This Week in Colorado History: Death and Politics

A forty-year resident of Golden was tragically shot and killed in October of 1912. Mrs. Daniel Theobald was shot and instantly killed in a shotgun accident. Her son Daniel, a miner in Cripple Creek, came home to visit the family farm and hunt deer. She met him at Floyd hill with the family wagon. The younger Theobald loaded his shotgun in an attempt to hunt rabbits on the way home. According to “The Colorado Transcript,” “He placed the gun, muzzle up, between his mother and himself.” Upon arriving at the ranch, both Theobalds attempted to alight from the wagon. The loaded gun fell over and discharged. Mrs. Theobald was hit with a full charge of shot in the breast. She quickly fell into unconsciousness and died. She was a respected long-term resident of Golden, a member of the local Women of Woodcraft Circle and was survived by five daughters and four sons.

In addition to the unfortunate death of Mrs. Theobald, Donald Parshall “shot and instantly killed himself at his home Tuesday evening [October 1, 1912], using a 22-calibre rifle,” reported “The Colorado Transcript.” Parshall came home and worked on a suicide note to his mother before going into the bathroom and shooting himself in the head. He was described as “a particularly ambitious youth” who had “for many years…suffered at intervals from epilepsy which always left him in a despondent frame of mind.” The letter indicated he decided to commit suicide because he wanted to alleviate his mother’s worry about his poor health. He was survived by his mother with whom he lived, a sister, and a brother.

On a lighter note, Democrats of Golden founded a Wilson-Marshall club to support then presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson this week in 1912. At Woodman Hall, almost all of the county and district democratic candidates gave speeches. “The Colorado Transcript” felt, “this demonstrates that the democrats of Golden are up and doing.”