Individual Details

Death

Believed to have been mentally deranged following weeks of despondent brooding, and in ill health, Mrs. Carrie Furr West, 825 Oak avenue, ended her yesterday afternoon at her home with a bullet through her brain. She uttered no word of explanation before pulling the trigger of the revolver. Death came almost instantly. "I fear you have become ill attending me, Cora," were the last words anyone ever heard Mrs. West say. They were addressed to Miss Cora Flannagin, who, with Dr. L. Sheddan, was in the home at the time Mrs. West took her life. Dr. Sheddan had been called in by Mrs. West to attend her friend, Miss Flannagin. The doctor had scarcely completed his examination of Miss Flannagin and left the room when the pistol shot rang out. He rushed back to find Mrs. West already a corpse. The bullet entered the right temple. The weapon, a .32 calibre (sic) revolver, was found beside the body. Mrs. West was about 33 years old. She was the wife of Lee F. West, employed by an automobile company. Neighbors described Mrs. West as a cultured and educated woman of many attainments. Dr. Sheddan said Mrs. West was undaubtedly (sic) mentally (sic), deranged. He told of her calling at his office only last Monday, at which time she told him she had found herself recently with a pistol in her hand. The doctor said he had attempted to soothe the woman's nerves. About 1:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon Mrs. West summoned Dr. Sheddan by phone to her home to administer to Miss Flannagin. Dr. Sheddan said the two women were very intimate. When be (sic) visited the home, Dr. Sheddan said he found Mrs. West very nervous and that she had told him she had not eaten in two or three days. Just before Dr. Sheddan completed his examination of Miss Flannagin, Mrs. West remarked that she feared her friend had become ill attending her. The physician had scarcely passed out of the door before a shot was heard from the front bedroom. Dr. Sheddan rushed back to find Mrs. West lying on the floor. The physician says death came instantly. With the report of the pistol neighbors rushed to the house and in a few minutes quite a throng had gathered. Through all the hubbub and excitement little Frank West, adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. West, sat quietly on the front steps trying to solve the reason for the mysterious bustle that had so suddenly surrounded his home. Not until the undertaker, with his lifeless burden, had come out of the house and loaded the corpse into the ambulance did little Frank seem to sense that a tragedy had been enacted. He sobbed softly, almost unnoticed on the steps. Finally a kind neighbor took the child by the hand and guided him inside. The body was removed to the Roberts Undertaking parlors, where last night it was prepared for burial. Announcement of funeral arrangements will not be made until after out-of-town relatives here. Mrs. West is survived by three brothers, Adam and Pearl Furr, of Raleigh, N. C.; and Ransom Furr, of Jacksonville, Fla., in addition to her husband and the adopted son.
The Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee, December 1, 1921