Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Beale, Claude T., 1922 

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CLAUDE THOMAS BEALE

CLAUDE BEALE LOSES LIFE BY DROWNING

   A Fourth of July tragedy coming very close to the people of Franklin was 
the death by drowning at Ocean View, of Claude Beale, son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. 
H. Beale of this town.  Mr. and Mrs. Beale, their sons, Claude and Marvin, 
daughters, Misses Lorena and Pearl, and Miss Elma Edwards motored to Ocean 
View early Tuesday morning to spend the holiday there with Mr. Beale’s oldest 
son, Geno D. Beale, and his wife.

   About noon Claude and Marvin Beale, Miss Edwards and Miss Doris Whitehurst 
of Norfolk went in swimming in the surf near the Forester cottage where the 
Beales were staying for the day.  Wading out about sixty yards from the beach 
in the shallow water over a sandbar, they started to return to the beach and 
evidently stepped into a hole, or "sandboil" as it is called at the View, and 
found themselves in fifteen feet of water.  None of the party could swim 
except Marvin Beale and all three of the others caught hold of him.  Seeing 
that none of them would be saved by clinging to the sole swimmer in the crowd, 
Claude loosed his hold on his brother and told him to "Go Ahead".  The young 
women still clung frantically to Marvin until the shoulder strap on his 
bathing suit broke and he was able to free himself from them.  Swimming to 
shore and shouting at the top of his voice for help, he enlisted the aid of 
two boys, both smaller than himself, and a rowboat was pushed into the water 
and rowed to the spot where Claude Beale and the two young women were still 
struggling.

   Here both of the girls were pulled into the boat, but Claude Beale had gone 
down for the last time and could not be found and the boat was brought to 
ashore by the aid of volunteers who had rushed to the scene, Marvin and the 
girls collapsing on the beach.

   Life guards at the View immediately began a thorough search for the body of 
the unfortunate young man and it was found about six o’clock in the afternoon 
with-in a few feet of where he went down.  The body was brought to Franklin 
Wednesday afternoon on the local train from Norfolk accompanied by W.J.M. 
Holland, the undertaker here.

   Claude Thomas Beale was the second child of Mrs. and Mrs. Geo. H. Beale and 
would have reached his twenty-second birthday next Sunday.  He was an obedient 
and dutiful son, a loyal member of the Franklin Christian Church and a young 
man of good character.  He was employed by W.T. Pace in his roofing 
department.  He is survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters and 
by a wide circle of relatives in this and nearby communities.  The entire 
community sympathizes most deeply with the sorrowing parents and loved ones in 
the terrible tragedy which had taken son and brother from them without a 
moment’s warning.

   The funeral services were held from the residence in Clay street Thursday 
afternoon at 3 o’clock, conducted by Dr. C.H. Rowland, pastor of the Franklin 
Christian Church, assisted by Rev. C.W. Scarborough of Franklin and Rev. J.E. 
Brooks of Courtland, interment following in the family plot at Poplar Spring 
Cemetery.  The active pallbearers were Geno, Marvin, Johnnie and Floyd Beale, 
Linwood Edwards, Fred Panton, Willard and Linwood Cooper.  There were many 
beautiful floral tributes, indicative of the love and esteem of relatives and 
friends and of the sympathy felt by the town and community towards the 
bereaved family.


Claude Thomas BEALE, W.T. Pace roofing dept. employee, 
Franklin native, drowned 4 Jul 1922, Ocean View, Norfolk, age 21, 
interred in Poplar Spring Cemetery (Section 2, Plot 89A*), Franklin, 
   22 Jul 1922, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), July 7, 1922, p. 1 

*Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, 
   Poplar Spring list: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/poplar2.txt 

His father's obit ("Tidewater News," May 24, 1935, p. 8) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b400g3ob.txt 

His mother's obit ("Tidewater News," May 31, 1956), 
   with their marriage record appended, is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b400p1ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b400c5ob.txt