Sowers - Thomas - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

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Sowers - Thomas

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Thomas Sowers, 18-years old and well known about Hillsboro, a  son of George Sowers, who lived for several years south of  Wallace, was instantly killed Tuesday shortly before noon in a  most unusual manner by a bolt of lightning from a cloudless sky.  The natural phenomenon is regarded as a freak by those who heard  the deafening crash and saw the victim struck dead in his tracks.  There was no cloud in sight, nor was there a storm approaching.  There was not an indication of a storm at that time or at any  other in the day. The fatality is considered the most unusual  which ever took place in that section and is so strange that the  people speak of it with bated breath so dazed are they over the  casualty. What is still more perplexing is the fact that the  deadly bolt and reverberating peal of thunder were the only ones  which occurred during the day. There was absolutely no indication  of a rain or electrical storm during the remainder of the  day.
 
The incident is causing almost as much talk as the tragedy  wherein Clara Shanks lost her life in the famous Wolf creek pool.  Sowers and Thomas Cyte, a neighbor were hauling wheat to a  threshing machine on the farm of Squire Cates, 3 miles north of  Coal Creek when Sowers was killed. Cyte was pitching the sheaves  of wheat up on the load while Sowers placed them in position. A  number of other persons were at work in the field. There was a  blinding flash and in the next instant an almost deafening peal  of thunder. Cyte was knocked down and a few minutes later when he  regained consciousness he found one of the horses lying dead.  Sowers was nowhere to be seen and getting no response when he  called his name, Cyte climbed upon the load of what and there,  lying on the sheaves of wheat, he discovered the lifeless body of  his neighbor and fellow workman. Sowers' body was removed to the  Cates home after which Coroner Parnham was notified. The inquest  was arranged for that evening.
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