Olive Plaskett Dies During Pregnancy
Olive Sands married at fifteen, dark-eyed and sun-browned from the coast — and died carrying her child.
Olive Sands (born October 23, 1898) married Lawson Plaskett when she was only fifteen. She had a beautiful dark complexion from being out in the coastal sunlight so much, with dark brown eyes that reflected her youthful glint.
Lawson and Olive lived in Jolon and had some eight children. When Olive was pregnant with the ninth child, some difficulties arose with her health. The doctor told her to rest in bed until the end of the pregnancy.
But when some horses escaped from the corral, Olive ran out to stop them. This seemed to worsen her condition and she died along with the baby she was carrying.
Her sister Mabel carried this grief into verse. Read her elegies for Olive: “Shadows — To My Sister, Olive” and “To the Ladies of St. Luke’s Guild, in Memory of Olive”.