The earliest fatal traffic accident found that happened within Milford Twp was on 12 Aug 1930 when Mrs Harriet Davidson Swearingen, 19, was killed when she put a friend's car, Morris Johnsen, 18, of Nevada, in the ditch near the Erickson farm. Apparently the Erickson farm was in the NW of Sec 11, (the Tendall Farm). She severely cut her leg and bled to death. Johnsen, with a severe gash in his knee, ran to the Erickson Home and summoned help but it was too late for Harriet.
1960 Kenneth Alcott, at Dayton Park curve. See page 325.
1969 (plus or minus a year) Bert and Mertle Arneson were killed at the Barlett corner- E29 & S14.
1979 April 2; Linda Jo Rhodes, 23, and her unborn child, of Zearing died in an early morning collision with a Roland Transport grain truck driven by Argyle Cole at the intersection of E29 and S14. Linda's husband, Larry, was the driver of the westbound car that apparently failed to stop and yield at the stop sign at E29 and was hit broadside by the southbound truck. Larry, although critically injured, survived the incident and Argyle received only minor injuries when the vehicles ended up in the ditch southwest of the impact point. The Rhodes had two other children, ages 4 and 2. Linda's maiden name was Wallace.
1986 December 21; Brenda Bayliff, 22, of Dell City, Oklahoma, died in an early morning incident along I-35 when her southbound semi truck left the Bear Creek bridge approach and became airborne and crashed into the creek embankment on the south side of Bear Creek. This location would be in the very north of Sec 5 of Milford Twp.
1987 June 17; Larry Dean Hill, 40, and his wife Laura Jean Hill, 40, of 308 S. Riverside, Ames were killed in a two car collision at the corner of 590 Avenue and 170 Street. This location is two miles north of the Milford School. The Hills were southbound on 590 and were broadsided by a westbound vehicle driven by Mark and Kathi Jo Evans of RR2 Nevada and the vehicles ended up in the ditch southwest of the intersection. The accident occurred at 6:10 in the evening so it is suspected that the setting sun played some part in the collision. Larry died at the scene and Laura died a couple hours later at the Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
1993 September 27; James Vernon Gilbert of McCallsburg was killed in a one car incident about 10:30 in the evening when his northbound car left S14 (620 Ave) and went into the east ditch and rolled. He was about half mile south of 160 Street that is Milford's north border. He was thrown from the vehicle. This location would be very close to the John Sorem residence.
2000 October 25; Loraine Joy Bobbe, 67, of Huxley, was killed about 3:30 in the afternoon when she was headed south on 610 Ave at 170 Street, (two miles east and two miles north of Milford School) and her pickup was broadsided by another pickup driven by Gerald Wayne Carter, 71, of Zearing. She was an Ames Tribune Newspaper carrier. This location is about a quarter mile west of the Morris Danielson home.
2001 Oct 6; Jeremy Thompson, 25, of Ellsworth, Iowa, died from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was the driver of a westbound automobile that ran off the “T” intersection at E29 (190 Street) and Dayton Rd and hit an embankment. He was the father of three sons.
2002 June 6; There's confusion in the history books about the location of this incident. The Story County Sheriff's Dept and the Nevada Journal, who probably received their report from the Sheriff's Dept, report this incident happened at 580 Ave and Old 30-Lincolnway. However, the Dept of Transportation's official records say it happened at 170 Street and 580 Ave which would be a mile west and two miles north of Milford School. A man, Chris Hovick was killed while walking southbound on 580 Ave after dark when he was hit by a pickup driven by Gary Kingsbury, 45, of Ames.
2003 July 29; Alexander Partridge was killed in a two car collision at E29 and S14 (190 Street and 620 Avenue) when he failed to stop and yield at a stop sign. Partridge was westbound and was hit broadside by a northbound Lincoln Towncar driven by Judy Gose of Nevada. In the car with Partridge were Christopher Oppedal, 18, of Nevada and Jaclyn Baker, 15, of Nevada. Gose was in fair condition the following morning at Mary Greeley Medical Center and Oppedal was in good condition. Baker was never admitted to the hospital. Picture taken during the winter of 2007 at the northwest corner of E-29 and S-14.