This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Waite, Jones, Bowman, Westlake, Washburn Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Hi.2ADI/2553 Message Board Post: John Wait was the son of Samuel C. Waite and Frances Jones. A FATAL FALL John Wait Thrown From a Vehicle and Fatally Injured John Wait, son of Samuel C. Wait, died Sunday morning at 10’clcok from the effects of injuries received about midnight by being thrown from a buggy. Late Saturday night John Wait, George Bowman, Squire Bowman, a man named Westlake and a man named VanCamp went riding in a one-seated buggy. On the Burlington road near the O’Brien wagon works the party drove over a gutter. The weight of the occupants of the vehicle and the strain caused by crossing the gutter broke the buggy in two. The horse dashed away with the front wheels, and was found near Monitor Sunday morning. All of the men were thrown from the vehicle. Wait was the only one seriously hurt and he was unable to move. It is reported that his companions wanted to carry him into a house near the scene of the accident but he declined, and it is alleged that they then covered him with blankets and permitted him to lie by the roadside until morning, when he was taken home. Dr. Washburn was called to attend him. He was suffering from internal injuries and a bruise on his hip. His right arm was broken near the shoulder. He died at 10 o’clock. Soon after his death the body was removed to Lancaster’s undertaking establishment and prepared for burial. There it was viewed by Coroner Irwin. There are so many versions of the accident that it is difficult to give the exact details. Wait was about 30 years old and was employed at the Lafayette bridge company’s works. The funeral will occur from the residence of S.C. Wait, No. 25 South Twenty-first street, tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock. Interment at Springvale. (Lafayette Morning Journal, Monday, September 19, 1892, pg. 4; Lafayette, Indiana) THE WAIT CASE Marshal Maule was desirous Monday of ascertaining some of the facts in connection with the tragic death of John Wait and, for that purpose, instituted a court of inquiry. George and ’Squire Bowman, two of Wait’s companions in the fatal ride, were examined. Their statements were corroborative. They fix the time of the accident at 10 o’clock Saturday night. There were five of them in a one-seated vehicle. Wait was driving at the time of the accident and pulled the horse into the gutter. The vehicle collapsed and all were thrown out, Wait falling on the sidewalk. His injuries were so painful that he could not endure handling. He was covered with a blanket and Mr. Bowman, father of Wait’s companions, stood guard over Wait as he lay on the sidewalk until morning. Dr. Washburn was then called and had Wait carried to the residence of his father, S.C. Wait, where he died a few hours later. They were asked why they did not summon a phys! ician sooner. George said he was injured by the fall and his own hurts drove all thought of Wait from his mind. Squire Bowman said he was so greatly excited and unstrung by the accident that his first desire was to get home as soon as he could. The fact that Wait was permitted to lie on the ground for hours, his suffering intense, without having medical attention or care savors strongly of criminal negligence on the part of some one, but it is not probably that the blame can be attached to the proper person under the circumstances. The funeral will occur from the residence of S.C. Wait, No. 25 South Twenty-first street, this morning at 10 o’clock. Interment at Sprinvale. (Lafayette Morning Journal, Tuesday, September 20, 1892; Lafayette, Indiana)