Extracted from The Franklin Sun (Winnsboro, LA)
Thursday, August 14, 1952

Mrs. Rhoda Zeagler, 41, Ft. Necessity, Dies of Self-Inflicted Shotgun Wound

A 41 year-old Fort Necessity loop road resident, Mrs. Rhoda Zeagler, took her own life with a .410 guage shotgun at her home Wednesday afternoon. Time of the death was set by Dr. Henry E. Jones, Franklin coroner, at approximately 2:30 o'clock.

Dr. Jones told a member of The Sun staff that Mrs. Zeagler placed the barrel of the small shotgun below the sternum ( between heart and stomach) and pulled the trigger with a broom handle. The gun rested against the bed. Upon examination, the coroner estimated the victim lived about 30 minutes, dying from the loss of blood. The small pellets missed the heart cavity.

It was said that a neighbor passing near the Zeagler home heard a commotion in the house and went to investigate. The doors of the farm home were closed and all windows were pulled down. Mrs. Zeagler was alone at the time of the fatal shooting.

Powder burns were found on her clothing and on the flesh, the coroner said.

The Wednesday afternoon tragedy was investigated by Deputy Travis Bass and Dalton (Jack) Parker.

Funeral services for Mrs. Zeagler were conducted this afternoon in the Oak Grove Baptist church with the Rev. Jack Jones, Jigger Pentecostal minister, officiating. Interment followed in the church cemetery under the direction of the Mulhearn Funeral Home.

She is survived by her husband, Oliver Zeagler, and 10 brothers, Edgar, James, Ray, Tom, Earl, Lonnie, Nolan, Odell and Huey Crum, all of Fort Necessity.

Bearing the pall were Lee Wooldridge, Vern Browning, Monroe Pippins, R. S. Bonner, Bernie Jordan and Felton Butler.