Ethel M. Kent

Ethel M. Kent, 1884-1901
Twice Unlucky
 
Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 18, Lot 3, Grave 2

(Grave marker photo courtesy of
​Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, Inc.)

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Ethel M. Kent was born August 1884 in Socorro County, New Mexico. Her parents were Alexander John Kent and Abigail Dudley. She had two older sisters and a brother. Alexander Kent was a quartz miner, and the family moved to Phoenix sometime after Ethel’s birth.
 
In 1900, when Ethel was sixteen years old, she was stricken with some kind of neurological disorder (possible seizures) resulting from pressure on the brain. Her doctors feared that it might be a brain tumor and decided to relieve the pressure by removing a 2-inch section of her skull, a procedure known as "trepanning." 
 
The delicate surgery was performed on July 20th by Dr. J. W. Thomas, assisted by three other physicians. For days thereafter, Ethel lay in a coma, and traffic outside her home was rerouted so that she could have absolute quiet. To everyone’s amazement, she made a full recovery and was once again able to resume normal activities, the hole in her skull covered by a silver plate.
 
Frontier towns such as Phoenix had many saloons, where men frequently overindulged in strong drink. Like many young ladies of the time, Ethel belonged to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U)., which advocated abstinence from alcohol.
 
A year later, Ethel’s health was still a cause for concern, and she was unable to tolerate the summer heat in Phoenix. For that reason, the family sought relief in July, 1901, by going on a camping trip to Mr. Kent’s mining site in Yavapai County.
 
A young man at the campsite, Bert Ohmerty, had carelessly left his loaded hunting rifle propped up against a rock. Apparently, Ethel stumbled against it and it discharged, blowing away half of her foot. The nearest medical help being in Congress, Arizona, she was bundled into a wagon for the three-hour journey. However, the incessant jolting, pain and loss of blood proved to be too much, and Ethel expired the next morning. Her body was returned to Phoenix for burial in Masons Cemetery.
 
Bert Ohmerty, the man whose gun had injured Ethel, was plagued by guilt over her death. He committed suicide just a week later.
 
©2020 by Debe Branning. Last revised 26 January 2024.

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