Perry Franklin
The Payette Independent
Thursday, September 24, 1925
Former Payette Boy Accidentally Killed
Harry Franklin, son of Mrs. John Henshaw, of Payette, was accidentally killed at Los Angeles, California, on Saturday afternoon. The truck which he was driving was run into by a train. Death was instantaneous. Mrs. Henshaw left Monday for Los Angeles, to attend the funeral of her son.
Harry Franklin, who has been away from Payette for several years, visited in Payette last fall and renewed old friendships. He was twenty-five years old at the time of his death. Besides his mother, he leaves a widow to mourn his loss. To those Payette extends heartfelt sympathy.
Payette Enterprise (September 24, 1925)
KILLED AT LOS ANGELES
Perry Franklin, well known in Payette, who left here early last spring for Los Angeles, was instantly killed last Thursday evening at 4:30, according to a message received by his step-father, John Henshaw of Payette, Sunday morning.
Mr. Franklin was employed at a truck driver for a large company in the California city and while crossing a railroad track was struck by a moving train and instantly killed, according to the message received. He was well known in Payette, having lived here at the home of his step-father for many years, and attended the Payette public schools for 1907 to 1917. He was born at Marsh Lake, Idaho, Dec. 11, 1889, and came to Payette with his mother at the age of six years, and until about three years ago made his home here where he was quite a favorite among the young people. Three years ago he was married at Vale, Oregon, to Lillian Rogers of Caldwell, moving shortly afterward to Toledo, Oregon, and returning to Payette about two years ago, and last February moved to Los Angeles.
Besides his mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Henshaw, he is survived by a wife and one child, one sister living in Portland and one in Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Henshaw left Tuesday evening to be present at the funeral.
Payette Enterprise (October 08, 1925)
CALIFORNIA PAPERS STORY OF PERRY FRANKLINS DEATH
The following taken from a Torrance, California paper, with reference to the tragic death of Perry Franklin, a former Payette man, on September 26th, will be of interest to his many friends living at this place.
Northbound from Long Beach passenger train No. 44 on the Union Pacific Railway was wrecked at Clearwater, nine miles from here, at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The trains collided with a truck load of structural steel en route from Torrance to Whittier. The truck driver, Perry Franklin, 26, of Tirrance, was killed instantly.
The heavy metal strewed along the track derailed two passenger coaches, sending one in the ditch. Passengers were shaken up, but none of them was reported injured.
The wreck tied up traffic on the line for more than three hours before a wrecking crew from Los Angeles could clear it. Eye-witnesses said it was due to the failure of the wig-wag signal at the crossing on Washington Street to work. Franklin leaves a wife and one child in Torrance and parents in Oregon, where he was born.
Young Franklin was driving his load east on Washington, which is the continuation of the Riverside Redondo Road. The crossing is within fifty feet of the Clearwater Station of the Union Pacific Railway, but trains do not stop there unless signaled. The train, in charge of Conductor Schaefer, was making usual time.
A house near the crossing might have obstructed the view of the truck driver but Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Horn, 131 North Greenleaf Street, Whittier, who witnessed the accident, declare the wig-wag was not swinging. Franklin drove directly on the track. Seeing the engine upon him and his heavy load of structural steel on the truck to which was attached a trailer, he attempted to jump. The collision jammed the steel onto the driver, who was terribly mangled and then dragged 200 feet by the train.
Long steel bars became entangled in the wheels of the train. The engine and tender remained on the track. The two passenger coaches left the rails but remained upright.
Some of the passengers were given medical attention but suffered mostly from fright.
The truck was owned by the Tolson Transfer Company of Torrance for whom Franklin had been working the past year. The body was taken to the Neale and Town Parlors in Compton.