Roland Ellison 1887-1947

ELLISON, PAUL, DARROW

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 8/14/2021 at 09:01:14

17 April 1947 - The Anamosa Journal

Body of Roland R. Ellison, victim of a boating accident at Anamosa Sunday afternoon, was recovered from the Wapsipinicon river Wednesday at 5:10 p.m. 500 feet above Shaw bridge lying in willows along the south bank.

Service for Mr. Ellison will be conducted Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the Anamosa Methodist church, with the Rev. Edgar E. Walker, jr., pastor officiating. Casket will not be opened. Burial will be in Riverside cemetery.

Mr. Ellison, 60, was drowned after the swollen waters of the river swept him, his daughter, Florence, and son, George, over the Iowa Electric Co. dam in their small boat.

Florence was swept to shore by the current and George was rescued by a 16-year-old Cedar Rapids youth, Donald Ribble.

A retired farmer, Mr. Ellison was the son of the late Judge F. O. Ellison, Anamosa.

Discovery of the body, three and one-half miles downstream, climaxed a four-day search by members of the Anamosa fire department, a Cedar Rapids police rescue squad and other authorities and townspeople.

Two of the searchers, Lawrence Otten and Robert Hartman, found Mr. Ellison. Patch of willow saplings growing along the river's edge partially hid the body from view. River had fallen so that body was half out of water.

Mr. Otten and Mr. Hartman had left on the river from Anamosa about 4 p.m. They moved down-stream in Bill Allen's boat equipped with Mr. Hartman's outboard motor until they discovered the body.

Recounting the story of the tragedy, George said he, Florence, Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, Carlos Payne and Russell Darrow had been boating on the river most of the afternoon.

They went almost as far as Stone City and then returned to refuel the outboard motor. They then pushed the boat into the current, but the motor failed to start.

After reaching shore again, George worked on the motor and finally succeeded in starting it. In order to give the boat weight and hold it away from the shore it was necessary to have at least his father and sister with him.

Mrs. Payne and her daughter started to enter the boat also, but finally remained on shore with the others.

Trio then shoved into the current but, George said, the motor wasn't working properly and they started in the direction of the dam. While his sister steered, George worked with the motor in a vain attempt to make it start.

Finding his efforts useless, George grabbed the oars as they approached the dam and frantically tried to keep the boat from going over. But the current proved too strong and carried the trio over and down into the water six feet below the dam level.

Several persons on the bridge and on the banks below the dam saw the boat go over and rushed to help. Miss Ellison was carried toward the shore by the current and was helped out of the water after she clung to willows along the east bank below the power-house.

George was seen floating down the river towards the west bank and Ribble swam to him and pulled him to safety. George was still in Mercy hospital here Wednesday night and was reported to be suffering some from headaches. He was treated for shock following his rescue.

His sister was taken to the hospital but authorities there released her after she also was treated for shock.

Power Plant Superintendent Russell Meade was one of the people who watched the Ellisons battle against death. Meade was standing just outside of the power plant door and saw the Ellisons push their boat into the current.

"I tried to wave them back," Mr. Meade said, "but I guess they didn't see me. As they neared the dam, I saw George grab the oars and row frantically to keep them from going over.

"His sister stood up in the boat several times and looked as though she might try to jump, but she stayed with the rest."

Following the boat's plunge, Mr. Meade saw the body of Mr. Ellison rise to the surface and drift downstream with the current near the east bank. He tried to keep track of its course, but a patch of brush along the bank soon hit it from view.

Following its recovery, Mr. Ellison's body was taken to Smykil's funeral home.

Mr. Ellison was born in Wyoming in 1887. He came to Anamosa with his parents in 1889 and has lived here ever since.

In addition to his wife and two children, he is survived by a sister, Mrs. John D. Paul, and one brother, Dr. C. W. Ellison, White Plains, N.Y.

Mr. Ellison's death was the fourth from drowning near Anamosa in the last nine months.

24 April 1947 - The Anamosa Journal

Funeral service for Rolland Ruxton Ellison, 60, Anamosa drowning victim, was held last Friday afternoon in the Methodist church.

Ellison drowned Sunday afternoon, April 3, when the boat in which he was riding was swept over the dam on the Wapsipinicon river at Anamosa.

Rev. Edgar E. Walker, jr., Methodist pastor, officiated. He was assisted by Rev. Merle B. Pulver, Marshall, Okla., a nephew of Mr. Ellison.

Hymns, "Beautiful, Beckoning Hands," and "A Shelter in the Time of Storm" were sung by Miss Florence Hale and Mrs. V. P. Owen. Mrs. O. A. Rife, organist, accompanied.

Casket bearers were Albert Benadom, Clayton Hartman, Joe Soper, Clyde Barker, Gene Gordon and A. Hazel Smith. Burial was in Riverside cemetery.

Mr. Ellison, son of Judge Frederick O. and Anna McCutcheon Ellison, was born March 23, 1887, at Wyoming. His parents moved to Anamosa in 1889 and he attended school here and graduated from the Anamosa high school with the class of 1909.

He was married Oct. 31, 1917, to Gertrude Edith Darrow, in New York City where they lived for the next five years. The family returned to Iowa in 1923 and lived on a farm near Anamosa for the next 22 years. Since his retirement in1945, the Ellison lived in Anamosa.

He had been a member of the Anamosa Methodist church the last 23 years.

Survivors are his widow, two children, a son, George Oscar Ellison, and a daughter, Florence Gertrude, both Anamosa; one sister, Mrs. J. D. Paul, Anamosa, and a brother, Dr. Clifford Ellison, New York City.