KESSLER, Irma - Putnam

p 1 - Ladoga, June 18 – Irma Jean Kessler, age 10 was killed almost instantly and her mother, Mrs. Charles Kessler, about 55 of 934 W 29th St, Indianapolis was seriously injured when the automobile in which they were riding overturned and planed them beneath it two miles east of Ladoga Wednesday morning about 11 o’clock.  Accident occurred when a rear tire on the machine blew out and the drive, Clair Byrd, 914 West 28th Street, Indianapolis lost control of the car which went into the ditch and overturned.  Byrd escaped serious injury although he suffered considerably from shock.  Mrs. Byrd is a sister of Mrs. Kessler.  The little girl and her mother were pinned under the machine. The child was thrown through the right front door of the car but after she dropped to the ground the car, which had turned around and gone off the south edge of the road, plunged over on her. Sarabel Kessler, daughter of Ben Kessler, near whose home the crash occurred saw the accident and called to her father. He, together with Otis Stark, a neighbor who was visiting the Kessler home, rushed to the scene of the crash, about ¼ of a mile away.  Kessler and Stark, together with Byrd who had managed to crawl out of the car attempted to lift the machine from the little girl and her mother but could not move the machine. It was necessary to telephone to Ladoga for help before they could be moved. Both the girl and her mother were rushed to the office of Dr. WE Gross at Ladoga where it was found that the girl was dead. After Mrs. Kessler had been given first aid, she was taken to the Culver Hospital at Crawfordsville in the Gottschall ambulance from Roachdale. An X-ray examination of Mrs. Kessler was made as soon as she was admitted to the hospital in an effort to determine the exact extent of her injuries. All three of the accident victims were in the front seat of the automobile. They were en route to Ladoga from their homes at Indianapolis and intended to visit at the home of Mrs. Nettie Johnson and Mrs. George Himes, sisters of Mrs. Byrd and Mrs. Kessler. The back seat of the machine was filled with glass cans as the Indianapolis woman intended to can strawberries during their stay in Ladoga. Mrs. Byrd already was in Ladoga at the time of the crash, having come here from Indianapolis last week.  Mrs. Kessler was here last Sunday as was her daughter but they had gone back to their home in the capitol Monday morning. The little girl was killed as the result of a crushed chest and head it was said. It is believed that she died within a few minutes after the accident occurred. Irma Jean Kessler was born in Ladoga in July 1920, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kessler. She was the youngest  child in the family. The little girl lived here until two years ago when she moved to Indianapolis with her parents. The father is employed at the Pres-O-Lite factory at Indianapolis. The survivors are the parents: one sister, Lelah Kessler of Portland and three brothers, Neal and Paul of Indianapolis and Earl of Iowa.

p4 - The funeral arrangements have not as yet been announced.  Howard Himes, postmaster a relative of the dead girl left immediately after the accident for Indianapolis to inform the girl’s father of her death.  He expected to bring Mr. Kessler back to Culver Hospital at Crawfordsville where his wife is being treated.