Black Sheep Sunday: Jailhouse Death

Create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

According to a family story, my great-granduncle, Daniel Lee Baker, died in his jail cell in Hyde Park, Vermont. It was uncertain how he died, but there was some speculation that he hung himself.

I located his death certificate on Ancestry.com, which lists his cause of death as "obstruction of air passage with food due to acute alcoholism with vomiting." So it seems that Daniel did not hang himself, but rather choked on his own vomit while he was drunk. However, it still not known if he died at the jailhouse or not. The death certificate does list his place of death as Hyde Park, Vermont, which is where the jailhouse is located, but it doesn't specify a particular building or institution, so I suppose that part of the mystery remains unsolved for now.

Daniel Lee Baker was born on 20 Oct 1919 in Belvidere, Vermont. His parents were Daniel James Baker (03 Jan 1877 - 07 Nov 1949) and Minnie Belle Childs (29 May 1894 - 28 Feb 1963). He was never married, nor did he have any children. He died on 22 Apr 1945 in Hyde Park, Vermont.