARY AGNES McKAY, a teacher in the Clark School near Tomales, this county, was drowned in Burbank Lake, three and one half miles from Tomales, on Thursday morning.

Miss McKay was on her way to school in a two horse wagon, driven by John Mullaly, foreman on the Burbank ranch. In making a sharp turn on a steep grade, the vehicle struck against the team, the horses bolted, and at the first opportunity to leave the road they dashed down a grassy slope toward the edge of the lake. They rushed along the brim for a short distance, when two of the wagon wheels went over the brink, throwing Miss McKay into the water while the vehicle hung by two wheels and the horses stood still. Mr. Mullaly was thrown out at the curve on the hill, where the team made the break. Miss McKay was drowned within 50 yards of the house where she boarded, but there seems to have been considerable delay in an attempt to rescue her. She was never seen after the horses bolted until two hours later. She was dragged from the water with grappling hooks. The lagoon in the vicinity of the accident was 10 feet deep.

The victim of this peculiar tragedy was a handsome young woman, of fine character and widely beloved. She had been teaching in the Clark School for 5 years. Her home was in Freestone, Sonoma County, where her parents live. A brother came to Tomales on Thursday afternoon and took charge of the body. Dr. Kuser, assisted by Mr. Keaton, of Coroner Sawyer's undertaking establishment, performed an autopsy, and found that death had been caused by drowning. Mass was said at St. Phillip's and the interment will be at Sebastopol.