Stamps - Raymond
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal September 6, 1911
One of the saddest funerals ever held in Crawfordsville was the one at Memorial chapel this morning when a large number of friends paid their last respects to Cecil Bean and Raymond Stamps, the boys who sere crushed to death in a cave-in Monday afternoon. The two little caskets were placed side by side and after Rev. F. D. Pugh performed the rites, they were carried to the funeral cars by playmates of the dead boys. The Stamps lad was buried at Pisgah cemetery near Beckville and the Bean child was interred at Masonic. - Kim H
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal, October 4, 1900
SOUTHEAST CORNER Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Bean are the proud parents of a baby boy. Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal September 8, 1911 Cecil Frances, eldest son of Edgar C. and Grace B. Bean, was born October 1, 1900, in Crawfordsville; met his tragic death Monday evening. September 4, 1911, having reached the age of ten years, 11 months, and 3 days. Cecil was perhaps as well known as any boy in the part of the city in which he lived, because of his long residence there, his school attendance and his presence at church and Sunday school. He was a bright, full of vigor and youthful strength, was a great source of pleasure and helpfulness to his parents and was fast developing many many traits. The dreadful accident which so swiftly snuffed out the light of life of himself and his inseparable companion, Ray Stamps, has cast such a gloom over the entire city and has created impressions upon the playmates about that time can never obliterate. Father, mother, one brother, Louis, together with many other sorrowing relatives and friends, remain to mourn his untimely departure, but by the eye of faith and trust they can look out into the beyond see the reuniting not here, but over yonder.
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal September 5, 1911
One of the most pathetic tragedies that has ever occurred in Crawfordsville came to light Monday evening when the bodies of Cecil Bean and Ray Stamps, both 11 years old, were found buried in a pile of gravel in the Ben Hur park at the south end of Mill street, the new park lately donated to the city by Harry Milligan Several weeks ago a quantity of gravel was taken from a bank in the park and the start suggested a mine to some boy and be proposed that every boy in the neighborhood furnish a shovel and do his share toward digging a cave. For the last week the boys have been working diligently and every day the cave was the scene of a large crowd of boys up until 3 o'clock in the afternoon when most of them would come to town to carry papers. The usual gathering was there Monday, but after the boys had come to town the Stamps and Bean youth evidently decided to do some excavating with the result that they were probably killed instantly. At about 5:30 o'clock Monday evening Ollie Watson and John Gill were passing through the woods and noticed that the tunnel had caved in and upon looking down into the pit the Watson boy discovered a tuft of hair. Further investigation revealed the head of Cecil Bean. The Watson and Gill boys then ran to a nearby grocery store where they told of what they had found. A number of men including John Zachary, Claude Busenbark, Clel Warrren and Martin Linn went to the scene of the tragedy with shovels and soon succeeded in taking out the badly bruised body of the Bean child. Upon digging deeper they found the body of the Stamps boy. The faces of both boys were purple and swollen and blood had clotted in their nostrils. It was but a short time after the accident was reported until the news was flashed over the city and before the lifeless bodies of the unfortunate lads were taken from the pit, several hundred excited people had reached the spot and a number of parents who had knowledge that their children had been in the habit of playing there were on the scene fearful lest their sons might have met a fate similar to that of the victims whose bodies had been removed. In the meantime the fearful news had gotten to the parents of the unfortunate children, with the result that they were all prostrated with grief before their sons were taken from the pit.
Mrs,. Ed Bean, the mother of one of the victims, who is an invalid, is now in a very dangerous condition, and Mrs. Stamps, while on her way to the scene of the accident, fainted and had to be carried to her home and required the attention of physicians. As soon as the searchers were convinced that there were no more bodies in the fateful pit they called for Hunt & Westfall, the undertakers, who in turn informed the coroner Howard of Yountsville After waiting for some time for Coroner Howard it was decided that it would be best to move the bodies to the undertaking establishment. Dr. Howard arrived here at 8:30 o'clock and examined the bodies and determined that the deaths were due to suffocation. After an investigation at the pit it was announced that the bean youth had died from a broken neck, but later examination showed that such was no the case. The bodies of bout the lads were badly bruised and presented a pitiful condition when the undertakers began preparing them for burial. On the back of young Bean's head was a deep hole evidently made by a large chunk of the clay, which was the upper covering of the death pit, falling in upon him. He was otherwise bruised about the head, shoulders, chest, and arms. The face of the Stamps boy was badly lacerated, making him almost unrecognizable. His neck, shoulders, and arms were badly mashed and bruised and the bodies of both boys were badly swollen. The place were the accident occurred was about twelve to fourteen feet high. Dry Branch runs a short distance toward the west and then makes a rather sharp turn northward. There is a heavy bank of sand and gravel at the place which is covered with a crust of clay. Unmindful of the danger of the place the boys had dug a hole six to eight feet back into the bank, the clay crust forming a covering for what they intended for their den, and early in the afternoon several other boys had been assisting them in the excavation. It is not known exactly what time the accident occurred but must have been sometime after 4 o'clock, as both of the boys had been seen at Sherman Zachary's cobbling shop in the east end of town about 4 o'clock and were at their homes shortly after that time.
The parents of young Bean live just north of Memorial Chapel church, while the Stamps boy's parents live south of the church a few doors. Cecil Bean was the son of Ed Bean and Ray Stamps was the son of Clint Stamps. Both of the men are employees of the match factory. Frequently the young boys of that part of the city have been warned against the digging in the sand banks that line Dry Branch and earlier in the afternoon the young lads who were playing there were warned by some passerby not to go into that hole, fearing just such a result as finally occurred. Each of the boys had a $120 insurance upon his life. The funeral services of the two boys will be held Wednesday from memorial chapel, with Rev. D.F. Pugh in charge. The Stamps child will be buried at Pisgah cemetery near Beckville and the Bean boy will be buried at Masonic
Source: York (PA) Dispatch Wed 6 Sept 1911 p 6
Crawfordsville, Ind Sept 6 – Caught beneath tons of gravel and clay that caved in upon them while they were playing in a small cave on the bank of Dry branch at Milligan Park, Cecil Bean, 12 years old and Ray Stamps, 11 were smothered to death. More than an hour after the accident the crushed bodies of the lads were recovered by workmen summoned to the pit by playmates of young Bean and Stamps. The boys were passing through the park on their way home when they noticed there had been a cave-in. A closer inspection revealed the hair of the Bean boy’s head protruding through the earth. The upper crust of the pit was formed by solid clay and a huge chunk of this had fallen on the boys when they were digging below, striking them on the head and shoulders and evidently rendering them unconscious immediately. Their heads and shoulders were badly bruised the faces were almost black.