Nellie Hess
1882-Sept. 10, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Friday, September 11, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  DIES IN MISSOURI

Mrs. and Mrs. Charles Hess, R. 3, have received word of the death of Mr. Hess' sister-in-law, Mrs. Fred Hess, in St. Joseph, Mo., Thursday night.  Mrs. Hess died suddenly last night while shopping. Both Mr.and Mrs. Fred Hess are well known in Niles, the former having been born and reaised here.  Mrs. Gordon Bachman is a daughter of the deceased worman.  Mr. and Mrs. Bachman are at present en route to Niles from a vaction spent in Florida.  Funeral arrangements are incomplete although it was learned that the body will be brought here for burial.

Niles Daily Star, Tuesday, September 15, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief: HESS RITES TODAY

Funeral services for Mrs. Fred Hess, former Niles resident who died at St. Joseph, Mo, Thursday, were conducted at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon at the Turner-Pifer chapel with the Rev. G.W. Simon officiating.  Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.  Marshall Madlin, John Bunn, Charles Smith, C.E. Drke, Fred bachman and Alfred Johnson served as pallbearers.

Michael Collins
Aug. 20, 1852-Sept. 15, 1936*

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, September 16, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  COLLINS FUNERAL THURSDAY

Funeral rites for Michael Collins, who died at his home, 601 North Fifth street, Tuesday morning, will be held at the residence at 2:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon.  The Rev. G.W. Simon will officiate and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, September 17, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  COLLINS RITES HELD

Funeral services for Michael Collins, retired conductor on the Michigan Central railroad and a resident of Niles for the last 58 years, were held at his home, 601 North Fifth street, at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon with the Rev. G.W. Simon officiating.  Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.  Fred Babcock, K.B. Schmidt, Frank Early, Lawrence Elder, Ed Wurz and Chas. Siebert acted as pallbearers.

DOB/DOD from Michigan Death Record

Mildred Lee Miller

April 17 1935-Sept. 18, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, September 19, 1936, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News in Brief:  MILLER RITES TODAY

Private funeral services for Mildred Miller, one-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clark Miller, Bertrand, who died Friday morning of infantile paralysis, were held at the home at 2 o'clock this afternoon.  Burial was in Silverbrook cemetery.

Fred Beck
abt 1862-June 19, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Saturday, June 20, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  BECK FUNERAL MONDAY

Fred Bec, 74, a former resident of Niles, died in Cassopolis Friday night at 7 o'clock. His body was brought to the Price and Kiger funeral home where services will be held Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock.  Mr. Beck was unmarried and leaves no near relatives.  The Rev. Dr. Guy W. Simon will officiate at the services Monday and burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery.

Lester Barbour
July 21, 1889-July 30, 1936 

Niles Daily Star, Friday, July 31, 1936, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

BARBOUR SERVICES SATURDAY AT 4:30; V.F.W. TO ASSIST

Funeral services for Lester Barbour, 47, who took his own life by hanging at Scottville Thursday morning, will be held Saturday afternoon at Rutherford's chapel.  The body will be at the Rutherford mortuary until 4:30 o'clock, the hour of the funeral.  Friends of the former patrolman are asked to call there today and Saturday prior to the services.

Former associates of Mr. Barbour will act as pallbearers.  These will be the following members of the police department:  Chief Lloyd Q. Bates, captain Fred Solloway, and Patrolmen Marion Peterson, Oscar Schrumpf, Thomas Whiteside and Vance Cooper.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, of which  Mr. Barbour was a member, will conduct the committal service at the grave in Silverbrook cemetery.

Niles Daily Star, Monday, August 3, 1936, page 2, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  BARBOUR RITES SATURDAY

Comrades in two patriotic organizations paid tribute to Lester Barbour at the committal services in Silverbrook cemetery Saturday afternoon.  The ritual of th Veterans of Foreign Wars was conducted by that organization, of which Mr. Barbour was a member. The American Legion firing squad fired the salvo over the grave of the ex-service man. The services at the Rutherford mortuary were conducted by the Rev. G. W. Simon. Members of the police department, who had long been associates of Mr. Barbour, acted as pallbearers.

Note: DOB from Michigan Death record

Ransom Johnson
Dec. 9, 1900-July 4, 1936

Niles Daily Star, Monday, July 6, 1936, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library

 ONE DEATH IN 4TH CELEBRATION HERE

RANSOM JOHNSON, 36, IS GROUND TO DEATH BY TRAIN'S WHEELS

Chicagoan Drowns in Clear Lake' Holiday Noisiest Since Fireworks Ban.

While the state listed 33 deaths for one of the highest fatality lists in the nation for the holiday, one accidental death was in the record here today.  Niles calmed down from the noisiest Independence day it has experienced since sale and use of fireworks were "banned" by the legislature.

The Niles victim was Ransom Johnson. .[illegible] he walked along the tracks between Main street and Broadway early Saturday morning. . .

Johnson's mangled body was found on the Big Four tracks early Saturday by two transients.  A train, believed to be the one which ran him down, had passed through the city three hours earlier

A coroner's jury, impaneled by Justice Charles E. Warner, will conduct a hearing a 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. It is composed of Paul Blackmond, Richard Forrester, Howard Johnson, Willis Kysor, Carl Johnson and John Pethick.

Johnson was born Dec. 9, 1900, at Red Lodge, Mont., and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Vernie Johnson, and a step-daughter, Mrs. Bernice McKee, Michigan Cirty, Ind.; his father, Webster Johnson, Kalamazoo; his mother, Mrs. Anna Johnson, Dowagiac; five brothers, Roy, Decatur; Ray, Benton Harbor; Ralph, Jackson; Rawleigh of Niles and Robert, Kalamazoo, and four sisters, Mrs. Rose Goodrich, Dowagiac; Mrs. Ruth Reed, Benton Harbor; Mrs. Rena Doorleg, Kalamazoo, and Mrs. Ruby Taylor, Niles.

Rites Today

The funeral was held at the Rutherford mortuary at 2 o'clock this afternoon, with the Rev. A.R. Kuehn, of the Evangelical church, officiating. . . 

Note:  This is part of a longer article with details of other accidents unrelated to Mr. Johnson's death; unrelated parts were omitted.

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, July 8, 1936, page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

Niles News In Brief:  JOHNSON DEATH ACCIDENT

A verdict of "death by accident" returned this afternoon by a coroner's jury ended official investigation into the death of Ransom Johnson, 36, 605 Cass street, whose body was found on the Big Four tracks Saturday morning.  He had apparently been killed by a freight train. The jury impaneled by Acting Coroner Charles Warner, was made up of Paul Blackmond, Richard Forrester, Howard Johnson, Willis Kysor, Carl Johnson and John Pethick.