Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2018 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Detroit Free Press May 5, 1952 Family of 7 Perishes In Rural Home Fire Newaygo Farm Scene of Tragedy Victims Are Found Huddled on Bed Special to the Free Press NEWAYGO - A young couple and their five small children died Sunday when an early-morning fire destroyed their little farm home on the southern edge of the Manistee National Forest near here. Dead are HARRY HAYWOOD, Jr., 29-year-old part-time farmer, his wife, MARY, 30, and their children, HARRY III, 8; JOHN, 7; FRANKLIN,5; MARY EDNA,4, and ALICE ELAINE, 2. THE FIRE left only two iron beds, a pump, two stoves and a child's twisted metal tricycle standing above the level of the ashes. Newaygo County Sheriff ROBERT HART said he found the seven bodies on one bed in the ruins of the three room frame house. Accurate identification of the children was impossible, he said. HART added that the HAYWOODS appar- ently perished in a desperate attempt to save their children. "We found their bodies draped over those of the children," he said. "We figure the mother and father were awakened by the smoke and heat, ran into the children's bedroom but were overcome as they gathered the children to carry them out." THE SHERIFF estimated that the fire started shortly after 3 a.m. A neigh- bor sounded the first alarm at 3:30 but the walls of the flaming house already were beginning to crumple into the roar- ing blaze. The HAYWOOD'S 40-acre sandy farm is between Newaygo and Grant. HAYWOOD farmed and also worked for his brother-in-law, FRANK LEOSH, a Grant ditch contractor. HART said the fire could have origin- ated from an electric heater the HAYWOODS used on cool nights. "THERE'S ONE other possibility," HART explained. "Neighbors saw HAYWOOD burning trash near the house Saturday afternoon. The night breeze could have stirred it up enough to throw a spark on the roof." HAROLD McKINLEY, coroner of Newaygo County, said the family probably had suffocated before the flames reached them. A mass funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the McKINLEY Funeral Home in Grant. HAYWOOD is survived by his father, who lives near his son's farm, and two sisters. Mrs. HAYWOOD'S relatives live in Toledo and Indiana. ==========================================================================