Fritchley, Veva

1905 - 1932  (26 years)

• Name	Fritchley, Veva
  Birth	24 Dec 1905  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Reference Number	FRIT.V001
  _FGRAVE	45410706
  Death	2 Dec 1932	Clay City, Clay County, Illinois   [1]
  	Olney Advocate, December 8, 1932: Mrs. Veva Fritchley Mewes, 26, of Olney, was fatally injured in an auto-horse collision in the Clay City fill on the Midland Trail at 7 p.m. Friday. Mrs. Mewes had a fractured skull and died after being taken to the Flora hospital. Mrs. Mewes, who was estranged from her husband, William Mewes, of Henderson, Ky., was accompanying Mrs. Ruby Compton of Olney and Harl Petty of Clay City in Petty's car. They were enroute to Flora. Clayson McDowell, young farmer living near Clay City, was returning to his home and had left his wagon and team of wild western horses standing while McDowell ran inside of the eating joint at Holly Beach, east of Clay City. While McDowell was inside, the team, which was just being broken to work, became frightened and started running eastward. The Petty car was following close behind another car, but the team drawing the wagon in a fast run-away speed darted suddenly in front of the Petty car and the horses threw themselves on top of the car motor, the tongue of the wagon penetrating the windshield of the car and went four feet back into the car. One of the horses was killed almost instantaneously by impact, while the other horse landed on top of the car and crashed in the top, the timbers of which are said to have caused Mrs. Mewes' skull fracture. Other versions of the accident are that Mrs. Mewes' skull was fractured by the wagon tongue going through the windshield and hitting her head. Petty and Mrs. Compton suffered only minor injuries. Mrs. Mewes is survived by her husband and three children. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fritchley of Parkersburg. She is also survived by two brothers, Loren and Herschel Fritschley.
  Burial	Oak Hill Cemetery, Parkersburg, Richland County, Illinois   [1]
  		Headstone, Mewes, Veva Fritchley
  Person ID	I46742	Carl Wayne Gray Research
  Last Modified	14 Mar 2025

  
  

  Family	Mewes, William Henry,   b. 2 Feb 1904, Edwards County, Illinois d. 2 Apr 1976, Vanderburgh County, Indiana (Age 72 years)
  Family ID	F17266	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Oct 2026

  
  

• Event Map

  Death - 2 Dec 1932 - Clay City, Clay County, Illinois Burial - - Oak Hill Cemetery, Parkersburg, Richland County, Illinois  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  Veva (Fritchley) Mewes (1905-1932)

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Runaway Team Causes Woman's Death in Crash (Use this file if your browser does not display PDF files) The Decatur Daily Review, Sat Dec 3, 1932
  		Woman Killed in Auto Wreck (Use this file if your browser does not display PDF files) St. Louis Post Dispatch Sat Dec 3, 1932
  		Crash Is Fatal to Olney Woman (Use this file if your browser does not display PDF files) The Decatur Herald, Sun Dec 4, 1932
  		Mrs. Veva Frlitchely Mewes Dies Nashville Journal, Thu Dec 8, 1932

  
  

• Notes

  yy

  
  

• Sources

  [S13998] https://www.findagrave.com/, Headstone, Mewes, Veva Fritchley, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45410706/veva-mewes), none. (Reliability: 2).