Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....VanAman, Agnes 1917 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net July 11, 2011, 10:55 am Lyons Herald, 9 Aug 1917 This community was shocked last Thursday evening when the news came from the Commonwealth dam of the drowning of Agnes VanAman, eleven year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cloyd VanAman, who lived on the L.C. Faxon farm about three- quarters of a mile from the dam. Shortly after the supper hour Agnes, a brother, Harold, Charlie Horner, young son of B.R. Horner, one of the electricians at the dam, and Maxine Hendershot, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Hendershot of Lyons, and who was a guest at the Horner home, went to the river. The place where they swim is nearly in front of the electricians houses, along the retaining wall on the north side of the river, and before the dam was built was dry land. The water at that point is shallow for a short distance out from shore, but is full of treacherous holes made when gravel was taken from this point for construction work, the water in some of the holes reaching a depth of eighteen feet. The two boys were up the river about fifteen rods, and the girls were wading about in the shallow water, when they decided to go where the boys were. Suddenly Agnes stepped into a hole and immediately sank from sight. Maxine in attempting to go to her rescue got in where the water was over her head. The cries of the children were heard by Mr. Horner who was at the barn about a quarter of a mile away. He immediately ran to the river where he could see Maxine struggling on her back and going further out into deep water all the time. Shouting words of encouragement to her he was soon at her side, and then began a struggle that might have ended by both being carried down, had not Henry Parcel, an employee at the dam been handy with a boat. Maxine was gotten ashore before they were aware that the VanAman girl was in the water. A large rake was soon secured and work of dragging the bottom of the river went forward rapidly, while a doctor was sent for and was present when the body was taken from the water about three-quarters of an hour later. Four doctors and the help of kindly neighbors failed to bring a spark of life to the little body after two hours’ labor. Agnes is one of a family of three girls and two boys but her loss will be just as keenly felt by the sorrowing parents and other members of the family who have the sympathy of the entire community in their bereavement. Funeral services were conducted from the farm home Saturday afternoon at two o’clock by Rev. Hansen of the Orange church. Following were the bearers: Edward and Francis Peckins, Ralph Kimball and Roy Munn. Interment was in Tuttle cemetery. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/v/vanaman14497nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 3.2 Kb