Mulder, Siena, 1929-1940

MULDER, TOERING

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 3/10/2022 at 12:00:42

From the Sioux Center News, August 15, 1940:

Alton Farm Girl Killed When Auto Hits Her Bicycle

Alton, Ia.—Special: Seina Mulder, 9 year-old daughter of Charles Mulder who lives on a farm south of here, was killed instantly Saturday afternoon when she was struck by an automobile while riding her bicycle on highway 33, about two miles south of town.

According to stories told by occupants of the automobile, which officers said was owned by Mrs. Winfield Mayne of Council Bluffs, the Mulder girl and a companion were riding on the highway in the direction of Alton and in advance of the automobile. Although the driver turned out to avoid them the accident victim reportedly swerved her bicycle into the path of the car, and was carried for a distance of about 50 feet.
The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon from the First Christian Ref. Church of Orange City, Reverend Bronkema officiated.

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From the Alton Democrat, August 16, 1940:

Siena Mulder, Aged 10, Struck on No. 33

A fatal accident south of Alton Saturday afternoon in which little Siena Mulder, 10, met her death while riding a bicycle [and another one southeast of Hawarden] wrote a tragic chapter in Death Stalks the Highways over the week-end.

Siena was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mulder who reside on a farm three miles south of town. She was riding toward town with her friend, Harriet Ter Horst, each on a bicycle, when a car occupied by four young people came from the south at high speed.

According to testimony given at the inquest Monday the girls drew over to the right side of the road when the driver sounded his horn. There is some conflict as to whether he sounded the horn again as the car drew nearer the two girls on bicycles but, at any rate, Siena started riding toward the left hand side of the road and the driver was unable to stop his car in time to avoid striking the wheel. She was killed instantly when thrown against the car.

The automobile was driven by Everett Warford, the others in the car being Robert Mayne, whose mother, Mrs. Winfield Mayne owned the car; Ann Caywood and Anne Verdin. All of the young people are 17 or 18 years of age and were on their way to Okoboji from Council Bluffs, young Mayne having been picked up by the rest in Sioux City where he had been working.

All of the testimony showed that young Warford had made every effort to stop the car and avoid the accident but the speed of the car which was given by one of the young people as 70 miles per hour was too great for him to avoid the collision with the bicycle ridden by Siena.

All of the young people testified in straightforward fashion and their story was corroborated by George Fedders and Howard Wassenaar, boys who were riding horses near the scene of the accident at the time. Those in a Woodbury county car who were following the Council Bluffs car were too far behind to see the accident.

The little girl was brought to the doctor’s office in Alton but death had come instantly.

At the inquest Monday the coroner’s jury composed of Chas. H. Tye, Merlin Kjerland and George De Jong found that the accident occurred while young Warford was driving at an excessive rate of speed, 60 to 70 miles per hour, and that the little girl had turned to the left in front of the car. An information charging Warford with driving at an excessive speed was then filed and a hearing held before Justice of the Peace Gerrit L. Rens who held that defendant was not guilty.

State highway patrolmen Brasser, Dunn, Kirkpatrick and Jenkins co-operated in checking the car tracks at the scene of the accident and found from their measurements that the automobile was traveling between 60 and 70 miles per hour at the time the brakes were applied. The car was a 1940 Buick convertible coupe with two seats and room for four passengers.

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RESEARCH NOTES

Another article with details about the accident and the acquittal of Warford was published in the Sioux County Capital (August 15), but the left half is obscured in the newspaper’s binding margin.

Her death certificate (informant Charles D. Mulder) has Siena Mulder, resident of rural Alton, Iowa; born December 10, 1929 in Sioux County; parents Charles D. Mulder, born in the Netherlands, and Maggie Toering, born in Sioux County; died at 3 p.m. August 10, 1940 as the result of an accident on a public highway 2 miles south and ¾ mile east of Alton; cause, basil[i.e., basal] skull fracture.

The Sioux County Cemetery Index and FindaGrave.com also spell her name Siena, and her FindaGrave page includes a photo of her headstone. FindaGrave shows her born 1929 in Lebanon, Sioux County, Iowa; buried in West Lawn Cemetery, Orange City; parents Charlie D. Mulder (1893-1970) and Maggie Toering Mulder (1897-1968). Four siblings listed: Dick C. Mulder (1921-1999), Tillie Mulder Vanden Brink (1923-2010), Harry Mulder (1927-2008), Charles Mulder (1940-2020).

Her birth certificate spells her forename Sienna, born in Garfield Township, mother born in Sioux Center.