HANSFORD, Frank - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

FRANK HANSFORD   was drowned in the Wabash River south of Lodi last week;  the drowning is supposed to have taken place sometime Tuesday.  The facts leading up to the accident, as near as we could learn, are as follows:

Hansford  and his family—a wife and a step-son, Dewey Claude—were camping along the river a short distance from their home, going back and forth for provisions during the day.   On Tuesday Mrs. Hansford sent her son to the camp with some provision, but the young man, not finding his step father in the tent, placed  the supplies on a table and returned home. The next day Mrs. Hansford went with more provisions, and upon her arrival at the camp, found that the provisions sent the day before had not been disturbed. The fact aroused suspicion and a search was begun at once.  A diligent search was kept up but the body was not located until Thursday,  when James Garrigus and a companion came down the river in a boat and spied an empty boat lodged against a snag.  They examined the boat and in it they found Hansford’s coat, an empty quart whiskey bottle and a bottle of beer.  A searching party was formed and the river was searched for the missing man.  The body was found about 40 feet from the boat in 10 feet of water.  The body was somewhat decomposed but not beyond recognition, and was exumed from its watery grave and taken to the home to be prepared for burial. The mystery surrounding the accident will probably never be permanently solved, owing to the fact that the unfortunate man was alone; but the evidence of intoxicants leads to the theory that he may have been under the influence of strong drink,  so much so that his boat was beyond his control.  The finding of a floating oar and the boat fast on a snag in a sandbar also indicates that he may not have touched the oars after leaving the place where the intoxicants were procured.  It is a very sad incident whatever may have been the cause of his demise. Frank Hansford was about 50 years of age and was known far and near as one of the best old-time fiddlers in the country.   His familiar stunts in performing “Pop Goes the Weasel”  were always a feature at the Old Fiddlers’ contests, and very few of these events occurred within a radius of twenty miles of his home when Frank wasn’t there.  The beautiful tones which he could produce from his much loved violin were not surpassed by many of the more cultured performers on this instrument. Funeral services  were conducted by Mrs. Sturm, of  Silverwood, last Saturday morning at 10 o’clock, burial being made in the Miller cemetery. -s