Fred Newbury Jr. Obituary  
 
JEFFERSON COUNTY ILLINOIS
OBITUARIES

Fred Newbury Jr.


Fred Newbury b. September 19, 1926, Sesser, Franklin County, Illinois; d.  
September 4, 1960, buried Maple Hill Cemetery, Sesser, Franklin County,  
Illinois; m. Louise Lovings. 

The Southern Illinoisan, Tuesday, September 6, 1960
Extracts from the  article: Holliday Weekend Accident Toll
2 Killed, 40 Hurt In Area Wrecks 

Picture Included [DEATH SCENE The body of Fred Newbury Jr., Sesser, lies in  
the back seat where the victim was thrown by the impact of a Sunday morning  
crash. State Trooper Noble Starnes, right, checks license numbers on the 
smashed  vehicle. The car slammed into a tree. (Note: This picture actually showed a 
body  in the car. Most of the driver side of the car is missing..)

A 33-year-old Sesser disabled World War II veteran was killed early Sunday  
morning when the car he was driving left the highway and smashed into a tree.  
Killed was Fred Newbury, Jr., the father of two small children. The accident  
occured on the Herrin-Freeman Spur road, about five miles north of Herrin. Two 
passengers in the Newbury car were injured. They are Robert Smith, 26, 
Benton,  and Fred Stewart, 27, Sesser. Stewart is a wheel chair patient on pass 
from  Hines Veteran hospital, Chicago. They are both in "fair condition" at 
Herrin  Hospital. Earl Hayes who lives a short distance from the accident heard the 
car  hit the tree. "It sounded like a big wind coming down the road," he 
said. Hayes  came out of the house and saw the car. He ran up the road and called 
Earl Smith  who called authorities. Smith is a cousin to Robert Smith, the 
accident victim.  They had not seen each other in a year. Jack Hargis, 39, Orient 
who was driving  home, saw the accident and helped Smith and Stewart to the 
Hospital. Hargis said  Smith was lying on the ground near the wreckage when he 
drove up. State Trooper  Noble Starnes, said Newbury was apparently driving at 
a very high rate of speed,  hit the railroad crossing and probably lost 
control of the car. The front part  of the car top was sheared off. The hood was 
knocked of and landed about 15 feet  away. Hayes mailbox post was sheared even 
with the ground. The railroad track  crossing is about 300 feet south of the 
tree. There were no skid marks on the  highway, Starnes said. Witnesses said the 
accident occurred at about 5 a.m.  Williamson County Coroner, Adolph Fluck, 
Marion, said he will wait until Smith  and Stewart are in better condition to 
set an inquest. Newbury's death brought  Williamson County's total to 11 deaths 
on the highways in the county this year.  Newbury leaves his wife, Louise; 
children Debra and Thomas at home: parents, Mr.  Mrs. Webb Newbury of Sesser: 
sisters, Mrs. Middred Merkel of Lowell, Ind.; and  Mrs. Juanita Morgan of Mt. 
Vernon: brothers, Albert of Rolla, Mo.: Earl of  Washburn; Arthur of Renssler, 
Ind.; and Bobby of Sesser. Funeral services were  at 2 p.m. today in the 
Brayfield Funeral Home of Sesser. The Rev. Bill  Christoff, pastor of the First 
Baptist Church , officiated. Burial was in Maple  Hill Cemetery in Sesser.       

The Southern Illinoisan, Wednesday, September 21,  1960  
   
INQUEST IN WRECK FRIDAY IN HERRIN

An inquest  into the death of Fred Newbury, Jr., 33, Sesser, will be 
conducted at 7:30 p.m.  Friday in the Herrin City Hall by Williamson County Coroner 
Adolph Fluck. Mr.  Newbury a disabled World War II veteran and father of two 
small children was  killed September 4 on the Herrin-Freeman Spur road when his 
car left the highway  and smashed into a tree. Robert Smith, 26, Benton and 
Fred Stewart, 27, Sesser,  passengers in Mr. Newbury's car, were injured. Mr. 
Newbury apparently lost  control when he hit railroad tracks at a high speed. The 
tree was 300 feet north  of the tracks.  

The Southern Illinoisan, Sunday, September 25, 1960  

Accident Ruled In Traffic Death
 
A Williamson County coroner's jury returned an  accidental verdict Friday 
night into the death of a 33-year-old Sesser man. Fred  Newbury, Jr. was killed 
when the car he was driving left the road and smashed  into a tree at 5 a.m. on 
Sept. 5, (sic.) on the Herrin-Freeman Spur road. The  accident was 3 miles 
south of Freeman Spur. Testifying at the inquest were state  trooper, Noble 
Starnes of Christopher, Robert Smith a passenger in the car, and  Mr. and Mrs. 
Earl Hayes and Earl Smith, who live near the scene of the accident.  Robert 
Smith, 26, Benton told coroner Adolph Fluck that he was riding in the  center of 
the front seat. Newbury was driving and Fred Stewart, 27, Sesser, was  on the 
right side. Smith said he had been to Colp with a group of Benton men but  
became seperated from them and started walking home. As he was walking along the  
highway, Stewart and Newbury picked him up. He said he was almost asleep and  
remembers passing over a railroad track which is about 300 feet south of the  
tree and then striking the tree. Stares testified that apparently Newbury was  
driving too fast for conditions of the  road. 



Source: Listed within
Date: Listed within
Submitted by: Robert Loman




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