Waterbury, J. Frank 1872-1927

WATERBURY, MASSEY

Posted By: Doris Hoffman, Volunteer (email)
Date: 2/28/2015 at 17:28:04

Note: His wife's maiden name was Massey.

J. F. Waterbury

Funeral services for J. F. Waterbury, of Sioux City, former well-known resident of Akron and vicinity, who lost his life in an accident, when his auto skidded over an embankment at the approach to the White Bridge, south of Westfield, Iowa, the evening of March 27, 1927, were held in the First Baptist Church of Akron last Friday afternoon.

Plans had been made to have Rev. Lewis Jacobson, pastor of the First Baptist Church, of Sioux City, of which Mr. Waterbury was a member, conduct the service here, and for a quartet from the church to sing; also, friends of Mr. Waterbury in Sioux City and nearby towns were to have acted as pallbearers, but the heavy snow Friday and resulting bad roads made it impossible for Rev. Jacobson, the singers and part of the pallbearers to arrive here for the services, so it was necessary to make local arrangements hurriedly, while the assemblage was in waiting in the Baptist church.

It was arranged for Rev. A. L. MacMallan, local pastor, to conduct the service, and a local quartet--Mrs. H. G. Clark, Miss Clarice MacMillan, Elbert Youngstrom and W. E. Mellen--sang. Mrs. H. Shoulberg presided at the organ. Nearly every seat in the church was occupied by those who came; many from the surrounding country, to pay a final tribute to an esteemed friend and fellow citizen, for Mr. Waterbury had a very wide acquaintance in northwest, Iowa and southeast South Dakota.

The casket and church rostrum were banked with a profusion of beautiful floral pieces. The pallbearers were M. M. Talbott, Boyson Ross, Henry Rossbach and August Anderson, of this city, and E. A. Fields and another friend from Sioux City. Internment was in Riverside Cemetery.

Mr. Waterbury and his wife had been planning to move back here from Sioux City in the near future and again reside on their farm north of town, on the Dakota side.

Akron Register Tribune
Thursday, April 7, 1927
Akron, Iowa
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Note: Quoting the words from the above picture and the article.

Cross in Upper Picture Shows Where the Auto Skidded Through Bridge Railing Into the Water Twenty Feet Below

Lower Picture Shows Wrecked Car, Standing Right Side Up in the Shallow Water, and Body of Drowned Man Nearby

Through the courtesy of the Sioux City Journal, this paper is enabled to present the above halftone illustrations of the scene of the accident which cost the life of J. F. Waterbury, of Sioux City, a former well known and highly esteemed Akron man, when his auto skidded in the muddy road while descending a steep hill at the approach to the white bridge, about five miles south of Westfield, Iowa, on Sunday evening, March 27, 1927.

The picture at the top shows the broken railing through which Mr. Waterbury plunged in his automobile to his death. The men in the picture are a group of nearby citizens who gathered to assist in the work of taking out the drowned man. The car was making the sharp turn to the left when the accident occurred.

The lower picture shows the car and the body just as it was when found by Emmet Tracy and Jonas Westre, farmers of the neighborhood, Monday morning following the tragedy. The Journal staff photographer took the picture just before the body was removed from the water at the edge of the Big Sioux river under the direction of the coroner of Plymouth County.

Akron Register Tribune
Thursday, April 7, 1927
Akron, Iowa