September 1889, Racine County, WI
Joseph Hurtzen, 9-years old
Fatal dog attack: bulldog (pit bull-type)

With a Ferocious Bulldog–He Fights While He Has Life
Racine, Wis., — Sept. 24, Yesterday afternoon a feocious bulldog, owned by a man named Kull, attacked a nine-year-old boy named Joseph Hurtzen, lacerating his throat so terribly that he will in all probability die. The boy had been playing with the brute when it turned upon him. A little girl witnessed the attack and screamed for help. B.T. Billings, a prominent citizen, and George Thomas, a photographer, heard the cries, and when they arrived at the scene the dog had the boy down with its fangs buried in his throat. They beat the beast off with bricks and stones, and it attacked Billings and grabbed him by the right arm and could not be shaken off. Billings downed the brute and choked it until it loosened its hold…
– Quincy Daily Journal, September 24, 1889 (archive.quincylibrary.org)