The Gleaner, Henderson, Ky., Frank Boyett column

Aug. 23--HENDERSON, Ky. -- William Hickman Weaver fell out of a car Aug. 25, 1915, and died of a cerebral hemorrhage six hours later, becoming the first drop in a flood of local auto fatalities over the next century.

Also, the first comprehensive list of automobile owners in Henderson County appeared 100 years ago -- and its publication caused some unintended consequences.

As near as I can determine, Weaver was Henderson County's first fatality whose injuries in an accident directly caused his death.

Ollie Wilson, 23, of Owensboro had died a few months earlier after being in a rollover May 13, 1915, near Zion. But her broken ankle didn't directly kill her; a secondary infection of tetanus did her in nearly two weeks after the accident.

When Weaver, 42, climbed to his feet after the wreck on the road to Spottsville, he didn't at first appear to have suffered any serious injury. But life is fragile.

He and his wife had been out riding after supper with Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Dade. When Dade attempted to turn the car around to head home, he miscalculated how much room he had, according to the Henderson Journal of Aug. 26, 1915.

"The road was narrow and the machine skidded into a ditch, throwing the four occupants out. It was not thought, at first, that anyone in the party was hurt, but after arriving home Mr. Weaver complained of feeling bad, and a physician was summoned.

"It was soon learned that a blood vessel in the head had burst and the patient gradually grew worse until death relieved his suffering a few hours later," about 3 a.m. the next morning.

Weaver was a deacon at First Baptist Church and was one of the prime movers in the founding of the local YMCA. He grew up in the Weaverton neighborhood. "He has been, for a number of years, one of the most prominent insurance men in this end of the state."

In recent years, Henderson County's annual death count from vehicle accidents has been less than five. It hit its all-time high in 1952 with 27 traffic deaths. It also spiked at 15 in 1997, 18 in 1977 and 21 in 1979.

There was also a 1915 story in the Journal Aug. 27 about a wreck involving a motorcycle. Although that's the first bike spill I've seen press coverage about, I'm sure that wasn't the county's first motorcycle wreck. Most bikers tend to just pick themselves up and dust themselves off if they can.

That's exactly what Arthur Raymond did. He had borrowed Urey Echols' machine and was using it to run out to the Peoples Coal Mine to pick up a roll of cash he had left on his desk. While crossing the beltline railroad tracks "the motor wheel scared at something at the side of the street" and Raymond was thrown off.

He was unhurt, but the motorcycle "was almost completely demolished."

Henderson County at that time had at least 137 automobiles, according to a Journal story Sept. 7, 1915, which listed every owner by name. A.T. Kockritz, one of the 137, had put the list together, and even collated the owners by the community they lived in. Kockritz noted, however, that "there may still be omissions" in his list, although he had made every effort to ensure it was complete.

Henderson had 102 automobile owners, Corydon had 20, Smith Mills had 10 and Robards had 5.

Kockritz had been hoping to set a record for the number of participants in an automobile parade. Henderson had been holding such parades for nearly a decade. The impetus for the parade was the Henderson County Fair, and at the end of the parade the governor, Henderson's congressman and the mayor of Evansville were scheduled to speak.

Publicizing that list of automobile owners caused trouble for many of them at the end of September when the grand jury completed its term. Of the 83 indictments returned -- one of the largest batches in years -- about 50 involved owners or operators of motor vehicles.

"They charge some with operating automobiles and motorcycles without a license, and with employing chauffeurs without a license. In some cases, the indictments were against the chauffeurs for operating machines without a license."

75 years ago

The Piper Cub Verbal Collins had been flying four months earlier was involved in another aviation accident on the Ohio River, The Gleaner reported Aug. 27, 1940

Collins, as I wrote back on April 19, became Henderson County's first aviation fatality when he tried to swim to shore after successfully landing his float plane in the river. High wind flipped the plane and he drowned.

James Wedeking rented it and was learning to fly near Henderson Island when the motor sputtered and he pancaked into the water.

The pontoon struts collapsed, one wing was ruined and a hole was torn in the fuselage.

Both Wedeking and the plane were rescued by J.L. Greenwell with a motorboat.

50 years ago

The last of four prisoners who escaped from the Henderson County Jail Aug. 18, 1965, surrendered to authorities a week later, according to The Gleaner of Aug. 26.

Vernon Parrish, 23, called Jailer Cleo Gish and asked the jailer to come get him. "Gish said he told Parrish that he was busy and for him to come on in and present himself at the jail."

Two of the men were recaptured the same day they escaped. A third had five days of freedom before he was caught at the hospital, where he had gone with cuts on his hands.

25 years ago

Paul Belanger, who had spent the previous 15 years as head of Firestone Steel Products and Alcan Aluminum's Sebree smelter, said in his Aug. 26, 1990, exit interview with Chuck Stinnett that Henderson faced both promises and challenges.

"Henderson needs a vision; in this case, a strategy," he said, a long-range one that people can behind. A lot of businesses had probably looked at Henderson, he said, but had been turned off by bickering at Henderson Fiscal Court or at Henderson City Commission.

Gleaner staff writer Frank Boyett is on Twitter at @BoyettFrank and can also be reached at [email protected] or 270-831-8342.

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