HORTON, Clifford Floyd 1900 – 1951

HORTON, CRILE, JOHNSON, MILLER

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 2/28/2011 at 18:27:30

“The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger”
Tuesday, May 15, 1951
Page 1, Column 3

GLENDALE MAN IS VICTIM OF FARM MISHAP

A well known Jefferson county farmer was instantly killed sometime yesterday when the tractor he was operating turned over on sloping ground, pinning the victim beneath.

The farmer is Clifford HORTON, 51, who resides about a mile south of Glendale in a community in which he had lived his entire life.

Jefferson county Coroner Jack Raymond, accompanied by Sheriff Thomas Howell, investigated the accident scene and decided there would be no inquest.

Raymond said it was apparent that HORTON met his death sometime yesterday morning since he didn’t return home for his noon meal. The body was found between 5:30 and 6 p.m. in the evening (sic) by HORTON’s son, Carroll. The coroner said HORTON had been dead several hours when he was found.

Carroll, a student at the Fairfield high school, told officers his father was preparing to haul a manure spreader to the field about 8 a.m. yesterday. After completing that job he started filling and preparing washed-out places in the terraces in the rolling field.

HORTON had a front-end loader on his tractor in which he transported the dirt for the repair work. He had repaired several places along the terraces, and was apparently nearing the finish on the last break-through when the accident occurred.

Just before the tractor upset tracks in the dirt showed it was traveling east along a fence. The right wheel hit a slight raise in the ground which tilted the tractor. The front-end loader, plus the slope in the ground was apparently sufficient to cause the tractor to roll over.

The machine rolled completely over with the right wheel landing on HORTON’s chest, crushing him to death instantly. One leg was also broken.

When HORTON failed to come to the house for his noon meal, Mrs. HORTON assumed that he had gone to his son’s farm to help and thought nothing more of his absence.

When Carroll returned home from school in the evening and began his work, he drove a car back to the field to see what his father was doing. It was then when he found the body pinned beneath the overturned tractor.

The accident took place in a rolling field across the road west from the family home, and along the north boundary fense (sic). It was in a low area and not visible from either road or the house.

Last rites will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Hoskins funeral home with Rev. John Porath and Rev. William Smith in charge. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn cemetery.

Clifford Floyd HORTON was born January 8, 1900, at Lockridge, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William HORTON. He spent his entire life in the Lockridge and Glendale communities and was a member of the Parsonsville Methodist church.

He was united in marriage on November 8, 1922, to Hattie Elizabeth CRILE who survives. The wedding took place at Fairfield.

Besides his wife, HORTON is survived by the following children: Wilbur HORTON, Washington, Iowa; Mrs. Maxine JOHNSON, Lockridge; Carroll and Ruth Evelyn at home. He is also survived by two grandchildren, a sister, Mrs. Gladys MILLER, Mt. Pleasant; a brother, Clarence HORTON, Des Moines; and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William HORTON, Lockridge. He was preceded in death by two sisters.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot Devotion A 132, space 5.