Isle of Wight-Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Newspapers.....News, Aug 1913 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ MACHINE DASHES THROUGH OPENING IN DRAWBRIDGE _____ Carries Two of Its Pas- sengers to Death in Water. _____ OTHERS BARELY MAKE ESCAPE _____ Taylor Nelms and Miss Dorothy Ward Not Seen Again After Their Car Plunges into Nan- semond River - Danger Sig- nal Set, but Brakes Fail to Work. _____ [Special to The Times-Dispatch.] Smithfield, Va., August 3. - Racing through the night along the road which runs from Smithfield to Suffolk, a mo- tor car, driven by Don Ward, of Moon- light, ailed to respond when brakes were applied, and, rushing through an open draw, plunged twenty feet into the river. In the automobile were Don Ward and his sister, Dorothy Ward, of Moon- light; Gladys Cofer and Lucy Cofer, sisters, of Smithfield, and Taylor Nelms, of Smithfield. Miss Dorothy Ward and Taylor Nelms were drowned, the other three occu- pants of the car swimming to shore. River Dragged for Bodies. To-night the river is being dragged for the bodies of the girl and young man, but as the water is forty feet deep where the accident occurred, the search has been unsuccessful. Shortly before 9 o'clock the party of five left Smithfield for a run to Suffolk, twenty miles distant, in a motor car owned by W. L. Ward, father of the young man who drove and of the girl who lost her life. Five miles from Smithfield, at Reed's Ferry, the highway crosses a branch of the Nansemond River by a bridge in which is a "draw" for the passing of vessels. The draw was open, and colored lights signaled the danger to the oc- cupants of the machine. Don Ward suddenly saw the open space yawning before him, and, apply- ing foot and hand brakes, made super- human efort to check the speed of the car, but either the momentum was too great or the brakes refused to act, for the machine, with engines loudly rac- ing, plunged sixty feet to the bottom of the stream. Three Struggle to Shore. Don Ward, and the Misses Cofer, struggling and swimming, managed to reach the shore, but neither Miss Ward nor Taylor Nelms were seen after the car struck the water. A message was sent to Smithfield, and people in conveyances of all sorts rushed to the scene of the accident. An attempt was at once made to re- cover the bodies of Nelms and Miss Ward, but without success. Don Ward and the Misses Cofer were driven back to Smithfield, and are now here. _____ "The Times-Dispatch," (Richmond, VA), Aug. 4, 1913, p. 1, col. 1 Additional information: Dorothy William WARD, school girl, b. 18 Jan 1895, Isle of Wight Co., drowned 3 Aug 1913, Reid's Ferry, interred 5 Aug 1913, Mill Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery George Taylor NELMS, mechanic, b. 28 Jan 1892, Isle of Wight Co., drowned 3 Aug 1913, Reid's Ferry, interred 5 Aug 1913, Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield While they died in Nansemond Co., their Death Certificates were filed in Isle of Wight Co. - Dorothy's (#20156) in Hardy District, Taylor's (#20155) in Smithfield. Don & Dorothy WARD's father, Dr. William L. WARD, was a physician & merchant, & Postmaster of Moonlight. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), Carolyn Keen (vahistorichouses@aol.com), & File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/news/19130204td.txt