VIQUESNEY'S FIRST WIFE, CORA BARNES

Cora Barnes Viquesney, 1880 - 1933

When his first wife, Cora Bell Barnes, died of diphtheria on October 3, 1933, Viquesney was quarantined alone in their house for a week. Funeral services were held the next day at the Viquesney residence, with Cora's casket tilted toward a window so that callers could remain outside to view the body and pay their respects. Viquesney thought the experience was going to make him "go mad", in his words.

On a more touching note, Viquesney created a grave marker, "The Unveiling", as a memorial to Cora. Placed in 1935, it still stands over the Viquesney family burial plot in Riverside Cemetery, Spencer, Indiana.

Although Viquesney took the death of Cora hard, the death of his second wife, Betty, in 1946 unhinged him completely, leading to his subsequent suicide.