Herbert Merton Cooley

1875 - 1914  (39 years)

• Name	Herbert Merton Cooley  [1]
  Birth	15 Oct 1875	McGregor, Clayton Co, Iowa   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Name	Mert
  Occupation	Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska
  	newspaperman
  	until his death in 1914
  Death	4 Nov 1914	Yankton, Yankton Co, South Dakota   [1, 2]
  	Cause: Cause: Drowning
  Burial	Missouri River   [3, 4]
  Person ID	I23	Cooley Miller Sears Barnhouse
  Last Modified	5 Sep 2022

  
  

  Father	Robert Reed Cooley,   b. 14 May 1847, Garnavillo Twp, Clayton Co, Iowa d. 28 Dec 1917, Flagler, Kit Carson Co, Colorado (Age 70 years)
  Mother	Stella Alfresine Owen,   b. 21 May 1850, Alden Twp, McHenry Co, Illinois d. 10 Jun 1920, Flagler, Kit Carson Co, Colorado (Age 70 years)
  Marriage	10 Dec 1874	McGregor, Clayton Co, Iowa   [5]
  Family ID	F7	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Jane Elizabeth Holliday,   b. 20 Mar 1884, Castle Sowerby, Cumberland, England d. 1 Jan 1908, Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska (Age 23 years)
  Marriage	26 Apr 1905	Holliday Farm, Knox Co, Nebraska   [6]
  Children	1. Ronald Delos Cooley,   b. 28 Jan 1906, Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska d. 11 Jan 1980, St Luke's Hospital, Denver, Colorado (Age 73 years)   2. Merton Beth Cooley,   b. 7 Dec 1907, Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska d. 3 Nov 1992, Sterling, Logan Co, Colorado (Age 84 years)
  Family ID	F8	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Feb 2023

  
  

  Family 2	Edith Jones,   b. 15 Aug 1879, Iowa d. Aft Aug 1911, Possibly Colorado (Age 32 years)
  Marriage	29 Jun 1910	Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska   [7]
  Children	1. Edith Dixie Cooley,   b. 4 Aug 1911, Flagler, Kit Carson Co, Colorado d. 10 Aug 1981, Chicago, Cook Co, Illinois (Age 70 years)
  Family ID	F20	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2023

  
  

• Photos

  Gravestone_Elizabeth Holliday and Mert.jpg

  
  

• Notes

  From Yankton Press and Dakotan, 4 Nov 1914 TRAGEDY AT MISSOURI RIVER Two Men from Crofton lose lives at river early this morning THE CAR PLUNGED INTO STREAM TWO IN CAR ESCAPE AND TELL THRILLING STORY OF ACCIDENT O.W. Cass, a druggist of Crotfton Neb, and H.M. Cooley, editor of the Crofton Journal were drowned in the Missouri River at 2 o'clock this morning when Mr. Cass' auto, a Ford, plunged over the side of the pontoon bridge into 12 to 14 feet of water. O.D. Salley, barber, and L.S. Ross, jeweler, also of Crofton, were members of the party but although both experienced the terrible plunge into the river and hit the sandbar at the bottom, both managed to rise clear of the car and get to shore but hardly able to relate how; Salley especially, who was nearly drowned, is in a state of collapse over the loss of his intimate friend, Mr. Cooley. [The bodies of Cass and Cooley were never found] [8] (Medical):Car plunged from the Yankton Pontoon Bridge into the Missouri River, body never recovered.

  
  

• Sources

  [S398] Carrie Louella Miller interviewed by Daniel Berton Cooley 1968 , CL Miller Cooley Bible. [S6] Telephone interview with Dale Cooley 8/5/1993, Dale Cooley, 1993 DBC interview (Reliability: 3). [S510] Obituary, Plattsmouth (Neb) Semi-Weekly Journal, 5 Nov 1914, p7, "Two Men Drowned"; body never recovered (Reliability: 3). Yankton Pontoon Bridge 1890-1924 The occupants of the Missouri's shores used rafts, small boats, or simply walked across [it when frozen in the winter]...these options proved to be unreliable...[so] the first pontoon bridge [across] the Missouri was built in 1890. The pontoon bridge was a series of small boats strung together, tied to each shore, and covered with wooden planks...the bridge occasionally dumped travelers into the Missouri when large chunks of ice or rough waves tousled the wooden planks. - from "Meridian Bridge: A History" [S478] Gravestone. [S398] Carrie Louella Miller interviewed by Daniel Berton Cooley 1968 , CL Miller Cooley Bible, Interview with Grandma Lou Miller about 1968 (Reliability: 3). [S630] Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska., Marriages Nebraska, (Ancestry.com. Nebraska, U.S., Select County Marriage Records, 1855-1908 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. ), Knox County Marriage Records p356, Marriage License nr 2065 (Reliability: 3). [S285] Denise Desmond e-mail. [S760] Local newspaper, Newspaper story, The Yankton Press and Dakotan, 4 Nov 1914 (Reliability: 3).