On Halloween
my brother Red and his friends had been to Williamsburg to celebrate. There
was a
real bad
storm and they were seeking shelter under
the Stanaford store. My brother Mart’s friend, Roscoe West, was with
them, but he decided to go on home anyway because he had to get up early
the next morning. They said they begged him to wait for a while but he went
on. The other boys waited and went on home when the storm let up.
The next
morning, Jack Fritts’ grandparents were going home after spending
the night with Jack’s family. They lived almost to Briar Creek about
two miles from Bon. It was easier for them to walk the railroad. When they
were
crossing the trestle, Mrs. Fritts said it looked like a body lying in the
creek underneath the trestle. They just thought it was a dummy used for
Halloween.
They walked
on thinking and talking about what they saw. They decided they
had better go back and take another look. It was Roscoe. How devastating
it was for everyone because he was such a nice boy and was very well
respected by everyone! They assumed that he was probably blinded by the
lightening
and just walked off the trestle. The news traveled fast. Most of the
men were working and didn’t know about it right away. But Mom and
I went down there just as the coroner was there. It was terrible.
I used
to spend
the night with Irene West once in a while and she would spend the night
with me. Mrs. West was so nice and after that tragedy, she was always
so sad.
Our family missed Roscoe very, very much. Back Next
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