William A. Kinney (1911)
KINNEY
Posted By: Kent Transier
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:02:56
The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, June 22, 1911
Page 1, Column 3KINNEY BOYS DIE IN DRAINAGE DITCH
Madison County Men Drown Near Webster City
NO DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENT
Supposed That One Man Was In Swimming and Other Tried to Rescue Him. Grew to Manhood in Webster Township, Were Working in Hamilton County.
Wm. and Melvin Kinney of Webster township, sons of Wm. Kinney, the well known farmer, were drowned in a drainage ditch near Webster City Tuesday.
There are no details of the fatal accident, the only information in the telegram being that their bodies had been found in Whistler ditch. At the Kinney home Thursday morning no one knew anything of the drowning save that the young men are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Kinney had gone to Mitchellville where the funeral occurs today.
The young men, 127 the other 30, work unmarried. They went to Webster City last year to farm a 200 acre farm and cooked for themselves. The only information the neighbors have obtained is contained in the brief Associated Press dispatch and in the telegram to the family. Both the young men were well known here and bore fine reputations. There is a vague and probably unfounded rumor that the young men were murdered.
Webster City, Ia. June 20 – Special: the dead bodies of William A. and Melvin Kinney were found today in the Whistler drainage ditch ten miles northwest of this city. It is believed that one brother went in swimming and got beyond his depth and that the other was drowned when he went in to his rescue. The water in the ditch is from nine to ten feet deep. The young men were farming and were unmarried. Their parents reside in Winterset.
________________________Webster City Journal
Webster City, Iowa
Thursday, June 22, 1911
Page 5, Column 5BROTHERS DROWN IN DRAINAGE DITCH
Big Whisler Drainage Ditch Claims Toll of Two Lives Monday Night When William A. and Melvin Kinney Drown.
WATER EIGHT TO TEN FEET
Brothers Lived on Farm – Bodies Taken by Parents to Mitchellville.
A double drowning occurred in the big Whisler drainage ditch in Frémont township Monday night, when William A. and Melvin Kinney, brothers aged 25 and 28 years, lost their lives. Coroner Foster was called to the scene of the tragedy and held in inquest, the jury finding that both young men had met death from drowning, one while attempting to save the other. The bodies were shipped yesterday afternoon to Mitchellville for interment
The Kinney brothers were bachelors and were working the farm of a brother-in-law in Frémont township. When found, one of the bodies was fully dressed and from this fact it is supposed that one of the brothers had gone in bathing and got beyond his depth, that the other tried to save him and that in the struggle both were drowned.
In the Whistler ditch there was from eight to ten feet of water. A man hauling coal Tuesday noon to the engine on the big dredge boat of Wilson & Bryant, who are constructing the ditch, saw some clothes lying on the bank. No one was in bathing and his suspicions were aroused. The men at the boat were notified and the ditch was dragged. The body of Melvin Kinney was found first and that of his brother located some ten feet away a short time after. The coroner was called at once and a jury impaneled, which found a verdict as stated above.
The parents of the unfortunate young men live in Winterset. They were notified by wire and arrived in the city Tuesday evening. The remains were shipped to Mitchellville because the family is moving there soon to make that place their permanent home.
Kinney brothers were well and most favorably known in northern Frémont and deep sympathy is felt for the relatives in the tragedy which has resulted in the death of these two excellent young men.
_______________________Transcriber's note: The father, identified as "Wm." in the obituary is "Walter" on his gravestone.
Gravesite
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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