GUILFORD. Serious Accident. About two weeks since the family of Mr. Poncher, son-in-law of Mr. Root, of Guilford, set out to move to Caney, with two teams, one of horse and the other of oxen. They had reached a point on their journey about fifteen miles south of Elk City, when the horse wagon, containing the family of Mr. Poncher, consisting of his wife and child, and mother-in-law, was struck by lightning. There was a breaking plow in the wagon which seems to have been first struck. The shaft then passed forward through the wagon, running along the shaft and instantly killing one of the horses. The family were all prostrated and so severely stunned as to be insensible for a considerable time, and until they could be conveyed to the nearest house, where they were kindly cared for and restored. Mr. P. was a few rods in the rear driving the ox team, and though badly shocked, was not otherwise injured. The loss of the valuable horse falls heavily upon Mr. Root, who was the owner. – The Guilford Citizen
The Leavenworth Weekly Times, Leavenworth KS. July 14, 1870. Page 1. (c) Transcribed by Darren McMannis for the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies, Inc.
