1930 - Crash on Watermelon Hill
The news spread throughout Paintsville like the proverbial wildfire on the evening of Saturday, November 8, 1930. There had been an automobile wreck on Patrick Hill (now known as Watermelon Hill) near the Johnson-Lawrence County line. There were dead and injured.
When the six Paintsville High School students, ranging in age from 15 to 18, were found at the bottom of a deep ravine, three were dead, one was dying and two were seriously injured.
Gilbert Van Hoose, Woodrow Salyer, Woodrow Picklesimer, Robert Cecil Van Hoose, Richard Strother and Archie Williams had gone to Huntington Saturday morning to attend a football game between Ashland and Huntington. Richard Strother was driving Gilbert Van Hoose's Ford coupe on the return trip and making what one passenger described as "a moderate rate of speed" along the highway from Louisa to Paintsville.
At about 8:15 P.M. as they were topping Patrick Hill, Strother lost control of the vehicle as the two right wheels ran off the road. For almost 100 feet the car swerved back and forth on the edge of the road before taking its fatal plunge to the bottom of the precipice. It rolled end over end before coming to rest.
16 year old Archie Williams and 15 year old Robert Cecil Van Hoose had been thrown clear of the car. The dazed and injured Williams could hear the cries and moans of his companions as he struggled to climb back up to the road where he hoped to get help.
A passing motorist came to Williams' assistance and stopped other vehicles for their help, as well. As Williams was being taken to Louisa for medical attention, his friends, both dead and dying were brought up the 70 foot embankment and placed on a flatbed truck for the mournful trip to Paintsville Hospital. Not knowing exactly how many boys were in the car, the rescuers left with the injured Richard Strother and the deceased Gilbert Van Hoose, Woodrow Salyer and Woodrow Picklesimer.
Robert Cecil Van Hoose, lying lifeless under the edge of a large rock at the bottom of the hill, was not found until 2:00 A. M. Sunday morning.
As a shocked community prepared funeral arrangements for the four accident victims, the two survivors were being treated for their injuries.
Archie Williams was the least badly injured. He had a slight shoulder injury, a gash over his left eye and numerous scrapes and bruises but was otherwise unhurt. However, Richard Strother, the driver, was in much more serious condition. He suffered a broken leg, fractured knee-cap, fractured skull and internal injuries. Both boys survived the accident.
Paintsville schools were closed Monday and Tuesday. Funeral services for the four youths were held at 2:00 P. M. Tuesday at Mayo Memorial Church. Members of the PHS football team served as pallbearers for their teammates Woodrow Salyer and Woodrow Picklesimer and their two companions.
Thanksgiving 1930 was not a very happy occasion in Johnson County.
