Ira T. Roush 1876-1914

ROUSH

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 5/30/2023 at 13:22:53

Ira Thomas Roush (Jan. 17, 1876 – Nov. 20, 1914)

Hennessey Clipper, Hennessey, Oklahoma, Thurs., Dec 10, 1914, p.5
Terrible Accident
The following account of an auto accident which cost five lives and deprived Mrs. Wm. DaVault, who resides south of Hennessey, of a brother, niece and nephew, is taken from the Rockwell City, Iowa, paper of recent date.
Rockwell City people were immeasurably shocked Friday noon when word was received here that the car of Ira Roush, containing six passengers, had been struck by an M & St. Louis train a mile north of Moreland and five of the party killed. Those in the car were Mr. and Mrs. Ira Roush, their daughter, Beryl, 17 years of age, their son, Earl, 4 years of age, John Berner, 20 years of age, and Smiley Francis, 52 years of age, Mrs. Roush being the only one in the crowd who was not overtaken by death. Mr. Francis and Miss Roush were dead when picked up and the other victims died very soon afterward. The party was on the way to Fort Dodge and being in an enclosed car it is presumed they did not see the car until it was struck by the engine. The crossing is a very dangerous one on account of trees along the right of way making it almost impossible for anyone approaching the track to see any distance up or down the same. The car was hit with terrible force, Mr. Rouse being thrown a distance of one hundred feet. As soon as news of the accident was received here a number of people in autos left for Fort Dodge where the victims were taken on the train.
Mrs. Roush, who sustained a broken hip and other injuries, is in the Fort Dodge hospital and it is believed will recover, although the physical and mental shock, it was feared, would be the greater than she could withstand. Besides Mrs. Roush, the only member of the family left is Velma, a daughter, ten years of age.
The five bodies were cared for by the Fort Dodge undertaken and on Saturday were brought to Rockwell City on the noon I.C. train which was met by probably two hundred people. Young Berner and the three members of the Rouse family were taken to the home of Berner’s mother, Mrs. Fred Berner, while the body of Francis was taken to the home of his brother, Wellington, or “Babe” as he is better known here.
On Sunday at 2:30 p.m. the funeral was held from the Methodist church, Rev. Charles E. Chapler officiating, assisted by Rev. Crombie, of Jolley, and Rev. Sholer, Evangelical minister of Manson. Long before the hour fixed for the service people from all parts of the county began to congregate at the church and when the service began there were not less than fifteen hundred people within the walls of the building and perhaps a larger number who could not obtain admittance. Many of these returned to their homes while others remained until the service was closed in order to obtain a last view of the remains of the victims of the terrible accident.
No such a solemn sight had ever been witnessed before as was presented by the funeral procession to Rose Hill cemetery, a long line of autos being preceded by two hearses containing the bodies of Mr. Berner and Miss Roush, the three other bodies being conveyed in automobiles. At the cemetery the bodies of the three members of the Roush family and that of John Berner were laid to rest in one grave, the body of Mr. Francis being deposited in a grave nearby.
The Roush family, who lived on a rented place six miles west of town, have resided in the county about seven years and were all held in high esteem by those who knew them. Smiley Francis came to this county twenty-four years ago and was well and favorably known. He leaves to mourn his untimely taking away four brothers and two sisters, all residing in this community. A sister, Miss Margaret Francis, had kept house for the deceased for nineteen years past. John Berner was a young man of good character and is mourned by his mother, a brother and a sister.
A pathetic feature of the sad affair is the fact that young Berner and Miss Roush were to have been married on Tuesday of the week following their death.
Perhaps no such a shock has ever before came to the people of Rockwell City and vicinity and through the day Saturday, wherever one went the awful calamity was the chief topic of conversation.
Mrs. Wm. DaVault returned last week from Rockwell City, where she attended the funeral, the largest ever held in that section of the state. Fully 4,000 people were in attendance, the majority of whom filed by the caskets at the close of the services. Two hundred and eighty automobiles were in the long cortage that followed the remains to the last resting place, and the cemetery, which was but a short distance from Rockwell City, was not reached until after dark.