A Mr. Mabry, who was employed as miller at the mill of Napoleon Tumlin, on the Etowah River near this place, was drowned on Wednesday last.  The circumstances, as we learn them from an eye witness, were as follows:

It seems that Mr. Mabry had been carrying corn across the river, in a canoe, grinding it and returning with the meal, and in doing which he had to cross above the dam.  On one of these trips, which proved to be his last, a gentleman by the name of Stansell proposed to accompany him.  Having thrown a grist of meal into the canoe, the two men got in and started for the opposite bank, but going too near the dam, the river being considerably swollen from the recent rains, and very swift, they were, despite their efforts and struggles, carried by the raging, surging waters over the dam, the canoe smashed to pieces, and Mr. Mabry drowned.  He was seen a few minutes after, about fifty yards below the dam, but seemed to be making no effort to save himself, and there being no canoe, or other water craft at hand, by which assistance could be rendered him, he sank beneath the turbid waves, to rise no more, until the resurrection trump shall sound.  He leaves a wife and one child to mourn his untimely death, to whom we tender our heart-felt sympathy, in this, their very sad bereavement.  At last accounts they have not been able to find the unfortunate man’s body, the river being so full and swift as to render all efforts to find it by dragging, utterly in vain.

Mr. Stansell, when he saw that to prevent the bateau from being drawn over the dam was impossible, leaped as far as he could, thereby escaping being thrown into the whirlpool beneath, and by a masterly effort, succeeded in reaching the bank, some thirty yards below.

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March 14, 1871
Page 3

The body of Mr. Mabry, the gentleman who was drowned at Tumlin’s mill, several weeks ago, was found on Sunday last, by a Mr. Finch, on an island, about ten miles below here, known as Milam’s Island, near the residence of our friend, T. J. Lion.  Mr. Finch, it seems, visited the island merely out of curiosity, and was so shocked and affrighted at so very unexpectedly finding a corpse, that he returned to the shore with the greatest possible haste, and from thence he proceeded to find some one to whom to communicate his sad story, which he did, but could not be induced to return and assist in getting the dead man to the shore.  Mr. Jas. W. Tinsley, assisted by Mr. William Lion, and another gentleman, whose name we did not learn, carried his lifeless and awfully disfigured body to the bank, and then procuring a wagon brought it to town.  It was an awful sight to behold, and made an indelible impression upon the minds of all who beheld it.  He was perfectly black, his dull, glazed, sightless eyes were sunk far in his head, and the only way by which he could be identified or recognized was by his clothes. The recovery of his body will be a great source of comfort to his grief-stricken wife, and will, to some extent, alleviate her sorrow.  May she put her trust in Him who says He will be a “husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless,” and who can all her “sorrows heal.”