STARNES, Charles B - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Charles B. Starnes, 52, Hillsboro merchant, met death in a river tragedy Tuesday afternoon about 3 o'clock, which also almost cost the life or Orville Wendall, a Hillsboro barber. Starnes drowned when a boat in which he and his companion, Wendall, were riding, capsized in the Wabash river about 2 1/2 miles east of Cayuga. Wendall suffered considerably from shock and exposure, but is reported to be recovering at the home of his cousin, Mrs. Helen McKee, at Wallace. Mr. Starnes is president of the Hillsboro Fish and Game Club, and had been distributing pheasants through the country. He and Mrs. Starnes and Mr. and Mrs. Wendall and William Templeton started out Tuesday afternoon with pheasants and were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Snyder. They continued their journey to Cayuga to buy fish. The women remained in a cabin along the bank of the river while the four men took a boat and rowed across the river. Snyder and Templeton decided to remain on the opposite side until a motor boat came across, but Starnes and Wendall were making their return trip when the boat capsized about the middle of the stream. Mr. Starnes told Wendall that he would have to row faster as the boat was filling with water and at about that time it started to sink. They attempted to swim ashore but their heavy clothing prevented them from making much progress. Starnes was rendered unconscious and his body floated down stream with his face in the water. Hearing the cries of the women standing on shore, two brothers, Hosea and Alfred Johnson, went to the rescue in a motor boat. They picked up Starnes body about a half mile down the stream from where the boat capsized. Mrs. Wendall started running down the bank of the stream when she saw them in the water and managed to get out on the trunk of a fallen tree far enough to reach the arm of her husband and helped him ashore after he had gone down stream about three quarters of a mile. He was removed to Wallace for medical treatment. They attempted to revive Starnes after they reached shore, but failing, an ambulance was summoned from Cayuga to ruish him to St. Elizabeth hospital in Danville, Ill. Physicians and Danville firemen worked over his body for more than half an hour but their efforts proved to be useless. The body was removed to the Crumley funeral home in Covington and later to his home in Hillsboro Tuesday night. Charles B. Starnes, youngest son of Lewis and Emily Edwards Starnes, was born near Hillsboro and most of his life was spent in th4e vicinity. He was a member of the Hillsboro Masonic Order and Fern Chapter, Order of Eastern Star. He was married twice, first to Nellie Holand and a few years ago to Lola Lasley. For the past few years he has operated a beer tavern in Hillsboro. Surviving are the widow; one daughter Mrs. Kenneth Warbritton and a little grandson of Seymour; and two sisters, Mrs. Aura Trowbridge of Crawfordsville and Mrs. Charles Keeling of Hillsboro.