Ivah J. Coles

Ivah J. Coles, 21, bricklayer, died attempting to save Richard E. Crumwell, 20, from drowning, Gillespie, Illinois, June 8, 1904. Coles waded into a reservoir to assist Crumwell, who had been swimming and had become helpless while climbing up the steep bank. Both sank about eight feet apart and were drowned. 294-160

294 – 160

Obituary

Ivah J. Coles, 21, of East St. Louis, Ill., died on June 8, 1904, while attempting to save a friend from drowning in a reservoir in Gillespie, Ill.

Coles was born in England, and he had lived in Illinois for 17 years, according to his death certificate.

Coles and his friend, 20, were rowing with two other people at the reservoir, according a June 15, 1904, story in the Bunker Hill Gazette in Bunker Hill, Ill. The friend, who had been swimming, fell back into the water after attempting to climb a steep bank.

Coles, who had been preparing to swim, “jumped in to save his companion, but he was seized with cramps almost immediately, and both were drowned,” the story stated.

Coles was buried at Bunker Hill Cemetery.

(Based on records provided by the Macoupin County Historical Society in Carlinville, Ill.)