Cecil James Rhodes 1928-1948

RHODES

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/26/2014 at 12:41:22

Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Rhodes of Evanston, Ill., are announcing the birth of a son born Tuesday [November 13, 1928] of last week. Mr. Rhodes is the son of Mr .and Mrs. F. H. Rhodes of this city. (Estherville News, Estherville, IA, November 22, 1928)

Plane Crashes in Woods
Sampson Student is Killed

Seymour, Conn. – An Army surplus BT-13 plane crashed through the fog onto a heavily wooded farmland section near the Oxford town line here late night, killing the pilot and injuring his passenger.

State police indentified the dead man as Cecil Rhodes III, 22, of 100 E. 65th st., New York City.

The injured man was identified as Emanuel Batler, 22, of 63 Avenue D., New York City. Both were students at Sampson College, Sampson, N.Y. (Syracuse Herald Journal, Syracuse, NY, February 14, 1948)

Pilot Killed in Seymour Plane Crash Last Night
(By United Press)
A plane crash at Seymour has killed the pilot and injured a passenger.

The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Cecil Rhodes of New York city.

The two-seated army surplus plane was groping through fog late last night when it crashed into the woods.

The passenger, Emanuel Batler, is listed in “fair” condition this morning at Derby hospital. (Naugatuck Daily News, Naugatuck, CT, February 14, 1948)

Seymour, Conn. – His left ankle broken and his body covered with bruises, a Sampson college student walked a mile and a half through deep snow Friday night after a small plane crashed here in dense woods, killing the pilot.

Emanuel Batler, 22, of 63 Avenue D., New York City, hoped to get help for Cecil Rhodes III, 22, of 100 E. 69th st., New York City, but state police, who struggled to the wreck plan, found Rhodes dead. His injuries included a fractured skull.

Police said the snow was waist deep. After reaching the plane, they had difficulty getting Rhodes’ body out of the crushed cockpit, and they dragged it to the highway on an improvised toboggan.

Rhodes and Batler were en route from Sampson College, Sampson, N.Y., to new York City in the Army surplus BT-13 plane when the crash occurred.

The plane fell on a wooded elevation known as Great Hill. Batler followed the course of a stream to the farm home of Mrs. Francis Lobdell. She summoned police.

Though Batler was too exhausted to give a detailed account of the accident, police learned from him that Rhodes apparently lost, had dropped to a low altitude to hunt for recognizable landmarks. The plane then struck a tree.

Batler was taken to the Giflin Hospital at Derby. (Daily Herald, Chicago, IL, February 15, 1948)

James Cecil Rhodes
Word was received here Saturday [February 14, 1948] of the death of James Cecil Rhodes. He was killed in a plane crash while flying from Simpson [Sampson] college, where he is a student, to the home of his parents in New York City.

James was known in this city having flown his plane here last summer for a visit with his grandmother, Mrs. F. H. Rhodes and with other relatives here. James was 19 years of age. His father, Cecil Rhodes, was well known here. He was born in this city and educated in our schools. James was born in New York. He was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes. He had a young friend with him when the plane crashed and the friend was uninjured. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, February 19, 1948)

Plane Crash is Fatal to James Rhodes
Crash of his private airplane was fatal Saturday to James Cecil Rhodes, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Rhodes of New York city and grandson of Mrs. F. H. Rhodes of Estherville.

James, 19, who flew his BT-13 here last summer with his father for a visit at the lakes was enroute home from college for the weekend when the accident occurred.

No details of the accident were received here except that he was killed instantly and that a college friend who was riding with him was uninjured. (Spirit Lake Beacon, Spirit Lake, IA, February 19, 1948)

Learns Details of Crash Fatal to Grandson
Details were received today by Mrs. F.H. Rhodes here of the airplane accident last Friday night that cost the life of her 19-year-old grandson, James Cecil Rhodes, of New York.

According to a clipping from the New York Herald Tribune, the accident occurred in Connecticut.

“The single-engine airplane he was piloting through fog and rain crashed against Grant Hill, one mile from Seymour, Conn.,” the newspaper story said.

“A passenger, Emanuel Batler, 22, of New York city, physics instructor at Sampson college, where Rhodes was a freshman, was thrown clear at the impact. The crash occurred in a heavily wooded and remote section at 10 a.m.

Mr. Batler, with a fractured left ankle and multiple lacerations of the body, fought his way for a mile through waist-deep snow to summon help for his friend, who was wedged in the cockpit of the two-seater monoplane, a Consolidated Vultec BT-13A army trainer.

“Mr. Batler, a former navy radarman, reached the farm house of Mrs. Francis Lobdell, who called the Bethany barracks of the Connecticut state police.

“Six troopers followed Mr. Batler’s trail through the snow and finding Mr. Rhodes dead, brought him out to the highway on a sled. Mr. Batler told Police Captain William L. Schatzman that the crash occurred after Mr. Rhodes brought the plan close to the ground in an attempt to pick up landmarks.

“The men were flying to New York city for a week end and were far off course. Mr. Rhodes, a licensed pilot with 500 flying hours, bought the army surplus plane in 1946.

“The pilot was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil M. Rhodes, who operate an interior decorating shop at 680 Lexington avenue, New York. He was a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and was studying aeronautical engineering.” (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, February 20, 1948)