Walter Damker, who came out from his home at Brownington, Mo., last week to look after the harvest on his farm in the Denmark neighborhood, was relating an early day incident that has been on his mind for a long time, and which was told to him by his father, who came to this part of Kansas in 1872. The drowning of the boy at the Shady Bend dam last week may have had something to do with refreshing Walter’s recollection of the earlier day drowning.
The Saline river used to flood in those days, too, and there being no bridges, pioneer residents trained their horses to swim across the swollen stream. They would ride their horses up to the river, urge them into the water and then grab hold up the horse’s tail and the animal would take them safely to the opposite shore.
On one such occasion, a man by the name of Simmons rode up to the river leading a horse behind. When his mount started into the water the horse he was leading became frightened and pulled Simmons off into the river, and both he and the horse he was riding were drowned.
Simmons’ body remained in the river for three days before it floated to the surface, and the body recovered. He was buried on a farm six miles west of Lincoln and as far as anyone here knows he had no relatives here. There is still a small marker at the site of the grave which shows that the accident occurred in 1878.
Walter remembers the incident only from stories told to him by his father who witnessed the drowning. It was generally understood that Simmons was a Civil War veteran but there is no record to show what part he took in the war. Walter opines that when a man serves his country in the capacity of a soldier, he should have better recognition than to become the occupant of the grave of an unknown soldier.
Walter has taken a good deal of interest in endeavoring to find out some of the past history of Mr. Simmons in the hope that a suitable monument may be erected to an old Civil War veteran. If there is anyone in the community who may have had any information handed down to them in regard to Mr. Simmons or the incident that caused his death, they will confer a lasting favor on Walter by getting in touch with him.
On his yearly visits back to his old home here, Walter always visits the burial spot to see if the old marker is still intact and to refresh his memories of the story told him by his father.
