One of the first tragic deaths of the Farnam community was the death of a young man, George Dunton, who was killed by lightning on what is now the Babcock place west of Farnam.

The young man’s father, Col. Dunton, himself and Harry Hall, had started to build a sod house on the division line between their two places and the young man and his father worked on the house while Mr. Hall went to Lexington after lumber for the house.

In the evening a severe electrical storm came up, and the young man took refuge from the rain in a tent where they slept while they were building the house. His father had stayed at the soddy which gave protection from the storm.

George was standing at the front of the tent near the tent pole, when a bolt of lightning struck the tent, passing through his body, and killing him instantly.

His father was stunned and shocked by the lightning and his son’s death so that when Mr. Hall returned he was unable to answer his call, as it had become dark and he needed a light. He went to the tent to see what was the matter and discovered that the boy was dead and the father had taken some of the boards, which were to be used as a house and made a rough casket and had prepared the body to be taken to Lexington for burial.

The men took the corpse to the B. M. Taylor home, where neighbors joined the sad group to take the body to Plum Creek, now Lexington, where just as the sun was setting the body was laid to rest.

From The Farnam Echo, 1936, 50th Anniversary Edition