Isle of Wight-Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Pate, James H., 1937 

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Inquest Asked In Death Of Pate On Public Highway 

Coroner’s Jury To Sit In Investigation of The Circumstances of Automobile 
   Killing of Elderly Man Last Night 

  An inquest into the circumstances of the death of James Henry Pate, 70, 
killed when struck by an automobile driven by Job R. Saunders, Suffolk 
attorney, last night as he walked along route 460*, was requested by Charles 
B. Godwin, commonwealth's attorney today.  

  A date for the hearing had not been set early this afternoon.  A technical 
charge of manslaughter was placed against the driver. 

  Mr. Pate, on the last lap of a hitch-hiking trip from Lexington, Ky., where 
he had visited his son, was within five miles of his destination, the home of 
two daughters at Windsor, when he met sudden death.  His skull was fractured 
and his right leg was severed at the knee.  The man was dead when brought to 
Lakeview hospital by Mr. Saunders and Robert Moore, who with S.H. Babb, Jr., 
had witnessed the accident. 

  Saunders said he did not see the elderly man "until he stepped in front of 
the car."  He estimated his speed at "between 30 and 40 miles an hour." 
Moore and Babb made similar statements. 

  Discovery that the right leg was missing was made upon examination of the 
victim at the hospital. 

  Saunders and Moore returned with a group, including officers, to the scene 
of the mishap, and Moore found the missing member in a ditch at the side of 
the highway. 

  The body was turned over to I.O. Hill & Co., to be prepared for burial, 
after the victim's identity had been established by two sons-in-law, G.W. 
Boyette and O.W. Powell, of Windsor.  Dr. Edward C. Joyner, city coroner, 
viewed the body. 

  Survivors are Mrs. Boyette and Mrs. Powell, of Windsor; Mrs. G.W. Parker, 
Greensboro, N.C.; Mrs. J.B. Bettingfield, Raleigh, N.C.; Mrs. Roland Madras, 
Index; Mrs. G.F. Powell, Newport News, daughters; and a son, L.L. Pate, of 
Lexington, Ky. 

  Funeral services will be conducted Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Antioch 
Christian church, by the Rev. Mr. Crutchfield.  Burial will be in the church 
cemetery. 

****************************************************************************** 

MORTUARY 

JAMES H. PATE 

  Funeral service for James Henry Pate was held Thursday afternoon at the 
Antioch Christian church conducted by Dr. I.W. Johnson, and the Rev. H.E. 
Crutchfield. 

  The choir of the Antioch church, accompanied by Mrs. E.R. Nelms, rendered 
the hymns "Abide With Me" and "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me."  A duet, "Face to 
Face" was sung by Mrs. H.E. Pierce and Miss Winfrey Clements. 

  The casket was covered with a double spray of Easter lilies and fern. 
Active pallbearers were W.E. Garrison, J.A. Carr, G.F. Pierce, T.R. Hingerty, 
G.T. Cobb, C.G. Pierce, A.D. English and Roland Nelms. 

  Friends of the family acted as honorary pallbearers.  Interment was in the 
church cemetery. 

****************************************************************************** 

Exonerate Saunders In Highway Killing 

  With the technical charge of manslaughter dismissed on motion of 
Commonwealth's Attorney Charles B. Godwin, Jr., J.R. Saunders, Suffolk 
attorney, was exonerated from blame in the highway accident in which 
James Henry Pate, elderly Windsor hitch-hiker, was killed.  Pate was struck 
by the car driven by the Suffolk attorney last Thursday night.  He was dead 
upon reaching the hospital. 

  No witnesses appeared to testify before Justice Nat T. Gray against Mr. 
Saunders. 

****************************************************************************** 

PEDESTRIAN, HIT BY AUTO, KILLED 

JAMES HENRY PATE VICTIM OF CAR DRIVEN BY J. R. SAUNDERS, ATTORNEY 

  Suffolk, March 2 - Struck by a car driven by J.R. Saunders, Suffolk 
attorney, a man later identified as James Henry Pate, 70, was killed tonight 
on the Windsor highway. Mr. Saunders, who said the man stepped in front of 
his machine, brought the victim to Lakeview Hospital.  He was pronounced dead 
on arrival, his skull having been fractured and his left leg severed at the 
knee. 

  Inquires by Mr. Saunders and Sheriff Frank Culpepper near the scene resulted 
in two sons-in-law identifying the body. 

  Mr. Pate, according to their story, had been visiting a son, L.B. Pate in 
Lexington, Ky., and was enroute to Windsor to see his daughters, Mrs. O.W. 
Powell and Mrs. G.W. Boyette.  Survivors include three other daughters, Mrs. 
J.D. Reddenfield, of Raleigh; Mrs. Roland Madras, of Index, Va., and Mrs. G.F. 
Powell, of Newport News, Va. 

  The body was taken to the funeral parlors of the I.O. Hill Company, where it 
was visited by the coroner, Dr. Edward Joyner. 


James Henry PATE, of Lexington, KY, farmer, 
b. 6 Jul 1862, Kinston, Lenoir Co., NC, fatally struck, 2 Mar 1937, 
interred in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery**, near Windsor, 4 Mar 1937, 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 14, No. 291, Wed., Mar. 3, 1937, pp. 1 & 6; 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 14, No. 293, Fri., Mar. 5, 1937, p. 4; 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 14, No. 296, Tues., Mar. 9, 1937, p. 8; 
"Smithfield (VA) Times," Vol. 17, No. 52, Thurs., Mar. 11, 1937, p. 1 

**Antioch list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society 
   {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/cemeteries/antioch.txt 

Apparently unmarked; not on: 
   Isle of Wight County Historical Society {IWCHS} 
   Grave Site Survey Task Force {GSSTF} report #20: 
   http://www.iwchs.com/Cemetery-Reports.html 

No Find a Grave Memorial. 

*D.Cert. 7814 (Nan.Co. #62) gives struck on Hwy. 58, Nan.Co.  

His wife, Cora Lee (PRIDGEON) PATE (1866 - 1925), is buried in Taylors First 
   Baptist Church Cemetery, Taylors, Greenville Co., SC. 
   (No Find a Grave Memorial) 

The driver, Job Randolph SAUNDERS (1887-1955), 
   is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suffolk. 
   Cedar Hill list, another extension of the SCHS Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_s.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/p300j2ob.txt