By Anne Adams
14 hrs ago
Whether in local history or even today we often see that human emotions are certainly timeless and that is especially the case in at times of tragedy. Of course any death is heart rending, but perhaps most catastrophic is the death of a child â and in what some might call a preventable accident.
The headline in the August 18, 1927
Athens Weekly Review told the tragic facts: "Eight Year Old Boy Found Dead in Alley at 10 O'clock This Morning." It began when Mr. R.H. Speake , accompanied by his small son, was driving his team through the alley between Pinkerton Street and the courthouse square. Then the boy alerted his father about another boy who was âsleepingâ in a car parked behind the Wallace Music Store. Speake drove on to the rear of Paulâs Cafe where he left his team and went back to take a look. The reporter related, âHe saw that he was lifeless and immediately gave the alarm." Another man, C.K. Miller also ran to the scene and related that because the child's body was still warm indicating that death had happened just a short time before. The âsleepingâ boy was identified as eight year old Spencer Daniel, son of Troy Daniel, âkeeper of the Athens cemetery.â