Obits for Month of May 1920
RILEY SMITH - ROBERT ARNOLD - CLYDE GIBSON - PERRY LAWRENCE -
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DOCUMENT WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY : TINA EASLEY
I HAVE CREATED THIS DOCUMENT WHILE RESEARCHING THE OLD NEWSPAPERS . I WILL BE ADDING MORE AS I RECORD THE OBITS FROM THE OLD NEWSPAPERS .
06/24/2008
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/
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TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1920 - THE PARAGOULD SOLIPHONE
RILEY SMITH FOUND DEAD IN HIS CHAIR
OLD RESIDENT PASSES AWAY SUDDENLY THIS MORNING APPARENTLY FROM HEART DISEASE
( FROM FRIDAY'S DAILY PRESS - MAY 7, 1920 )
A DEATH WHICH SHOCKED THE ENTIRE CITY WAS THAT OF RILEY SMITH WHO WAS FOUND DEAD SITTING IN A CHAIR IN HIS SLEEPING ROOM SHORTLY AFTER SIX O'CLOCK A.M. FROM HEART DISEASE. MR. SMITH WAS NEVER KNOWN TO SUFFER FROM THIS AND HAD NOT COMPLAINED OF BEING ILL MORE THAN A SLIGHT DISCOMFORT FROM A COLD.
MR. SMITH HAD ACCORDING TO HIS USUAL CUSTOM , ARISEN EARLY , BUILT A FIRE IN THE HOUSE AND CALLED THE HOUSE GIRL TO COOK BREAKFAST . WHEN BREAKFAST WAS ANNOUNCED MR. SMITH WAS CALLED BUT WHEN NO RESPONSE WAS GIVEN MRS. SMITH , WHO WAS NOT YET UP , WAS NOTIFIED AND WHEN SHE WENT TO HER HUSBAND FOUND HIM DEAD , SITTING IN A COMFORTABLE POSITION WITH HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY FALLEN TO ONE SIDE.
APPARENTLY DEATH CAME WITHOUT A STRUGGLE. HIS CHAIR WAS IN THE ROOM NOT FAR FROM HIS WIFE'S BED AND HE HAD NOT CALLED TO HER.
MR. SMITH WAS ONE OF THE OLDEST SETTLERS OF THIS CITY, HAVING COME HERE 36 YEARS AGO. HE HAS HAD AN ACTIVE PART IN BUILDING THE CITY AND HAS BEEN ONE OF ITS SUBSTANTIAL CITIZENS. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE EAST SIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE TOWN WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS AND SUBSTANTIAL MEMBERS OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH. HE WAS 67 YEARS OF AGE AND WAS BORN IN LUTESVILLE , MO. WHERE HE MOVED TO THIS CITY , HIS WIFE WAS A MISS BELLE YOUNG OF LUTESVILLE AND THE COUPLE WERE MARRIED WHILE THEY WERE IN THEIR EARLY TWENTIES .
MR. SMITH HAD BEEN A FOREMAN AT W.F. HASTY & SONS FACTORIES FOR YEARS AND HAS MISSED BUT A FEW DAYS FROM HIS WORK. HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE , TWO DAUGHTERS AND THREE SONS , A DAUGHTER , MISS NELIE SMITH AND A SON , FLETCHER , ARE HERE . MISS WILLIE SMITH THE OTHER DAUGHTER , IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE TONIGHT , FROM LITTLE ROCK. AND TOM R. SMITH , WHO IS IN MILITARY SERVICE IS STATIONED AT CAMP DEVENS WIRED THIS MORNING THAT HE HAD STARTED HERE.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR FUNERAL SERVICES WILL NOT BE MADE UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF ALL OF THE FAMILY.
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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1920 - THE PARAGOULD SOLIPHONE
ROBERT ARNOLD KILLED BY I. M . TRAIN AT HOXIE
PARAGOULD SWITCHMEN MEETS TRAGIC DEATH BY STEPPING IN FRONT OF THE SUNSHINE SPECIAL
( FROM THURSDAY'S DAILY PRESS )
R.E. ARNOLD , TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE , WAS KILLED THIS MORNING AT SIX O'CLOCK BY TRAIN NO. 2 ON THE MAIN LINE OF THE IRON MOUNTAIN ROAD AT HOXIE. ARNOLD WAS WALKING FROM THE YARDS TOWARD TOWN AND ATTEMPTED TO CROSS THE MAINLINE , TRACK TO HOP A SWITCH ENGINE . THE SWITCH ENGINE WAS GOING IN THE SAME DIRECTION AND HE DID NOT OBSERVE THE SUNSHINE SPECIAL AS IT APPROACHED , DEATH WAS ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS.
A TELEGRAM FROM RAILWAY EMPLOYES AT HOXIE THIS MORNING STATED THAT THE BODY WAS BEING EMBALMED AND WOULD BE SHIPPED TO PARAGOULD TOMORROW MORNING ON NO. 305.
THE UNFORTUNATE YOUNG MAN WAS A SON OF MRS. CORA CANNON OF EAST LAKE STREET . HE HAS A WIFE AND ONE CHILD , WHO ARE ALSO HERE. HIS MOTHER STATED THAT WHEN HE LEFT PARAGOULD THREE OR FOUR DAYS AGO HE DID SO RATHER HESITATINGLY AND SEEMED TO HAVE AN INTUITIVE FEELING THAT HE SHOULD NOT GO . HE WAS A FREIGHT SWITCHMAN WORKING EXTRA , AND WHEN WORK WAS DULL HERE WOULD BE SENT OVER ON THE MAIN LINE.
THE BODY WILL BE ENTERED TOMORROW AT FRIENDSHIP CEMETERY UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF RAILWAY TRAINMEN.
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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1920 - THE PARAGOULD SOLIPHONE
CRAIGHEAD COUNTY DEPUTY KILLS MAN
JONESBORO - MAY 27, - WHEN W.J. JETT , SPECIAL DEPUTY SHERIFF , TUESDAY NIGHT , ATTEMPTED TO ARREST CLYDE GIBSON AT CARAWAY , IN THE EASTERN PART OF CRAIGHEAD COUNTY, HE SAYS THAT GIBSON MADE A MOTION AS IF TO DRAW A GUN . THE OFFICER SHOT AND INSTANTLY KILLED HIM. JETT WAS DEPUTIZED TO ARREST GIBSON , WHO WAS CHARGED WITH THREATENING TO BLOW UP ALLEN COOPERAGE COMPANY'S PLANT AT CARAWAY AND TO KILL MR. ALLEN.
JETT IMMEDIATELY SURRENDERED AND WAS ALLOWED TO MAKE BOND . HE CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE . GIBSON IS SAID TO HAVE BORNE A BAD REPUTATION.
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MONDAY, MAY 31, 1920 - THE PARAGOULD SOLIPHONE
LIGHTNING KILLS WALDRON FARMER
WALDRON , MAY 28 - PERRY LAWRENCE A FARMER LIVING NEAR WALDRON , WAS INSTANTLY KILLED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON WHEN A HAY SHED UNDER WHICH HE SOUGHT SHELTER FROM A SHOWER WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTENING. ANOTHER YOUNG MAN ALSO WAS UNDER THE SHED AT THE TIME BUT HE ESCAPED SERIOUS INJURY . THE TWO WERE WORKING IN THE FIELD WHEN THE RAIN BEGAN FALLING . THEY HAD BEEN UNDER THE SHED ONLY A SHORT TIME WHEN IT WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTENING.
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