John and Frank SHIPMAN drown in Morgan County (1908)

from The Republican (Danville, Indiana) - issue of Thursday, August 6, 1908 - page 1, column 5:

DROWNED
John and Frank Shipman Meet Death in White Lick
John and Frank Shipman were drowned in White Lick near Centerton Saturday afternoon. Their bodies were brought to Avon for burial. The funeral was held at Wesley Chapel Monday afternoon, interment following.

They were sons of S.D. Shipman who formerly lived in Washington Township but now lives south of Martinsville. John Shipman and wife who live in Indianapolis, had been visiting in Morgan County and John left his father's house Saturday morning to return to his work in Indianapolis. On his way to Martinsville he changed his mind and decided to visit his brother, Frank, who worked for Wallace Pointer near Brooklyn. Another brother, Harry who works for William Leathers, joined them and they planned to go to Bethany Park but concluded to take a swim before going to the park.

They entered the water and after playing about they started to go around a deep hole when one of the boys said that they could swim it. Harry started across ahead of them and in a few minutes he heard one of them say: "Don't go so fast." Looking back he saw they were sinking. He tried to aid them but failed and began to call for help.

About 250 feet away some men were working on a bridge. They heard the cries and ran to his aid. Harry was clinging to the willows. He told them what had happened and securing a boat the men found the bodies, that of Frank about twenty minutes after he had gone down and John's ten minutes later. They lay in water about ten feet deep.

The Shipman family has been sadly afflicted. The drowning of the two boys brings the death roll up to five in recent years. Three years ago a son, Lester, was killed by an explosion on the battleship, Missouri, off Pensacola, Fla. Two daughters have died in the last few years.

John Shipman was 22 years of age and had been married eighteen months. Frank was not quite twenty.