Adlai E. Anderson, 1892-1925

ANDERSON, SUMMERBELL

Posted By: Clay County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 1/22/2012 at 15:41:37

A. E. ANDERSON, FORMER SPENCER MAN, AND BABY DAUGHTER KILLED BY TRAIN

Mrs. Anderson, Formerly Miss Gladys Summerbell, Seriously Injured And Recovery Is Remote

HUNDREDS AT FUNERAL SERVICES TUESDAY

BULLETIN

At 4:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon advices from Storm Lake were to the effect that Mrs. A.E. Anderson would not live for more than two hours at the latest. Three physicians were in attendant and all agreed that her death had become a matter of a short time. Her pulse gave indications of approaching death and there was no reaction to medical treatment.

A. E. Anderson, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Anderson of Spencer, who has been employed for the past three years as advertising manager and news writer on the Storm Register, was instantly killed at 8:13 last Friday evening when the Illinois Central Flyer, east bound, struck the Ford sedan,in which Mr. Anderson, his wife and baby daughter, Patricia Jean, were riding. The baby was also killed. Mrs. Anderson, who is well known to Clay county people as Gladys Summerbell, was seriously injured and is in the Swallum hospital at Storm Lake. Her recovery is uncertain.

The accident has plunged not less than three communities into deepest sorrow. From every lip in Storm Lake, Spencer and Peterson, where Mrs. Anderson, lived as a girl, came expressions of sorrow and sympathy. Details of the accident are lacking as Mrs. Anderson has not been able tp talk about it, but the facts are briefly these.

How the Accident Occurred
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson expected to move March first to another house in another part of the city. They had taken the pictures off the walls and removed the curtains. They had packed their dishes, and Friday evening decided to take the dishes over in their Ford sedan. The house to which they were moving is located in the west part of Storm Lake and is not far from the I. C. tracks. They had delivered the dishes, placed them on shelves in the kitchen cupboard and with the empty basket started back to town. The crossing where the accident occurred is a very short distance from the house into which they were to move. It is an abrupt crossing and the fact that the railroad and street converge at an angle makes it a dangerous crossing, for the driver of a car must look back over his shoulder to see an approaching train. The street turns north at right angles over the tracks and it is not more than fifty feet from the corner to the crossing.

Bodies Carried on Pilot Two Blocks
It is thought Mr. Anderson discovered the approaching train too late to stop the car, as an examination of the pavement where the accident happened shows marks that were evidently made by the tires being slid over it. His car was struck fairly in the center, and the impact completely demolished it. The chassis was thrown off to the north side of the tracks and the basket and parts of the car were scattered for several feet along side the tracks. The top of the car and the three occupants of it wore carried on the pilot of the engine, however, a distance of more than two blocks before Engineer Frank Schmitz could bring his train to a stop. Mr. Anderson and the baby were on top of the pilot and Mrs. Anderson was carried along just below them. Mr. Anderson and the baby were killed instantly from concussion of the brain. Their bodies were not mangled, nor was Mrs. Anderson injured externally save for several severe bruises. Mr. Anderson's skull was crushed. The baby was picked up bleeding at the ear, nose and mouth but not disfigured.

Mrs. Anderson May Recover
Mrs. Anderson, in an unconscious condition, was taken at once to Dr. Swallum's private hospital and given every attention. An examination of her injuries showed that no bones had been fractured, nor had her nervous system been impaired. Her left lung, was crushed and her heart pushed to the right side, but there are no evidences of internal hemorrhage and her pulse is good and her temperature normal. Fear of an abdominal injury was expressed by her physicians, however, when,she developed a spell of hiccoughing and vomiting and while these symptoms have passed, her ultimate recovery will be slow.

Mrs. Anderson's sister, Mrs. C.C. Fritcher of Storm Lake, has been with her constantly and two other sisters, Mrs. Irwin Dippel of Belmond, with her small daughter Wilma, and Mrs. P.C. Pierce of Conree, Texas, are also in attendance at her bedside. Mrs. Anderson's brother, D. V. Summerbell, and wife of Spencer went down to Storm Lake when they received news of the accident.

Engineer Broken Hearted
Frank Schmitz, the engineer on the train, that struck the Anderson car, was greatly agitated over the accident. It is the first time in his 25 or 30 years of railroading that he has ever had an accident save once when some one threw the derailing switch against his train and he ran off the end onto the pavement in the yards at Storm Lake. However, no one was injured in that accident, Mr. Schmitz said he had whistled for the station and applied his applied his air gradually as he approached the city. When he saw the car go onto the track he grabbed the whistle cord and pulled it several times frantically, at the same time putting on the emergency brakes. The train could not be stopped in time to avoid a collision, however, and it crashed into the car and carried it and its occupants a considerable distance before coming to a standstill. Mr. Schmitz was running the train relieve the. regular engineer who was on a vacation. His home is in Fort Dodge. He has a mother and two brothers living in Storm Lake.

Had $21,575 insurance
Mr. Anderson carried an insurance policy for $10,000 with a double indemnity clause providing for double payment in case of accidental death. He also had $1,575 government insurance coming to him as a bonus. This money is payable to his widow, and his will provided that his widow shall be the beneficiary of his estate as well as executrix of it.

Funeral services were conducted Tuesday afternoon at one-thirty o'clock from the Presbyterian church at Storm Lake with Dr. W.D. McCormick, pastor of the church, in charge. The bodies of Mr. Anderson and the baby were put in the same coffin and placed temporarily in a mausoleum at Storm Lake. After Mrs. Anderson is able to view the bodies they will be buried at Peterson, the former home of Mrs. Anderson.

Business houses in Storm Lake were closed during the services and the funeral was one of the largest ever held in the city. The church was crowded to overflowing and the array of flowers and floral pieces was beautiful. The services at the Mausoleum were in charge of the Masons and Mr. A.H. Avery of this city, acting as Worshipful Master, was in charge of the ritualistic exercises. Chaplain J.E. Holden offered the prayer. Eighteen Knight Templars were present in full uniform. The Presbyterian Glee club rendered appropriate music during the services at the church.

Members of the Masonic bodies from Storm Lake, Spencer and Peterson, attended the funeral services, and floral pieces were sent by El Riad Temple, Sioux Falls; Evening Shade Lodge No. 312, Spencer; Azotus Commandery No. 65, Spencer; Delta RhI Peta; Jewell Lodge No., 309; American Legion Auxiliary; Phi Alpha Pi and the Masonic Lodge of Mitchell, South Dakota. Many other friends of the family were present for the funeral.

Relatives of both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson who were present were: Clinton P. Anderson of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a brother of Mr. Anderson; Mrs. Harold McAninch of Hawarden, a sister of A. Jay Anderson of spencer, Mr. and Mrs. D.V. Summerbell of Spencer, Mrs. Charles E. Fritcher of St. Ansgar, Iowa; Dr. and Mrs. Wm. D. Runyon, of Sioux City; Mrs. Irwin Dippel and daughter Wilma of Belmond; Mrs. P.C. Pierce of Conroe, Texas; Mr. and Mrs. Vernon McAninch and son Harvey of Sioux City and R.E. Bland of independence, Iowa.

Mr. Anderson was a man beloved by all who knew him. Wherever he went he made countless friends and these friends think of him only as a true and loving comrade who has been called back by the Great Creator. The shock of his death is indeed one that is hard for these near and dear to him to bear, but the knowledge that he still lives in another world, far more beautiful than the one he has left, will serve to help them in their grief.
His loyalty to the his country and his flag was clearly demonstrated when he entered the service immediately after the declaration of war. He was a always willing to bear his share of any burden and was a tireless worker in all civic enterprises. His death is indeed a sad blow to all who knew him.

Adlai E. Anderson, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Jay Anderson, was born August 24, 1892, at Centerville, South Dakota, and died in Storm Lake February 27, 1925, at the age of 32 years, 6 months and 3 days. In November 1896 he moved with his parents to Parker, South Dakota, his father having been elected sheriff of that county, and he received his education in the schools at that place, graduating from the Parker high school.

After completing his high school course he entered the Brookings Agricultural college, and it was while attending college at Brookings that he answered his country's call, shortly after the outbreak of the World war. He enlisted April 17, 1917, and was immediately sent to the Officers Training school at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Shortly after, he was appointed second lieutenant and assigned to Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa.

Soon after going to Des Moines he was advanced to first lieutenant. About the time his company was preparing to leave for overseas, he was taken seriously ill with pneumonia and prevented from accompanying them. After the Armistice was signed, he was sent to Fort Snelling, where he was engaged in mustering out troops, until his discharge in December, 1919.

Mr. Anderson went to Mitchell, S. D., after his discharge from the service, his father being manager of a store at that place, and for a time he was employed as a bookkeeper in the store. His parents left shortly after, his return for New Mexico, and after their return they came to Spencer, where Mr. Anderson joined them. For two years he was employed as bookkeeper for the Schoeneman Bros. Lumber Company at Spencer, going from Spencer to Storm Lake three years ago. For a year Mr. Anderson was connected with L. P. Harmon in editing and managing the Storm Lake Register. After L. B. Watt purchased the newspaper, Mr. Anderson continued with the Register as advertising manager and news writer, which position he has held the past two years.

On June 23, 1921, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Gladys Summerbell of Peterson, the marriage taking place in Sioux City, and to this union one child, Patricia Jean, was born. The baby, one of the sweetest and prettiest in the world, was two years and twenty-one days old at the time of her death.

Mr. Anderson was a member of the Storm Lake American Legion Post, and a number of Masonic bodies including A.F. & A.M., R.A. Azotus Commandery, Knights Templar, and El Riad Shrine Temple of Sioux Falls, S. D. He is survived by his wife, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. Jay Anderson of Spencer, one brother, Clinton P. Anderson of Albuquerue, New Mexico, and one sister, Mrs. Horace W. Smith of Upland, California.

Source: Spencer News-Herald, Spencer, Clay County, Iowa; March 5, 1925.

Interment in Oakland cemetery
 

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