Everett Jones 1914-1925

JONES

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 7/22/2010 at 22:53:44

Des Moines River Claims Another Victim
Two Other Boys Escape Being Drowned at the Same Time. All Three Were Together In a Boat
The Des Moines river claimed another boy last Friday when Everett Jones, the ten-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Jones was drowned.

He with two other boys of his age the Vanderlught and the Debus boy, went to the river a little before eleven o’clock. The Jones boy wanted to get a sling shot crotch and asked his mother if he could go and get one down by the river. The three boys started for the river. The Vanderlught boy says they found this boat as soon as they went down there. The boat was old, small and leaked some. The Jones boy got aboard and they started out on the river. An Airdale dog followed them and they tried to get it in the boat. In lifting the boat tipped and the Jones boy fell out. When he came up he grabbed for the boat and pulled it over. This put the other two boys in the river. The Vanderlught boy could swim a few strokes and got out, but not until the Jones boy had pulled him down once. The Debus boy they say crawled along the bottom and someone got him as he came up to the ---.

The fire whistle blew and the fire company was directed to go to the Fourth street bridge. This was three blocks too far and it took them some time to get back. A crowd soon gathered and men jumped in and searched for the boy. They finally took hold of hands and made a chain and they soon recovered the body. Dr. Morton was there and with aids they worked for two hours but life was gone. He had been in the water for about twenty-five minutes.

The boy was to have gone to Graettinger the day before to spend the winter with his grandparents. The trip had been put off a couple of days with this unfortunate result.

The accident was certainly a shock to the public as there had been so much talk this summer about the river and a swimming pool and this revived it.

The funeral services were held on Monday from the Christian church, the Rev. Olmstead officiating. The remains were laid to rest in the East Side cemetery. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, August 26, 1925)

Boy Drowned In The River Last Friday
Ten Year Old Son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Jones
Boat Riding on the River
Near Fifth Street Bridge When Boat Capsized – Two Others Narrowly Escaped
For the first time in many years the Des Moines river claimed a victim when Everett Jones, the eleven year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Jones, met his death by drowning. About eleven o’clock Friday morning Herbert Vanderlugt, ten year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Vanderlugt, Phillip Debus, eight year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Debus, and Everett Jones decided to go down to the swimming hole back of the Harry Barber place, two blocks south of the north bridge, and see who was there. Herbert was the only one of the trio who knew how to swim and it was the first time Phillip had attempted to swim. There was a boat down there so the boys decided to go riding. They were playing around with the boat when Everett grabbed a board to use it for an oar and attempted to steer the boat with that. In doing so he rowed the boat over to one side and it upset. Phillip fell out of the east end of the boat toward the shore and waded to dry land. When he got there he was so weak he lapsed into unconsciousness and it took fast work on the part of Doctors Morton and Coleman to revive him. He was brought back to normal and taken to the Archie Evans home where he was wrapped in heavy blankets and kept in bed the rest of the day. The other two boys fell out of the other end of the boat and when they were falling Everett grabbed a hold of Herbert with a death like grip and clung to him. After struggling a while, trying to save his playmate as well as himself, Herbert finally saw it was impossible so he loosened himself from Everett and swam to shore. Normal Ingvall, who was standing on the shore, jumped in after Everett but he had gone under for the third time and it was impossible to find him. The children’s cries for help soon brought many people to the scene of the accident, many of them attempting to save the drowning boy. The fire company arrived soon after the alarm had been sent in and the men formed a chain by holding on to each other’s hands and walked out in the river to locate the body. One of the men stepped on something in the mud and upon closer observation it was found to be the body of little Everett Jones. They brought him out of the water and found a little life left in him. With the aid of a pulmotor Doctors Coleman and Mortan worked on the body for forty-five minutes in an effort to revive him but their efforts proved futile. The little lad passed away about 12:30. The accident took place between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. This is the first drowning that has taken place in Estherville for many years. About ten years ago Theodore McAffee lost his life by drowning in nearly the same place as Friday’s accident occurred. Everett Jones was born at Spencer, Iowa, November 3, 1914. He lived there with his parents until about a year ago when they came to Estherville to make their home. During the school year Everett stayed with his grandparents at Peterson, Iowa, and attended school. He was to have returned there on Friday morning but decided to wait until Saturday so his parents could take him there and stay over the week-end. He was a happy, carefree lad and easily won the hearts of all who knew him. He was the favorite of his playmates and the pride of his parents. Besides his father and mother he is survived by two sisters and many relatives and friends. Funeral services were held Monday afternoon from the Christian church, Rev. H. L. Olmstead officiating. Interment was made in East Side cemetery. The bereaved parents and sisters have the sympathy of the entire community in their hours of grief over the loss of their beloved son and brother. (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, August 26, 1925)