COSHOCTON COUNTY OHIO - Alfred E. Hardesty, obit and article, September 3, 1943 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Gwendolyn Hardesty Oliver 1186 Neil Ave Unit C. Columbus, Ohio 43201 coliver@netwalk.com October 27, 1996 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Coshocton Tribune September 3, 1943 DRIVER KILLED AS BRIDGE COLLAPSES Tractor Falls Thru Beaver Run Span Alfred E. Hardesty, 40, Fresno, an employe of the county for the past 10 years, was killed this morning when a tractor he was driving crashed thru the Beaver Run bridge near Warsaw at about 8 o'clock. Mr. Hardesty suffered a crushed chest and died instantly. W. L. Browning, 30, of Cooperdale, who was with Mr. Hardesty, jumped to safety, escaping without serious injury. The accident was immediately reported to Kenneth Kinkley, county-engineer, who went to the scene. He stated that the tractor driven by Mr. Hardesty moved on the bridge, hitched to a grader by an eight-foot steel tongue. Apparently the stones of the north abutment of the bridge, which is 22-feet in length, let loose and the tractor crashed into the cree bed. Mr. Hardesty, he stated, had either dumped and struck the steel tongue or was struck by the tongue at the time of the crash. Mr. Hardesty and Mr. Browning were on their way to Blissfield from West Bedford, The bridge is on Route 31, a township road near Warsaw. They had in the past crossed the bridge many times with the same machinery as was used this morning. Mr. Kinkley said the bridge was built to sustain 10 tons. The weight of the tractor was given as nine and one-half tons and Mr. Kinkley said that at no time on account of the shortness of the span and the length of the moving equipment, would more than 10 tons be actually on the bridge. All bridges are examined in the county periodically, and it was the theory of the engineer that the abutment may have been loosened by other cars and trucks. Mr. Hardesty had been an employee of Coshocton County since 1933 and was credited by the engineer as having been particularly valuable as a grade operator. He was born near Adams Mills. Oct. 2, 1902, and was married Aug. 4, 1926, to Opal Leavengood, Fresno, who survives along with one son, Alva, 13. Other survivors are his mother, Mrs. Florence Hardesty, Fresno Route 1; his grandmother, Mrs. Emma Pepper of Fresno Route 1; and the following brothers and sisters, Mrs. William Everhart, Stone Creek; William Hardesty, Coshocton Route 5, Telford Hardesty, Coshocton Route 1; Mrs. William Lint, West Lafayette,; Miss Vesta Hardesty, Fresno Route 1; David Hardesty of the U.S. Army in Texas; Clifford Hardesty of the Fresno Route 1 home. Tentative funeral plans have been made for Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the home in Fresno with Rev. Glenroy DShoup in charge. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery, Fresno.