1914 :: Mail Carrier Drowned

Death - L.C. Meyer Drowned - Luis C. Meyer, mail carrier on Rt. 1 was accidentally drowned Monday afternoon while making his return trip. The accident happened on the Rockdale and Burton road at Cottonwood Hollow between Hogg and Chriesman Chapel. Ordinarily this so-called branch is dry but the rains Monday had converted it into a raging torrent. No one saw the accident but some one heard him yell and Wright Watson, Steve Bubnik and Lee Wolz went to see what was the matter and found Meyer's horse standing on the bank, the harness having been cut to free the horse from the hack and the hack itself had been washed some distance downstream. Meyer was nowhere to be seen. A further search disclosed his body hanging in a barb-wire fence of the Krall pasture and when taken down, the body was shone to have a number of cuts. Burial in the Masonic cemetery under the Hermann Sons lodge. He leaves a wife and two children, Fred Meyer of Rockdale and Mrs. Arthur Tomlinson of Rosebud. Cameron Herald, May 7, 1914

1960 :: Death of Johnny Horton

Dallas Morning News. November 6, 1960. Singer Dies In 2-Car Collision. Milano, Texas. (AP) -- Singer Johnny Horton, 30, who became famous for his recording of "The Battle of New Orleans," died as two cars collided head-on here Saturday.

The accident on an overpass here in Central Texas also injured guitarist Gerald D. Tomlinson, 30, of Shreveport, La., reported in serious condition; Tilman Franks, 46, also of Shreveport, who was Horton's manager, and James E. Davis, 19, of Brady, a Texas A&M student who was alone in the other car.

The injured were taken to a Cameron hospital. Franks and Davis were believed to have escaped serious injury. A doctor said Tomlinson suffered compound fractures of both legs and might lose one of them.

Horton was at the wheel as he and his companions left Austin, where he filled an engagement Friday night. He was en route to Shreveport to discuss plans for a movie.

The singer, a former star of the national radio program "Louisiana Hayride," originating in Shreveport, had made his home in the Louisiana city the past eight years. He was born in Hollywood, but spent most of his early life in Rusk.

Horton was the husband of Mrs. Billie Jean Horton, who was the wife of Western singer Hank Williams until his death from a heart attack in 1953.

Other survivors are the couple's two small daughters, Zanina and Melody; his step-daughter, Jerry Lynn, and his mother, Mrs. John L. Horton of Rusk.

The funeral service will be held in Shreveport. Arrangements were incomplete.

• His Find-A-Grave Memorial Page
  
• His bio page at tshaonline.org
  
• The eerie demise of Johnny Horton by Clay Coppedge
  
• Honky Tonk Man by Archie P. McDonald