Obituaries (November 30)

Albert Davis

Utica Saturday Globe, September 1911

 

 

Albert Davis

1824 - 1911

Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]:  At his residence on Guernsey street Wednesday of last week Albert Davis passed away suddenly, having been in his usual health until the day of his death and was seen upon the streets the day before.  His age was 87.  Mr. Davis was born in the town of Norwich January 25, 1824.  On May 26, 1863, he married Martha Gibbs at Sherburne.  Much of their earlier married life was spent upon a farm in the town of Guilford  until about 30 years ago they came to Norwich to reside.  When a young man Mr. Davis espoused the cause of Prohibition and was always loyal in his allegiance to his party.  Besides his wife, who is critically ill, he is survived by two daughters, Mrs. William G. Mandeville, of Lowville and Mrs. Jesse Race, of Norwich.  One brother also survives, Edson Davis, of Holmesville, out of a family of six children--three sons and three daughters--born to Arthur and Sabra Davis.  Funeral services were held from the residence on Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Rev. Paul R .Allen officiating.  The bearers were Frank Davis, Arvine Davis, Zena Jackson and Nelson McNitt.  Interment was made in Mount Hope Cemetery [Norwich, NY]

 

Floyd Wells Barrett

1891 - 1930

Edmeston [Otsego Co., NY]:  Mr. and Mrs. Dan W. Barrett have received word of the death of their son, Floyd Barrett, which occurred as a result of an accident while he was at work on a construction job in Arizona.  Only meager details are available but according to a telegram received here the accident proved fatal and the body is en route to Edmeston where burial will take place.  Floyd was an Edmeston high school boy.  He enlisted at the beginning of the late World war and at the close of same did not return to Edmeston.  He has lived in various parts of the west during the past few years.

 

Winslow Daily Mail, March 14, 1930

Injury Proves Fatal to Rail Employe Here

Bridge Workman at A-215 Struck by Timber

Floyd Barrett of Long Beach, California, is dead and V. Smith of Los Angeles is confined to a local hospital suffering from a fractured hand and severe bruises following an accident which occurred yesterday at Santa Fe Bridge A-215 near Navajo, about fifty miles east of Winslow [Arizona].  The men were injured while working on an abutment of the bridge under construction, and were in the employ of the Miller Construction Company.  Smith was hurled a distance of twenty-five feet when a heavy bridge timber fell from the bridge striking Barrett who was working below.  Both injured men were brought to Winslow on train No. 7 last evening and when examination was made by a local physician, it was found Barrett suffered a fractured skull and several broken ribs and that Smith had a fractured hand.  Barrett died a few hours after being placed in the hospital here.  His body is being held here pending the receipt of word from his wife, who lives in Long Beach.  It is believed that he will be taken to that city for burial, although no definite arrangements have yet been made.

 

[Compiler note:  b. Oct. 14, 1891 - d. Mar. 13, 1930, buried Union Cemetery, Edmeston, NY]

 

Franklyn Robert Beardsley

1882 - 1937

F. Robert Beardsley, well-known local milk dealer, died at midnight Saturday at his home on the Norwich-Oxford [Chenango Co., NY] road following an extended illness.  Deceased, who was born in Binghamton, was 55 years of age.  he is survived by his wife, Blanche; a daughter, Mrs. Clifford Doing of South Plymouth; three sons, James, Robert and Richard Beardsley; his mother, Mrs. Ella Beardsley of Sidney; a brother, Benjamin Beardsley of Norwich and a niece, Mrs. William Meehan of Sidney.  Mr. Beardsley was a member of the First Baptist church. The funeral will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Breese Funeral Home. Rev. J.K. Romeyn, pastor of the First Baptist church, will officiate.  Burial will be made in Mt. Hope cemetery [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY]. 

 

Raymond Justice Beardsley
Youth Loses Life in Auto Accident
Raymond J. Beardsley, 19, and Companions Killed at Crossing Near Canton

 

Raymond Justice Beardsley
1910 - 1929
 

A touch of sadness prevailed throughout the Thanksgiving season in New Berlin [Chenango Co., NY], caused by the sudden and shocking death of one of our highly respected young men, Raymond J. Beardsley, son of Mr. and Mrs. M.H. Beardsley.  The news of his death first came through an associated press dispatch about 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, Nov. 27th, and was later verified by news direct to the grief stricken family.  The account of the accident from a nearby publication was as follows:

 

Canton [St. Lawrence Co.,  NY], Nov. 27--Home bound for Thanksgiving vacation, three St. Lawrence university students and another man were killed at the Gouverneur road grade crossing near here this morning at 9:15. The car in which they were riding was struck by a New York Central passenger train, northbound. The dead:  Nelson P. Lobdell, Victor, N.Y.; Raymond J. Beardsley, New Berlin, N.Y.; W.B. Anderson, Bridgeport, Conn.; Amos Goodbout, Canton.  Identification of the first three bodies, those of the students, was made by college classmates and members of the faculty of St. Lawrence university, Richard Ellsworth, secretary of the university and Dean Hulett assisted in the identification.

 

The students were bound for downstate for the Thanksgiving holidays, hoping to catch rides by passing motorists.  Raymond Beardsley intended to visit Nelson Lobdell at his home in Victor and later to come to New Berlin.  The boys, apparently, obtained a ride from Amos Goodbout, Canton amateur boxer and mechanic at Aikens Garage, DeKalb.  Goodbout was on his way to the garage at the time of the accident.  The railroad crossing is just out of Canton and the boys had ridden less than a quarter of a mile where the highway and railroad cross diagonally.

Although complete details of how the accident happened will never be known, eye-witnesses say that Goodbout, who was driving a Chevrolet touring car, tried to stop when he saw the train coming but was too close to the crossing and the car skidded onto the tracks directly in front of the train.  Before the occupants could escape the locomotive crashed into the machine and tossed it into the ditch.  Two of the bodies were carried around 50 feet on the locomotive before it came to a sudden halt.

Sheriff Herbert Shaver was notified of the accident and went to the scene immediately. State troopers also took part in the investigation and District Attorney Ingram and Coroner Cleland went to the scene Wednesday afternoon.  The coroner gave permission for the removal of the bodies to an undertaking establishment.

Nicholas Butler, Watertown, engineman on the locomotive, told friends that he did not see the car until he was about 30 feet from the crossing.  The car, Butler is quoted as reporting, seemed to skid directly in the path of the train as though the brakes might have been set to avoid the collision.

On notification here of the accident, Mr. Beardsley and son Robert and W.H. Davis, in the latter's car, left for Canton.  Oliver Bros., local undertakers, took charge of the body and brought it to the home here on Thursday morning.  Funeral services, which were largely attended, were held at the Baptist church on Saturday afternoon, following a short prayer service at the home.  The services were in charge of Rev. B .H. Eddy.  Songs, "Ivory Palaces," "My Jesus, I Love Three," and "Nearer My God to Thee," were rendered at the church service by Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Talbot, Mrs. B.H. Eddy and A. Perry Bishop.  Burial was made in St. Andrew's cemetery [New Berlin, NY]. 

Raymond  Justice Beardsley was born on March 1, 1910, in new Berlin, a son of Leila Justice and Mathew Hall Beardsley.  He attended the New Berlin high school, from which he graduated in the class of 1927.  He entered Colgate university a year later and this fall continued his college work as a sophomore at St. Lawrence university at Canton.  he was a member of the Phi-Pi-Phi fraternity and was interested in several musical organizations of the university.  Besides the parents, Raymond is survived by a sister, Marion, and a younger brother, Robert.

Nelson P. Lobdell was a junior at St. Lawrence and a member of Raymond's fraternity.  He was the son of Rev. Nelson L. Lobdell, one time missionary to Japan and a St. Lawrence alumnus.  W.B. Anderson was a member of the St. Lawrence football squad and was pledged to Beta Theta Pi fraternity.  His home was in Bridgeport, Conn.  Amos Goodbout was well known throughout northern New York as an amateur boxer.  he is survived by a wife and one child.