This is my grandmother's older brother Charles Vern Hepworth. . He was born on 16 July 1885 in Salt Lake City, Utah and is less than two years older than Grandmother Ethel. This must be the person my father was named after using his middle name Vern. Charles didn’t marry until he was thirty years old. He lived with his parents on 757 West 1st North in Salt Lake City until his marriage to Mabel Ann Duffy in 1916. In the Salt Lake City Directory in 1908 he is listed with his older brother James Edward (he goes by Ed) all working as a butcher in the family butcher shop. Also, in the Salt Lake Newspaper in 1908 I found this article about an accident one dark night involving Great Uncle Charlie.
collision on State street, below Ninth South, Sunday night, the vehicle occupied by Mrs. George H. Earl of 1178 Emerson Avenue, two babies, 2 and 3 years old, respectively, and Reed Betts, the driver was overturned and Mrs. Earl was severely injured, about the spine and abdomen. Her injuries are rather alarming, their extent being uncertain.
Although the Earl buggy was overturned and thrown several feet, the babies miraculously escaped serious injury, only being shaken up severely. Betts grabbed the younger baby, a boy, in his arms and protected the infant from the force of the fall at his own risk.
The Earl buggy, (going southward, collided with C. V. Hepworth's rig apparently was going a little faster than the Earl rig, which accounts for the overturning of the latter buggy. The axle of the Hepworth's rig was strained, while the crossbar and shaft on the Earl buggy were broken.
The patrol wagon was called and carried Mrs. Earl and babies home, where Dr. Ernest Van Cott attended them
Hepworth lives at 757 West. First North street and is a member of the firm of Hepworth & Sons, butchers.
In the Deseret News 23 March 1908 it was reported:
BUGGIES IN COLLISION
Darkness the Cause of An Accident
Last Night on State Street.
In a collision last night, on State street, between the
buggies of Mrs. George H. Earl and
C.V. Hepworth, the former was overturned,
throwing Mrs. Earl and two babies and
the driver, Reed Betts, into the road-
way, Mrs. Earl was severely injured
about the spine and abdomen, while the
children and the driver were unhurt. She
was removed to her home, 1178 Emerson
avenue. The darkness was the occasion
of the collision.
Being a very curious person of 'the rest of the story' I did some research on Mrs. George Earl. Was her injury as bad as it sounded in the newspaper report? Was there more in the paper reporting on her condition? I could not find any more information but, I did find out who she was by finding her in the 1910 US Census that was taken on 2 May 1910. Her first name was Edna and her husband George worked as a clerk for Sears and Jermony Co. Apparently she recovered
from her injuries because she had one more child as reported in the 1910 Census, a child that was almost two years old. Sadly, that same year on the 21 Aug 1910 she died in child birth. I found her digital death certificate on line. At the time of this accident she was only nineteen years old and had been married four years.
This must have been a terrifying experience for Charles, too. I wonder what kind of buggy he was driving? Was it a personal buggy or a work buggy with the logo Hepworth and Son's on the side? Who rescued him? His parents? A friend?
His older brother Ed? One hundred five years ago this month.
Renée
