Northampton County NcArchives Obituaries.....Bryant, Franklin Otis 1953
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Bruce Saunders bs4403@verizon.net January 9, 2014, 9:33 am

THE TIDEWATER NEWS – 06-04-1953, P. 1
FRANKLIN OTIS BRYANT

ONE KILLED AS CAR CRASHES INTO A BRIDGE RAILING

   Franklin Otis Bryant, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lokie L. Bryant of Severn, 
N.C., was fatally injured Saturday night about 9:30 o’clock when the car in 
which he was riding with four other young people struck the railing of the 
Meherrin River bridge near Boykins and he was thrown through the windshield into 
the river.

   Young Bryant was seated in the car beside the driver, Joe Griffin. Other 
passengers were Miss Hilda Warren, 14 year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert 
Warren of Murfreesboro, N.C., Bobby Parham of Wake Forest, N.C., owner of the 
car, and Carlton Britton of Pendleton, N.C.  They were reportedly returning from 
the Whiteway Café in Boykins.

   Bryant’s body was recovered from the river on Monday morning about 8 o’clock 
by Henry Jenkins and Willie Barrett of Conway, N.C.  According to Coroner W.W. 
Carter of Woodland, N.C., the youth died of a broken neck, an examination 
revealing no water in his lungs. The body was found some 40 feet downstream from 
the position of the car.

   The other persons involved in the accident were taken to a Roanoke Rapids, 
N.C., hospital for treatment and were then released. Griffin, the driver of the 
car, reportedly received lacerations of the face.

   The automobile crashed through the wooden railing of the bridge near the 
south end on the left side, and came to rest on its side in the water, the four 
who remained in the car crawling to the bank. Bryant fell near the center of the 
stream.

   W.E. Ferguson of Newsoms, an eyewitness of the accident, is reported as 
having said that as he  was approaching the bridge from the south he saw the 
headlights of two cars rounding abreast the curve north of the river and coming 
in his direction. Fearing a collision, he applied his brakes and brought his car 
to a stop. The auto attempting to pass veered into the right lane in time to 
avoid hitting him; but the other car swerved across the highway to the left and 
plunged into the river. The passing car is alleged to have proceeded on its way; 
and the identity of the driver is as yet unknown.

   Patrolman B. L. Cooke of Murfreesboro, one of the investigating officers, 
gave it as his opinion that all of the occupants of the death car would probably 
have been killed if the water in the river had not been extremely low. He quoted 
Griffin as saying he opened the car door, dragged the Warren girl to safety, and 
dived for Bryant but was unable to find him.

   Young Bryant is survived by his parents; his grandmother, Mrs. Charlie Bryant 
of Newsoms; four sisters, Mrs. E.T. Beale, Jr., of Boykins, Mrs. Pinkham 
Lassiter of Gatesville, and Misses Betty J. and Shelley A. Bryant of Severn; two 
brothers, Stanley E. Bryant of Richmond and Lokie L. Bryant, Jr., of Severn; two 
half-sisters, Mrs. Fred Hulsey of Morehead City, N.C., and Mrs. L.G. Davis of 
Richmond; and four half-brothers, Raybon A. Bryant of Conway, Ruffin W. Bryant 
of Severn, Ronald L. Bryant of Stony Creek, and Robert L. Bryant of Woodland.

   Funeral services were conducted at 3:30 o’clock Tuesday afternoon at the 
Severn Methodist Church, of which the deceased was a member, by the pastor, Rev. 
S.H. Schuler. Burial was in the Severn Cemetery, pallbearers being Rufus 
Johnson, Cecil Maddrey, Stewart Martin, J.B. Stephenson, Jr., K.E. Stokes, Hugo 
Umstead and Royal Watson.


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