Simth, Harold Vernon 1903-1910

SMITH, WEBSTER

Posted By: Doris Hoffman, Volunteer (email)
Date: 2/21/2015 at 14:18:17

Note: Though it isn't mentioned he was survived by a brother Raymond Allen and sister Hazel Olive. His mother's first name was Jessie and her maiden name was Webster. The parents divorced in 1913.
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FATAL AUTO ACCIDENT

Harold Smith, Aged 7, Ran Over and Almost Instantly Killed in Street Saturday Evening.

Akron's first fatal automobile accident transpired last Saturday evening, a few minutes before eight o'clock, when little Harold, the 7-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Smith, was struck, run over and probably instantly killed by an auto driven by Andrew Paulson, who was out for a pleasure ride with his family. As is customary on Saturday evenings, previous to the band concerts, the streets were lined with people and vehicles, the children being given free rein for amusement. With a number of other lads, Harold was indulging in some youthful game at a point about opposite the Hitzemann barber shop. Several of the boys ran across to the other side of the street and he started to follow them.

Mr. Paulson had seen the other boys crossing and stopped his machine. Thinking they were all over, he stared again. Harold ran quickly out from behind another vehicle, he and the car meeting in the middle of the street. For a brief instant Mr. Paulson saw the little fellow in the glare of his lights and made an effort to swerve his auto aside, but the itnerval of time was too brief. There were many eyewitnesses to the tragic event, and from the most reliable sources, it is the concrete opinion that Harold was first struck a stunning blow on the right side of the head by one of the front lamps, knocking him down, and that both wheels on that side of the machine ran across his neck and chest. Several ran to the little one's side and Miss Millie Maxson picked up the unconscious child and carried him to the front of the Clark-Cilley building, Atlee Wintersteen then conveying him upstairs to the office of Drs. Cilley & Kerr, where everything possible was done by Dr. Cilley and Mies Williams, but it was soon apparent to them, as well as to the grief-sticken parents, that the poor little fellow was past human aid.

Unnerved by a realization of what had happened, Mr. Paulson did not bring his car to a stop until about thirty feet past the spot where the accident occurred. There fore, it cannot be held that he was driving his car at more than a moderate rate of speed. He also had his lights burning as required by law. There is no disposition in any quarter to blame or censure Mr. Paulson, as the accident resulted from a combination of circumstances that might have placed the most experienced driver in the same position. Indeed, he is looked upon as one of Akron's most careful drivers, and that the great misfortune was it seems the more lamentable. The shock and grief of Mr. Paulson and family, through a sense of responsibility, has been scarcely less poingnant that that of the breaved parents and other near relatives. They are all sustained and comforted, however, by an outpouring of sympathy such as this community has seldom been moved to offer.

While others, old and young, have had narrow escapes on our streets from auto accidents, it probably required something almost of a tragic nature to arouse people to a real sense of ever-present danger from this source, and to demand not only the rigid enforcement of present regulations, but possibly even more stringent ones. Particularly strong is the sentiment in, favor of reducing to the extremity the speed, or even the traffic, of vehicles through business streets at times when people are gathered in unusual numbers.

Harold Vernon, the youngest of Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Smith's three children, was born in Akron, Iowa, November 3, 1903, and passed away September 3, 1910, aged 6 years and ten months. A bright and affectionate child, full of life, vigor and goodnature, he was a general favorite among his playmates.

The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon at the M. E. Church of Christ. Favorite Sunday school songs of the deceased child were sung by the ladies' quartet. Interment was in Riverside Cemetery.

Relatives from a distance attending the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Carl Clasen, of Wayne, Nebr., brother and cousin, respectively of Mrs. Smith.

Akron Register Tribune
Thursday, September 8, 1910
Akron, Iowa
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CHILD KILLED BY AUTOMOBILE

HAROLD SMITH, OF AKRON, VICTIM OF FATAL ACCIDENT

HE WAS PLAYING ON THE STREET

Seven Year Old Lad While Crossing the Road was Struck by Passing Motor--Had Neck Broken and His Chest and Body Crushed.

J. L. Crow, of this city, returned on Monday from a visit at Akron. He brought word of a distressing accident which occurred at that place on Saturday evening when a seven year old boy was struck and instantly killed by a passing automobile.

The victim of the fatality was Harold Smith, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Smith, of that place. The accident occurred about eight o'clock in the evening when the Maint Street of the city was crowded with automobiles, buggies, and people, out to hear the band give its weekly concert.

Harold Smith, with a number of other boys, was playing on the street, dodging in and around vehicles and automobiles drawn up alongside the curb of the sidwalk. A machine driven by Andrew Paulson, in which were a number of passengers, came up the street just as Harold and two other boys started out from behind another automobile.

According to bystanders Mr. Paulson was driving at a slow rate of speed, and if he had not been, all three children would have been rundown. The Smith boy was struck and instantly killed. One of the lamps of the machine struck him on the neck and the wheels of the machine passed over his body. Witnesses of the accident said they could hear the crunching of bones as the heavy machine passed over his body. Physicians were on the spot immediately, but their services were of no avail, as death was instantaneous, the boy's neck having been broken by the first impact and his chest and body badly crushed when the wheels passed over his body.

Several women in the crowd fainted when the accident occurred, and the bereaved mother was prostrated with grief when the dreadful news was conveyed to her. The tragedy has cast a gloom over the whole city and Mr. and Mrs. Smith have the sympathy of all in their terrible bereavement."

The accident was apparently unavoidable and there is no disposition to attach any blame to Mr. Paulson, who is overcome with sorrow at the unforunate acciden tof which he was the unwitting cause. He is a highly respected business man of Akron.

Harold was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Smith, and would have been seven years old if he had lived until November. Mr. Harry Smith is associated with his brother, Ray Smith, in the puclication of the Akron Register-Tribune.

Le Mars Semi-Weekly Sentinel
Friday, September 9, 1910
Le Mars, Iowa