St. Charles, Ill., drowning, 1938 (Ralph/Edward)
St. Charles (Kane County, Illinois) Chronicle, July 7, 1938, July Fourth Has Tragedy As Boy Drowns. An otherwise uneventful day was made a sad holiday by the drowning in the Fox River of young Johnny Sovereign, aged nine years, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sovereign of 816 West Main street, which occurred the evening of Monday, July 4th, at 7:30.
With the two young sons of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Silk, Ralph nine and Edward six, Johnny went to play in Pottawatomie park. They and walked along the sea wall which extends from the Great Western bridge to the pavilion, and near there stands the lighthouse on the river edge. Playing on the ledge, Ralph slipped into the river. Johnny, by great effort helped him out, but was unable to reach safety, and soon sank. Ralph, alarmed ran to gt help. He told Mrs. Perry of Geneva that a boy was drowned, but she did not take it seriously yet said she would call help. By this time Ralph realized his little pal was in peril, and ran for the city police. When they arrived there was no sign of a disturbed current or any means of knowing where the lad went down, but Ralph pointed out the spot, and the officials worked unceasingly until 11 p.m. without success. They took up the work next morning but not until 1:30 p.m. did they find the body which had fallen into a hole and was below the current. The arms were in a position to show he was making an effort to save himself.
Men who were near the spot, yet did not see the boy go down, were not impressed with Ralph's story that his pal was drowning, and made no effort to find out.
The father is employed as a baker at the J.W. Gartner & Son bakery. The mother and sister Louise were out of town. The father, who was at home in bed noticed the absence of Johnny but was not sure what he was taken with his mother. When they returned later and Johnny was not with them he became alarmed and found that the boy and gone down in the river. He hurried to the park where he found officers dragging the stream and making every possible effort to bring the little son who had shown such courage in saving his playmate, to the surface. A distraught family overcome with grief was helpless to undo the sad circumstance which had taken the life of a happy healthy little lad in his early vacation days.
He was a pupil in the Evan Shelby school, where he tackled his lessons as bravely as he struggled to save his drowning pal.
An inquest into the drowning was held yesterday morning at the Frederick funeral home, under the direction of W.A. Keiser of Geneva, deputy coroner. The six men on the jury included: foreman J.T. McConkey, John H. Bumgarner, Carl Johnson, Roland Bentley, Chas. D. Cope and Alfred Berg. They returned a verdict of accidental drowning.
In a chair in front of the deputy coroner, sad nine year old Ralph Silk, the boy whom Johnny had saved, wide-eyed and startled, though answering questions in a direct manner. He was the main witness and responded as one who was beginning to see life from its serious angles, and as though the playground had lost some of its appeal to boyhood, and that he had found life at a precious cost.
The funeral service was held this afternoon at 2:30 in the M.E. church.
The family has the sympathy of everyone in St. Charles. (Posted as a courtesy, not related.)