Gaul, Francis 1922-1936

GAUL

Posted By: Paul Van Dyke--Volunteer
Date: 1/5/2017 at 21:39:05

Source: Hawarden Independent (3-12-1936)

Born: March 13, 1922
Died: March 8, 1936

14-YEAR-OLD CHATSWORTH BOY MET DEATH MONDAY--BOY DROWNS IN SIX MILE CREEK--FRANCIS GAUL FELL FROM TRESTLE NEAR CHATSWORTH--BODY NOT RECOVERED UNTIL TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Francis Gaul, 14 year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ferd. Gaul of Chatsworth, met a tragic death late Monday afternoon when he fell from the Milwaukee railroad bridge across Six Mile Creek about a mile north of Chatsworth and was drowned. Francis and his brother, Robert Gaul, accompanied Jay Farnsworth, who had made several trips to the bridge during the day to report the condition of the ice in the creek to the section men. It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon when they left on the trip which proved so tragic. Jay was standing on the bridge looking east and when he turned around Francis had fallen into the water from the west side of the bridge but just what caused him to lose his balance and fall will never be known. The body came up once and then disappeared. The two youths were helpless in rescuing Francis because of the deep waters in the creek so they hurried back to Chatsworth and instantly a searching party went out but all efforts to locate the body proved futile. Two boats were brought up from Akron that evening and a crew of men from Akron and a number of Hawarden men went down and they continued the search for the body until 9:30 that night when they discontinued the search until morning, Tuesday morning a number of men from Hawarden took two boats and returned to the scene and a crew from Akron and Chatsworth and others joined in the search. During the forenoon hours the search was made at random but about noon it was decided to tie the four boats together and let them go down stream slowly and every foot of the creek bottom was searched by the men with poles to which were attached large fish hooks. About sixty yards from the bridge at 2:15 P.M. the body was discovered by Mike Burnight of Chatsworth and was removed from the water. The body was in the clear in the main channel of the creek and at that point the water was about twenty feet deep.

Francis Gaul, oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Gaul, was born at Granville, Iowa. March 13, 1922, so would have been 14 years old Friday of this week. His entire life was spent at Granville until last October when he came to Chatsworth with his parents at which time his father took mover the management of the Sioux Valley grain elevator. Besides his parent he is survived by seven sisters and brothers, Mary Ann, Cyril, Robert, Bernice, Lois, Charles and Milo. He also leaves his grandmother, Mrs. Catherine Gaul of Alton and a number of other relatives. Mrs. Gaul recently lost a sister by death and the tragic death of her son was a hard blow to her and the other members of the family and the sympathy of the entire community goes out to the family in their deep sorrow.

Funeral services were held at St. Mary’s Church in Hawarden at 9:30 this morning with the Reverend Father J.M. Neppel in charge. The body was taken to Alton and was interred in the Catholic Cemetery there. Reverend Father Schemmel of Alton was in charge of the services at the grave. Out of town relatives who came to attend the funeral included Mrs. Catherine Gaul of Alton, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Colling, Mrs. Mike Helles, John Gaul and Matt Marks of Granville and Miss Christine Marks of Le Mars.