Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Gardner, James, 1903 

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FAITHFULNESS OF FRIENDS REWARDED 

Roberts Edwards Find Body of His Friend James Gardner Floating in River - 
   Never Gave Up Hope of Recovery 

PATHETIC FIDELITY OF MAN AND DOG 

  Suffolk, Va., Feb. 22. - (Special) - After a ceaseless vigil of three 
months' duration, Robert Edwards, of Southampton county, Va., today was 
rewarded by discovering the fate of his friend and neighbor James Gardner, who 
had been missing from his home since last November.  Though many persons 
thought that Gardner was not dead, but had flown from the neighborhood, 
Edwards stuck to the suicide theory and kept scanning the turbid waters of 
Nottoway to learn when they should give up their dead. 

  About 10 o'clock this morning Edwards saw Gardner's body floating.  It was 
about three hundred yards below Cypress bridge, which is some three or four 
miles below Courtland, the county seat.  The warm spell may have had something 
to do with the rising. 

  Having found the corpse, Edwards hastened to fasten it to a bush and then he 
gave notice to the authorities preparatory to conducting the inquest. 

  Considering its long stay in the water, the corpse was in a good state of 
preservation.  There was a slime which had separated from the water and found 
lodgment on the face and recognition from that would have been almost 
impossible.  One ear was missing, having been eaten away by a fish or other 
denizen of the water, and there was a small hole in the head.  Owing to the 
low temperature of the water since November, there had been practically no 
decomposition of the person. 

  There was $12.73 in cash found in Gardner's pockets.  Of this amount six 
dollars was in currency - a $5 and a $1 note - and these had not been damaged. 
There also was a $5 gold coin. 

  This afternoon Acting Coroner J.T. Moore, of Courtland, conducted the 
inquisition.  The jurors and coroner made careful inspection of the remains 
and later returned a verdict that Gardner came to his death by drowning 
himself. 

  On his last living day Gardner left his home, near Cypress bridge, on foot. 
He carried a hunting bag and was followed by a hunting dog.  Shortly before 
Gardner had words with his wife. 

  Passing a man on the road, Gardner remarked that he aimed to destroy 
himself, but the declaration was not taken seriously. 

       DOG WAS FAITHFUL. 

  On the following day Gardner's dog was found on the bridge faithfully 
guarding the hunting bag and the missing man's hat was found floating on the 
river. 

  The neighbors first assumed that Gardner had committed suicide.  The river 
was dragged day after day, but no further trace of the person sought was 
found. 

  As weeks passed and no word came of Gardner, many persons began to think 
that he was not drowned after all, but had left the bag, dog and hat as a ruse 
and had fled from the community. 

  Edwards stuck to the theory that Gardner's body was in the river and often 
he would look over the water's surface. 

  Gardner was a farmer, aged about 35 years.  He is survived by a widow and 
two children.  The uncertainty about his fate had been a topic of interest in 
Southampton and elsewhere ever since his disappearance. 

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

  Suffolk, Va., Feb. 24. - (Special) - [...] 

        SUFFOLK BRIEFS. 

[...] 

  James Gardner, whose body was found in the Nottoway river after a 
disappearance of three months, was buried yesterday in Southampton county. 

[...] 


James GARDNER, farmer, 
suicide Nov 1903, Cypress Bridge, Nottoway R., age ca. 35, 
body recovered 22 Feb 1904, interred in Southampton Co., 23 Feb 1904, 
"Virginian-Pilot" (Norfolk, VA), Vol. 20, No. 46, Tues., Feb. 23, 1904, p. 6; 
"Virginian-Pilot" (Norfolk, VA), Vol. 20, No. 48, Thurs., Feb. 25, 1904, p. 6 

Additional information: 

I do not see a suitably aged James GARDNER in Southampton Co. in the 1900 
   Census. 


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File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/g635j7ob.txt