News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery
190th in a series
For Want of Breath and Blood
By SUE HUNTER WEIR
“For want of breath and blood.” With those words Dr. John Cockburn, the city”™s Health Officer, painted a heartbreaking picture of the death of a fragile infant born in 19th century Minneapolis. He wrote those words on the burial permit for Baby Girl Weeks who died on April 3, 1883. She was only two days old. She was not the first of her father”™s children to die. John Warren Weeks and his first wife, Martha, had lost three children. Martha died in childbirth in 1877. John”™s second wife, Elizabeth, was the mother of the unnamed baby girl who died in 1883. John Weeks died from consumption (tuberculosis) five months after his infant daughter died. He was only 39 years old and had outlived four of his children.
-John and Martha Weeks and four infants. Photo by Tim McCall
Before the late 19th and early 20th centuries, infant and childhood deaths were so common that families had no expectation that all of the children would survive to adulthood. Approximately 100 out of every 1,000 babies did not live until their first birthday.… Read the rest “Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery”
Library News
Carz Nelson
All information listed here is accurate as of August 15, 2021. For the most recent information, check out the library website at www.hclib.org.
FRANKLIN LIBRARY HOURS
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9 AM to 5 PM
Wednesday 9 AM to 5 PM
Thursday 12 Noon to 8 PM
Friday 9 AM to 5 PM
Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM
Sunday 12 Noon to -5 PM
MASKS ARE REQUIRED
Everyone must wear a mask in the library and in all county buildings. Children under five years old are exempt. People who tested positive for COVID 19 or who are experiencing symptoms should not enter the library.
LIBRARY SERVICE
Franklin Library is open for regular service; including book check out, holds pick up, and walk-in computer use. There”™s no limit on the time people can spend inside the library.
READING SUGGESTIONS
Looking for a good book to read? You could ask a librarian. At hclib.org, towards the bottom of the page, you”™ll find the link, Ask us for reading suggestions. This leads to a form you fill out about what sorts of books you like, and what sorts you don”™t like. Fill in the form, and you will get an email with reading recommendations.… Read the rest “Library News”
the alley is looking for new board members to help steer the paper and join our community!
Board Member Wanted
The alley is happy to announce that its Editorial Leadership Committee is growing and producing new and interesting articles of interest to our readers while supporting our current long time group of volunteer writers . This is due in large part to new community voices and volunteers..
We are, however, in need of new volunteers to grow the Board of Directors. The Board manages the business aspect of Alley Communications. This includes contracting for and overseeing the services we need such as bookkeeping and business management as well as ensuring our financial stability with new sources of stable income. We have made great strides the last few years but now need your help to build our Board capacity to allow us to continue to build on our work.
Like reading our long running Tales from Pioneer and Soldiers Cemetery, Raise Your Voice, The Movie Corner or the Spirit of Phillips cartoon each month? Or maybe it”™s some of our newer offerings like our Transit column, our Covid-19 coverage from a contact tracer, or the Random alley News with short news summaries or following your neighborhood organization”™s news and events. Whatever your alley jam, come join the Board and help be a part of a community driven, volunteer run paper highlighting the often overlooked voices of the Phillips neighborhood.… Read the rest “the alley is looking for new board members to help steer the paper and join our community!”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
