Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1898 — A Sad Case of Drowning. [ARTICLE]

A Sad Case of Drowning.

The unfortunate young man whose sad death by drowning was briefly mentioned Tuesday, was William Lawrence Putnam. His age was 19 years, 9 months and 26 days. He was the son of Edward Putnam, who lives on one of the S. P. Thompson farms, in Union Township. Monday evening, between 8 and 9 o’clock, while in swiming, with two other boys, in an artificially built watering pool, on the Thomas Murphy place, not far north oi Surrey, he was taken with cramps, and sank to the bottom in about 12 feet of water, His body was not recovered until 2 o’clock Tuesday morping. He was an excellent young man, quiet industrious, and a sincere Christian: and his untimely and tragical death is a most terrible blow to his parents, and has saddened the entire neighborhood of its occurence. The funeral was held Tuesday, at North Star, in Newton County, near which place Mr. Putnam moved from a year or two ago. Rev. D. A. Tucker, of the F. W. Baptist church of this place baptized the young man Jan. sth 1897, and it was desired that he preach the funeral sermon, but being absent from town Rev. W. H. Sayler went in his stead. Interment was in North Star Cemetery, several miles northwest of Mt. Ayr. > -