Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Mays, Raleigh R., 1943 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ Raleigh Mays Killed Today Car Struck By Virginian Train At Magnolia Springs MOTHER, FATHER STOOD AT WINDOW VIEWED TRAGEDY Was Making Second Trip - Work Earlier Delayed by Weather In a tragic accident at 9:30 o'clock this morning, Raleigh Robert Mays, 22 [sic; 29], lost his life when the car in which he was driving was struck by westbound passenger train No. 3 of the Virginian Railroad at the Magnolia Springs Farm crossing two and one-half miles south of Suffolk. Mays was killed while his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Mays, watched him drive off to work from their home, which is less than 100 yards from the scene of the accident. Mays had earlier in the morning reported for work at the Bower's Hill housing project, but had been told that work would not start until later in the morning because of the cold weather. He returned to his home and was making his second trip to his place of employment when the fatality occured. Death was due to a fractured skull and shock, according to Dr. Edward C. Joyner, acting county coroner, who viewed the remains. The accident was investigated by County Sheriff J.F. Culpepper and members of his staff. Special investigators of the railroad were at the scene of the accident this morning and a company official from Roanoke will make a farther inspection this afternoon. A check of the damage done to the locomotive was made this morning when the train reached Suffolk. Mays' body was thrown from the car, a Chevrolet coupe, fifty-nine yards from the crossing. It was impossible to determine how the body was thrown clear. The top was sheared from the car and the vehicle demolished, but from facial cuts received by the deceased, it is likely that the body hurtled through the windshield as the car careened down the tracks in front of the braking engine. The car itself was carried 475 yards from the crossing before being thrown clear of the railroad right of way. The cow catcher had been dislodged from the locomotive by the force of the accident and was found along the tracks 456 yards from the crossing. County officials were at a loss to hazard an opinion as to how young Mays failed to see the approaching train. The view for hundreds of yards on both sides of the railroad gives clear view of approaching trains. D.H. St. Clair was engineer and J.S. Lane, conductor, was in charge of the train. Lane is a resident of Roanoke. St. Clair lives in Victoria. The train makes a daily trip from Norfolk to Roanoke. In addition to his mother and father, Mays is survived by four brothers and two sisters. Brothers are Rabey, Oscar, Earnest and Edward. Rabey and Edward are now in the armed forces and the other two brothers are at home. Surviving sisters are Eunice and Catherine Mays. The body was removed from the scene of the accident to the I.O. Hill Funeral Home, Suffolk. No funeral arrangements have been made, as yet. ****************************************************************************** Mays Rites Set For This Afternoon Funeral services for Raleigh Robert Mays will be held at 4:00 p.m., today at the funeral parlors of I.O. Hill and Company in Suffolk, by the Rev. R.E. Brittle and the Rev. W.J. Morrison. Burial will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery. The young man was killed in an auto-train collision near his home at Magnolia Springs, Tuesday morning. ****************************************************************************** Last Rites Held For Raleigh R. Mays Funeral rites for Raleigh Robert Mays were conducted at 4 p.m., yesterday at the funeral home of I.O. Hill and Company by the Rev. R.E. Brittle. Mrs. Merritt Johnson, accompanied by Mrs. Harry Schadel, sang "What a Friend We Have In Jesus," and "Shall We Gather at the River." Pink gladiolas composed the pall that covered the casket. The active pallbearers were W.W. Piland, Ernest H. Lassiter, John Bradshaw, Frank Vick, John Bright, Herbert Babb, N.G. Simpson and F.L. Faulk. Friends of the family were honorary pallbearers. Interment was made in Cedar Hill Cemetery. Raleigh Robert MAYS, of Magnolia Springs, truck driver, b. 25 Apr 1913, Nansemond Co., hit by train 23 Mar 1943, Magnolia Springs, interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block G, Lot 153*), Suffolk, 26 Mar 1943, "Suffolk News-Herald," Vol. 21, No. 2, Tues., Mar. 23, 1943, p. 1; "Suffolk News-Herald," Vol. 21, No. 5, Fri., Mar. 26, 1943, p. 1; "Suffolk News-Herald," Vol. 21, No. 6, Sat., Mar. 27, 1943, p. 1 *Additional information: Cedar Hill list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_m.txt A photo of his gravestone - added by Allison Stec Bell - is posted with Find a Grave Memorial #68416731. His parents, Willie Henry & Lizzie Pearl (HARGRAVE) MAYS, are also buried there. D.Cert. 6668 (Sleepy Hole #95) gives divorced from Lissie May MAYS; son of Willie M. He & Lessie Mae THOMPSON, daughter of Preston & Minnie THOMPSON, m. 31 Jul 1937 in Gatesville, Gates Co., NC. Lessie (1918 - 1952) is buried in Campground Cemetery, Fairfield, Marion Co., FL. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/m200r3ob.txt