Southampton-Isle of Wight County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Wills, Amos F. Sr., 1948 

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AMOS FLOYD WILLS 

TRUCK-CAR COLLISION AT UNITY RESULTS IN DEATH OF AMOS F. WILLS, FARMER 

LOG TRUCK STRIKES SIDE OF SEDAN, CAUSING DRIVER OF PASSENGER CAR TO FALL OUT; 
WHEELS OF TRUCK SAID TO HAVE PASSED OVER VICTIM’S HEAD AND NECK. 

   The sharp curve in Route 635, where it passes the Cadmus Stephenson store 
at Unity, was the setting Wednesday for a traffic collision which snuffed out 
the life of Amos Floyd Wills, Sr., a prominent farmer whose residence on Zuni 
RFD 2 was about a mile from the locale of the accident.

   The collision occurred about 12:20 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, according 
to investigators who were called to the scene.  Mr. Wills, driving a 1940 
Chevrolet two-door sedan with two colored girls, Lucy Ricks and Rosa Taylor, 
as passengers, was traveling south on Route 635.  Approaching the point where 
the road curves to the north was a Ford log truck belonging to Ryland Duck of 
Walters and driven by Herbert Edmonds, colored.  The log truck, with William 
Warren, also colored, as a passenger, was traveling west on Route 635.

   Exactly what happened in the brief interval of time before the collision 
occurred has not been definitely established.  Edmonds, driver of the truck, 
claimed that he had been traveling at 30 to 35 miles an hour, had sounded his 
horn as neared the intersection, and slowed down to about 15 miles an hour 
when he plowed into the Chevrolet.  His truck hit the car driven by Mr. Wills 
on the left side near the front, knocking open the door, and causing Mr. Wills 
to fall out of the car.  Reports conflict as to the details of the accident. 
According to county officers who investigated, the wheels of the truck passed 
over Mr. Wills’ head and neck, crushing the former and breaking the latter. 
The driver of the truck is alleged to have fled into the woods without waiting 
to see what damage had been done.  The truck ran into the porch of the store 
and knocked it down.  None of the other persons involved in the accident was 
injured.

   The injuries sustained by Mr. Wills caused his death within a few minutes. 
At the time of his death he was 55 years of age.

   He is survived by his wife; two sons, Amos F. Wills, Jr., of Norfolk and 
A.H. Wills of Zuni; two daughters, Mrs. Samuel W. Purviance of Boykins and 
Miss Carolyn Wills of Zuni; three brothers J.R. Wills of Suffolk, M.M. Wills 
on Norfolk and T.A. Wills of Windsor; three sisters, Mrs. W.R. Johnson, Mrs. 
W.D. Nelms and Mrs. C.C. Robertson of Windsor; two grandchildren; and several 
nieces and nephews.

   Funeral services for the accident victim will be conducted this afternoon 
(Friday) at three o’clock at Tucker Swamp Baptist Church by his pastor, Rev. 
L.E. Holzbach, assisted by Rev. G.W. Kissinger, a former pastor.  Burial will 
be in the church cemetery, member of Mr. Wills’ Sunday School class acting as 
pallbearers.

   Investigating the accident were State Trooper W.G. O’Brien, Dr. J.J. 
Grizzard of Branchville, acting coroner, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Junius W. 
Pulley.


Amos Floyd WILLS, Sr., farmer, 
Southampton Co. native, killed in collision 16 Jun 1948, Unity, age 56, 
interred in Tucker Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery*, 18 Jun 1948, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), June 18, 1948, p. 1 

*Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, 
   Tucker Swamp list (TS-33): 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/tckrswp.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/w420a3ob.txt