Obituaries: Lawson Thompson, 1951, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: January 4, 1951 Winn Parish Enterprise

Sikes Man Killed, Another Injured In Truck Accident

One man was killed and another seriously injured when a loaded log truck and a
pulpwood truck collided and ran off the Pepper Branch Bridge on State Route
110, two miles east of Sikes late Friday afternoon.

Dead was Lawson Thompson, 38, of Sikes, who was riding in the log truck. 
Leonard E. Cromwell, 38, also of Sikes, driver of the log truck, is being
treated in Winnfield General Hospital for a fractured spine.  Thompson died of
a broken neck, and head injuries.

The accident occurred about 4:45 p.m. Friday, when a pulpwood truck driven by
Festus Brewton, 51, of Goldonna, wood contractor and Winn Parish Police Jury
member from ward eight, attempted to pass the log truck, driven by Leonard
Cromwell, and owned by Stanley Smith, Sikes sawmill operator.  Brewton's truck
was not loaded, but carried three Negroes, who had been cutting wood that day.

Both trucks were traveling west toward Sikes, when Brewton's truck attempted
to pass the log truck, according to State Police reports.  The wheels of the
two trucks became entangled and both ran off the right side of the road.

The pulpwood truck hit the bank on the opposite side of the small creek, and
the front end of the log truck lay on the rear of the pulpwood truck, with its
load of logs thrown forward and to the right.  Thompson was killed when the
logs smashed his side of the cab.

Cromwell was taken to the hospital in Winnfield by Earl Usrey of Sikes.

Investigating the accident were State Trooper Sanford Jordan and Winn Parish
Sheriff C. M. Robinson.

Funeral services for Thompson were held December 30 in Sharon Baptist Church. 
Survivors are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Thompson of Sikes Star Route;
three sisters, Mrs. Iley Thompson, Mrs. Bennie Johnston, and Mrs. Exie May
Gentry, all of Bastrop; three children, Donnis and Donald, twins, and a
smaller boy.