Sussex County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Birdsong, B. Thomas, 1908 

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THOMAS BIRDSONG SHOOTS HIMSELF 
Gun Explodes Accidentally, Victim Being Rushed Here for Treatment. 

  In an effort to cross a ditch with a shotgun, which was almost as long as 
he is tall, Thomas Birdsong, twelve years old, of Waverly, was fatally injured 
yesterday afternoon while hunting in Nansemond county.  He was hurried to this 
city, and was operated on after his arrival, at the Memorial Hospital.  No 
hopes are entertained for his recovery. 

  The youth, who is a son of Mr. F.L. Birdsong, was accompanied by his 
fourteen-year-old brother.  Thomas was carrying the gun when it unexpectedly 
exploded, and he fell unconscious within a yard of his companion.  When his 
brother fell, the older boy ran at once for assistance.  The injured boy has 
never rallied from the shock. 

  The entire load of birdshot entered the stomach and right arm.  Birdsong was 
taken to his home, and local physicians advised that he be brought at once to 
Richmond. 

  He arrived on the "Cannon Ball," which reached this city at 7:45 o'clock 
last night, and was accompanied by his father and an older brother.  The 
father waited outside the operating room while the physicians were at work on 
the son. 

  The accident occurred at 4:15 o'clock, an hour after the two brothers 
started out from home together.  The operation, considering the nature and 
location of the wound, was as successful as could be expected.  Birdsong was 
said to be in an extremely critical condition at a late hour last night. 

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

    WOUNDS END FATALLY 
Thomas Birdsong Dies in the Memorial Hospital as Result of Shooting. 

  Thomas Birdsong, twelve years old, of Waverly, Va., died last night at 
11:15 o'clock in the Memorial Hospital little more than twenty-four hours 
after an operation had been performed for severe gunshot wounds in the abdomen 
and intestines.  The boy accidentally shot himself while hunting in Nansemond 
county on the afternoon of Christmas Day. 

  F.L. Birdsong, father of the youth, who had watched all day by the bedside 
of his son, was informed of the death within a few minutes after the end came. 
The boy was hastened to Richmond as soon as possible after the shooting, but 
from the first there was no chance of his recovery.  He sank rapidly from 9 
o'clock last night.  The remains will be taken to Waverly to-day. 


Benjamin Thomas BIRDSONG, 
son of Frank L. & Nannie (DARDEN) BIRDSONG, of Waverly, 
accidentally shot self, Nansemond Co., 25 Dec 1908, 
d. 26 Dec 1908, Richmond, age 12, 
interred in Newville Cemetery*, 
"Times-Dispatch" (Richmond, VA), Dec. 26, 1908, p. 8, col. 2 
"Times-Dispatch" (Richmond, VA), Dec. 27, 1908, p. 9, col. 7 
   online as part of the Library of Virginia's Virginia Chronicle 
   newspaper database, at: 
   https://virginiachronicle.com/ 

*Find a Grave Mem. #40617243.  His brother Thomas Rudd BIRDSONG (1886-1895) 
   is also buried there. 

A note posted with his paternal grandfather's Find a Grave Mem. (#18300432) 
   states that Benjamin Thomas "Long Tom" BIRDSONG (1813-1893) was the first 
   buried in Newville Cemetery, Newville, Sussex Co., citing a booklet 
   compiled in 1951, 
   "The History of Newville Baptist Church, Sussex County" (p. 28), 

Their parents are buried in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg. 

His father's obit ("Richmond Times-Dispatch," Dec. 30, 1935, p. 9) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/obits/b632f3ob.txt 


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

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/obits/b632t2ob.txt