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Don
I found the article in a box of pic.& stuff that belong to my great aunt Esther Louise (Lochard/
Lockard/Lockhart) Bellamy Other surnames associated with my Aunt are....
Cain, Hunt, Downey, Castner, Huddleson, Coleman, Spencer, Cole. Do any of these ring a bell?
I will try to type it out cos the article is very worn, mice eaten & some of it is unreadable. Any
missing blanks are because of mice or wear & tear.
Tiile(unreadable)
........ plant in the..........Connelly about 3.......Versailes exploded.......at noon. The house........
...... wreaked. Geraldine, ......old daughter of Mr. and ........ Edgar Bovard was killed outright
Edgar Bovard died Saturday evening of injuries received and Mrs. Connelly died Sunday night
Mrs. Bovard is in critical condition and Mr. Connelly, while seriously injuried, may recover but his
eyesite is completely destroyed. Joe Kirtley, a farm hand was on the outside of the house cleaning
a gun and ascaped with a few minor injuries.
Edgar Bovard is a son in law of the Connellys and lives in Versailes. Mr. Connelly and his wife lived
on the farm. Connelly and Bovard conducted an undertaking bussiness under the firm name of
Connelly and Bovard. Mr. Connelly eyesite was bad and Bovard frequently went to the farm to assist
in the work and especially to fill the acetylene tank and look after it. On Saturday he and his wife and
child went to the Connelly home for this purpose. Edgar went into the cellar and presumably filled the
tank and just as he was coming out a terrible explosion followed. Bovard was caught by a part of a falling wall and his legs were crushed below his knees. When rescued he was conscious and was able
to tell what happened.He stated to those who arrived eariliest on the scene that he filled the tank as
usual but noticed it was not working right as bubbles were arising. He was puzzled as to what to do.
But thought it best to tell the folks to get out. He went up out the cellar for this purpose and just as he
opened the door the explosion occured.
It is thought that the leaking gas filled the cellar and that when he opened the door it escaped to the
room in which there was a fire and was ignited.
The force of the explosion was terrific. It was felt for miles around. The house was a one story brick
and was completely demolished, only a part of one wall was left standing and this was on the side of
the house fartherest from the cellar. Every piece of furniture in the house was demolished. Strips of
carpet were blown into the air, a distance of at least 50 feet and were found hanging in the tops of
locusts trees which stood near the building. It was the worse explosion that ever occured in this part
of the state.
Happened as it did at the noon hour it found neighbors all at home and in an incredible short time
a crowd had gathered and the works of rescue commenced. Bovard was soon found and taken to a
place of safety. Connelly was conscious and directed the work of extricating himself and other......
.... The body of the child was found in the cellar and was burned almost to a crisp. As soon as the
injured were removed from the debris The dead were taken to the home of Mrs. Ka....................
which stands across the road............the time the first of the uninjuried...................victims were removed, doctor...................to arrive. First Dr. Co.........................arrived. Then.................................
..and later the ............................... arrived. All the available.................were soon...............
Denneys brought of course with them. Every thing that could possible be done to save their lives and to
alleviate their suffering. While their injuries were awful, the worse is to be feared for those who are yet
alive because of the effects of the gas which they inhaled. This is the uncertain element against them.
As stated Mr. Connelly seem to have been least effected by it, as he said to hav e been in the part of the house not directly over the cellar.
Bovard is the son of Mr. & mrs. George Bovard. Mrs. Bovard is the only child of Mr. & Mrs Connelly
and little Geraldine was the only child of the Bovards. So it seems now that two entire families will
be wiped should Mr. Connelly and Mrs Bovard fail to recover. The Conellys were aged and well
respected people who have resided in the comunity where the accident occured all their lives. In fact
Mr. Connelly is said to have been born in the house. Recently he was asked why he did not leave the
farm and move to town. He replied he and his wife had lived on the farm so long that neither cared to
leave it and that they had decided to spend their remaining days together where they had always lived
Mr. and Mrs. Bovard are very highly respected young people and were very devotedly attached. It seem
-ed as if nothing could have ever separted them.
Sunday people came from far and near to see the wreck. The raod was jammed with automobiles
which approached the place as close as they could. Some succeded in plowing through the mud up
to the house, and those who could not, waded the mud to get a close up view.
The dead were removed to the home of Mr. and Mrs Julius Warfield. Mrs. Warfield is the sister of
Mr. Bovard.
The exact cause of the accident will probaby never be known. Whether there was a defect in the
tank or pipes that permited the gas to escape no one will ever know. The only explanation available now is the one made by Bovard and that does not tell what was wrong. The catastrophe has cast a deep gloom over the entire community and is the most deplorable event of it's kind that ever occured
here. The victims were and are people of the very best standing. Mr. Connelly is a man of means and
has always been very liberal in extending help to those less financially fortunate than he. Mrs. Connelly was the highest type of christian lady and will be sadly missed. Edgar and wife had a bright
future before them. None stood higher in the community than they. The entire countryside extends
their deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to surviving members and relatives of all the unfortunate
victims
The funeral of Mrs. Connelly was held at Tanglewood (Ripley Co. Ind) tuesday afternoon. It was the
intention to have all the funerals at that time but as a sister of Mr. Bovard had not been reached untill Monday and word was received that she would be present Tuesday, The funeral of Bovard and little
Geraldine was postpone till Wednesday.
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