Drowns In Wills Creek
Caption under photo on page 1 with article "VICTIM OF DROWNING - The body of William E. Smith, 39, Wills Creek drowning victim, lies on the ground as funeral home attendants prepare to remove it. Coroner W.S. Larrick pronounced Smith dead after attempts to revive him failed."
Caption under photo on another page with article " WHERE DROWNING OCCURRED - Arrow points to the spot where William E. Smith, 39, Cambridge, drowned Wednesday evening tin the waters of Wills Cree, while trying to salvage a floating lawn chair. His body was recovered nearby by firemen."
The Cambridge area recorded its first drowning victim of 1954 Wednesday evening when William E. Smith, 39, 303 Wheeling Ave., drowned in Wills Creek while attempting to salvage a floating lawn chair.
Removed from the water at 5:18 o'clock after being immersed about 45 minutes, the victim was pronounced dead by Coroner William Larrick at 5:50 p.m. Police Lt. Arthur Atchison and a volunteer applied artificial respiration for over half an hour in an attempt to revive the drowned man.
Police said the tragedy occurred when Smith, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Thomas, and two friends, Russell Jones, 614 Wheeling Ave., and William Hicks, 614-A Henry Ave., decided to salvage the lawn chair which he had seen floating upstream from the viaduct.
Accompanied by his son, Smith walked several hundred feet up the creek bank, stripped off all his clothes except his pants, and entered the water. According to his son's account of the tragedy, Smith swam out to the lawn chair and then apparently was pulled underwater by a strong undertow.
The youth, seeing his father disappear under the surface rushed back to Hicks and Jones, and then hurried to a phone to summon aid. Hicks told police he went to the scene and dove into the water several times in an effort to locate his friend, but was unsuccessful.
The alarm, however, was phoned in from the Pennsylvania Railroad office, where a woman heard the Thomas youth screaming that his father was drowning. Firemen were also called and recovered the body with the use of a boat and grappling hooks. The body was discovered about 12 feet below the surface of the water.
The deceased was born Jan. 11, 1916, near Pleasant City, a son of George and the late Elizabeth Calvert Smith. On Jan. 20, 1941, he married Helen McConkey, who survives.
During World War II he served in the European theatre where he was wounded in action. He was a member of the local Disabled American Veterans.
In addition to his father and widow, he leaves five children: Thomas, 13, Penny, 11, William, 9, Jack, 7 and Judy 2; six brothers, Charles of Colorado, Edward of Cambridge, Robert, Joseph and George of Byesville, and Clarence of Wyandotte, Mich.; and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett. Two sisters, a brother and a child preceded him in death.
Funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at McCracken Funeral Home by Rev. Marshall Harper, pastor of Second Baptist Church.
The Daily Jeffersonian, Died July 7, 1954
Caption under photo on page 1 with article "VICTIM OF DROWNING - The body of William E. Smith, 39, Wills Creek drowning victim, lies on the ground as funeral home attendants prepare to remove it. Coroner W.S. Larrick pronounced Smith dead after attempts to revive him failed."
Caption under photo on another page with article " WHERE DROWNING OCCURRED - Arrow points to the spot where William E. Smith, 39, Cambridge, drowned Wednesday evening tin the waters of Wills Cree, while trying to salvage a floating lawn chair. His body was recovered nearby by firemen."
The Cambridge area recorded its first drowning victim of 1954 Wednesday evening when William E. Smith, 39, 303 Wheeling Ave., drowned in Wills Creek while attempting to salvage a floating lawn chair.
Removed from the water at 5:18 o'clock after being immersed about 45 minutes, the victim was pronounced dead by Coroner William Larrick at 5:50 p.m. Police Lt. Arthur Atchison and a volunteer applied artificial respiration for over half an hour in an attempt to revive the drowned man.
Police said the tragedy occurred when Smith, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Thomas, and two friends, Russell Jones, 614 Wheeling Ave., and William Hicks, 614-A Henry Ave., decided to salvage the lawn chair which he had seen floating upstream from the viaduct.
Accompanied by his son, Smith walked several hundred feet up the creek bank, stripped off all his clothes except his pants, and entered the water. According to his son's account of the tragedy, Smith swam out to the lawn chair and then apparently was pulled underwater by a strong undertow.
The youth, seeing his father disappear under the surface rushed back to Hicks and Jones, and then hurried to a phone to summon aid. Hicks told police he went to the scene and dove into the water several times in an effort to locate his friend, but was unsuccessful.
The alarm, however, was phoned in from the Pennsylvania Railroad office, where a woman heard the Thomas youth screaming that his father was drowning. Firemen were also called and recovered the body with the use of a boat and grappling hooks. The body was discovered about 12 feet below the surface of the water.
The deceased was born Jan. 11, 1916, near Pleasant City, a son of George and the late Elizabeth Calvert Smith. On Jan. 20, 1941, he married Helen McConkey, who survives.
During World War II he served in the European theatre where he was wounded in action. He was a member of the local Disabled American Veterans.
In addition to his father and widow, he leaves five children: Thomas, 13, Penny, 11, William, 9, Jack, 7 and Judy 2; six brothers, Charles of Colorado, Edward of Cambridge, Robert, Joseph and George of Byesville, and Clarence of Wyandotte, Mich.; and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett. Two sisters, a brother and a child preceded him in death.
Funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at McCracken Funeral Home by Rev. Marshall Harper, pastor of Second Baptist Church.
The Daily Jeffersonian, Died July 7, 1954
Drowns In Wills Creek
Caption under photo on page 1 with article "VICTIM OF DROWNING - The body of William E. Smith, 39, Wills Creek drowning victim, lies on the ground as funeral home attendants prepare to remove it. Coroner W.S. Larrick pronounced Smith dead after attempts to revive him failed."
Caption under photo on another page with article " WHERE DROWNING OCCURRED - Arrow points to the spot where William E. Smith, 39, Cambridge, drowned Wednesday evening tin the waters of Wills Cree, while trying to salvage a floating lawn chair. His body was recovered nearby by firemen."
The Cambridge area recorded its first drowning victim of 1954 Wednesday evening when William E. Smith, 39, 303 Wheeling Ave., drowned in Wills Creek while attempting to salvage a floating lawn chair.
Removed from the water at 5:18 o'clock after being immersed about 45 minutes, the victim was pronounced dead by Coroner William Larrick at 5:50 p.m. Police Lt. Arthur Atchison and a volunteer applied artificial respiration for over half an hour in an attempt to revive the drowned man.
Police said the tragedy occurred when Smith, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Thomas, and two friends, Russell Jones, 614 Wheeling Ave., and William Hicks, 614-A Henry Ave., decided to salvage the lawn chair which he had seen floating upstream from the viaduct.
Accompanied by his son, Smith walked several hundred feet up the creek bank, stripped off all his clothes except his pants, and entered the water. According to his son's account of the tragedy, Smith swam out to the lawn chair and then apparently was pulled underwater by a strong undertow.
The youth, seeing his father disappear under the surface rushed back to Hicks and Jones, and then hurried to a phone to summon aid. Hicks told police he went to the scene and dove into the water several times in an effort to locate his friend, but was unsuccessful.
The alarm, however, was phoned in from the Pennsylvania Railroad office, where a woman heard the Thomas youth screaming that his father was drowning. Firemen were also called and recovered the body with the use of a boat and grappling hooks. The body was discovered about 12 feet below the surface of the water.
The deceased was born Jan. 11, 1916, near Pleasant City, a son of George and the late Elizabeth Calvert Smith. On Jan. 20, 1941, he married Helen McConkey, who survives.
During World War II he served in the European theatre where he was wounded in action. He was a member of the local Disabled American Veterans.
In addition to his father and widow, he leaves five children: Thomas, 13, Penny, 11, William, 9, Jack, 7 and Judy 2; six brothers, Charles of Colorado, Edward of Cambridge, Robert, Joseph and George of Byesville, and Clarence of Wyandotte, Mich.; and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett. Two sisters, a brother and a child preceded him in death.
Funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at McCracken Funeral Home by Rev. Marshall Harper, pastor of Second Baptist Church.
The Daily Jeffersonian, Died July 7, 1954
Caption under photo on page 1 with article "VICTIM OF DROWNING - The body of William E. Smith, 39, Wills Creek drowning victim, lies on the ground as funeral home attendants prepare to remove it. Coroner W.S. Larrick pronounced Smith dead after attempts to revive him failed."
Caption under photo on another page with article " WHERE DROWNING OCCURRED - Arrow points to the spot where William E. Smith, 39, Cambridge, drowned Wednesday evening tin the waters of Wills Cree, while trying to salvage a floating lawn chair. His body was recovered nearby by firemen."
The Cambridge area recorded its first drowning victim of 1954 Wednesday evening when William E. Smith, 39, 303 Wheeling Ave., drowned in Wills Creek while attempting to salvage a floating lawn chair.
Removed from the water at 5:18 o'clock after being immersed about 45 minutes, the victim was pronounced dead by Coroner William Larrick at 5:50 p.m. Police Lt. Arthur Atchison and a volunteer applied artificial respiration for over half an hour in an attempt to revive the drowned man.
Police said the tragedy occurred when Smith, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Thomas, and two friends, Russell Jones, 614 Wheeling Ave., and William Hicks, 614-A Henry Ave., decided to salvage the lawn chair which he had seen floating upstream from the viaduct.
Accompanied by his son, Smith walked several hundred feet up the creek bank, stripped off all his clothes except his pants, and entered the water. According to his son's account of the tragedy, Smith swam out to the lawn chair and then apparently was pulled underwater by a strong undertow.
The youth, seeing his father disappear under the surface rushed back to Hicks and Jones, and then hurried to a phone to summon aid. Hicks told police he went to the scene and dove into the water several times in an effort to locate his friend, but was unsuccessful.
The alarm, however, was phoned in from the Pennsylvania Railroad office, where a woman heard the Thomas youth screaming that his father was drowning. Firemen were also called and recovered the body with the use of a boat and grappling hooks. The body was discovered about 12 feet below the surface of the water.
The deceased was born Jan. 11, 1916, near Pleasant City, a son of George and the late Elizabeth Calvert Smith. On Jan. 20, 1941, he married Helen McConkey, who survives.
During World War II he served in the European theatre where he was wounded in action. He was a member of the local Disabled American Veterans.
In addition to his father and widow, he leaves five children: Thomas, 13, Penny, 11, William, 9, Jack, 7 and Judy 2; six brothers, Charles of Colorado, Edward of Cambridge, Robert, Joseph and George of Byesville, and Clarence of Wyandotte, Mich.; and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett. Two sisters, a brother and a child preceded him in death.
Funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at McCracken Funeral Home by Rev. Marshall Harper, pastor of Second Baptist Church.
The Daily Jeffersonian, Died July 7, 1954
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