An aunt I never knew – she would have been my dad’s sister – died in an accident on my grandparents’ farm in the summer of 1915. Her obituary, below, appeared in the Chaska Valley Herald. The text was transcribed by one of my cousins, Claude Sinnen, for use in “The Sinnen Chronicle,” a family history he published in 1997.

Dorothy Welter

	Here’s the Welter farmhouse in Chanhassen in the mid-1990s, when it was used as a construction office for the surrounding development. It has since been torn down to make way for more houses.

The community of Chanhassen was shocked and deeply grieved on Wednesday morning of last week to learn of the tragic death of little Dorothy Welter, the ten month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Welter, who reside on the old Mike Welter farm in Chanhassen township. The demise of the little girl, the baby of the family, occurred in the early forenoon, while Mrs. Welter was absent from the house for but a moment.

The little tot was playing on the kitchen floor, as usual, and it seems had dropped one of her tiny shoes in a pail half full of water, which had been left standing on the floor. The little girl undoubtedly made an effort to get her shoe out and in so doing lost her balance and toppled over the edge of the pail, her head being submerged by the water. When Mrs. Welter reached the house and found her little daughter in the sad plight, she became panic stricken but picked the little girl up at once and resorted to every possible means to produce a flicker of life. Medical aid was summoned at once, but when the physician arrived it was found that the little life had flickered away and that there was no hope.

Dorothy Welter was born in this township November 20, 1914, and was a bright and interesting little girl for her age, and the pride of fond parents. She is survived by her parents and one sister, who are grief-stricken and heart-broken over her demise. The entire community joins with us in tendering them our sincere and heartfelt sympathy in their great bereavement. It is an awful bereavement for them, one that seems too great to bear, but it was God’s will, and He does all things for the best. The funeral took place from St. Hubert’s Catholic Church in this village last Friday afternoon, and the Rev. Father Alexander officiating at the requiem mass. Interment was in the Catholic cemetery.

A postcard of Chanhassen from about 1910 shows “Pauly’s Store in the foreground,” according the caption in the Minnesota Historical Society’s photo database. That appears to be St. Hubert’s Catholic Church in the background. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

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