Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023
John Allen Crum was the son of Henry Wiser
Crum and wife Marguretta Anna “Maggie” Klaiber Crum. The 1900 Federal Census for
Boyd County, Kentucky says he was born August 1890. The 1900 Federal Census also shows that he
had gone to school five months out of 12 (the census was taken 20 June that
year) and certainly could read and write.
The family was living on East Fork labeled as district #2. This compiler knows by looking at surrounding
neighbors that the Crum’s were living on Garner.
John Allen Crum died before September 7, 1906. The exact day is unknown. But his obituary states he was 18 years and
24 days. In that case John Allen would have been born in September 1888. Either
the census or the newspaper could be mistaken.
John’s sibling’s birth dates were questionable in the 1900 census as
well.
Big Sandy News, 7 September 1906
page 3
John died from diabetes. The term insulin (to bring down glucose
levels) would not be utilized until 1909/10[i]. According
to a blog post at Harvard, even as late as 1933, type 1 diabetes was a death
sentence. Insulin therapy did not begin
until 1922.[ii]
Klaiber Cemetery has had many names over the
years. At the time of John Allen Crum’s
death, the cemetery was surrounded by the land owned and maintained by Henry
and Julina McCormack Sexton. Their
daughter Julina had been married to James Matthew Klaiber since April 1905 and
lived on the Long Branch of Garner as well.
Thus John Allen’s obituary says the Sexton Grave yard on Garner. It should not be confused with the Sexton
Cemetery on Pigeon Roost.
John Allen’s grave was one of the first unmarked
that the Klaiber family pointed out to me many years ago. During a severe draught the outline of the
grave can be seen beside his parents (grave marked 5a, no marker).
[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3749019/
[ii] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/people-type-1-diabetes-living-longer-201501087611#:~:text=Ninety%20years%20ago%2C%20type%201,into%20their%2050s%20and%20beyond.
