The News-Sentinel 1937 - Fulton County Public Library

An article taken from the July 8th issue of an Oregon newspaper received from M. W. GOSS, of
Pullman, Ore., will inform Fulton county relatives and friends of the Gosses of their son’s sudden death,
which occurred in Portland, on July 7th. The story follows:
Pullman, Ore., July 8th. -- The body of Richard GOSS, 15, drowned in Portland, Ore., yesterday, will be brought
here for burial his parents Mr. and Mrs. M. W. GOSS said today.
Richard, a Pullman carrier for the Daily News-Review, Moscow, drowned while swimming in the Grant park
municipal pool. A United Press dispatch said Richard was in the water for less than five minutes when his body was
recovered but that he failed to respond to artificial resuscitation.
An autopsy performed later on the body revealed no water in the boy’s lungs, and this led to the belief the youth
had been stricken with a heart attack.
Surviving besides the boy’s parents are three sisters and four brothers.
Mrs. GOSS, the mother of the youth, was formerly Miss Ruby BEATTIE, of Rochester, Ind.
Monday, July 19, 1937
The badly decomposed BODY OF A MALE ITINERANT was found suspended from a piece of wire
from the limb of a tree along the Tippecanoe river bank below Leiters Ford Sunday morning at 10:30
o’clock.
The discovery was made by Frank SCHMIDT owner of the farm when he went to care for his cattle
which were grazing along the banks of the river.
Coroner Dean K. STINSON, of this city, was immediately summoned and found that the suicide
victim had died from a broken neck. In his reconstruction of the tragedy, Stinson stated it was probable that
the hobo who was about 50 years of age, had secured the wire from a nearby fence, climbed the tree,
fastened one end of the wire to a limb, made a noose of the other which he placed about his neck, and then
leaped from the limb on which he was standing.
Embers from a camp fire near the river’s edge indicated that the itinerant stayed over night and had
prepared himself food prior to the ending of his life. A small knapsack and blanket were found at the site of
the tragedy.
The suicide victim was not poorly dressed and is believed not to have been tramping for a long period.
His underclothing were comparatively new and clean and the overalls and blue shirt he was wearing had
been washed recently. The investigators searched for identification marks but none was found.
An immediate burial was ordered by Coroner Stinson as the condition of the body was such that
relatives or friends could not identify him.
The clothing worn by the man will be held in an effort to aid in the identification of the victim,
however, authorities stated.
William DAVIS, aged 86, who for many years was a farmer in the Mt. Zion neighborhood died at 2
o’clock Saturday afternoon at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank ERWIN in Marion. Death was due to a
stroke of paralysis the second that he had suffered during the past year.
The deceased was born in Dover, Delaware, on September 14, 1850. His parents were Nathan and
Martha DAVIS. When a small boy his parents came to Fulton county to reside. Mr. Davis was a farmer
throughout his entire lifetime.
His wife Lula Rebecca DAVIS preceded him in death on March 9, 1928. Mr. Davis was a devout
member of the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church and served as an elder of the organization for many years.