Robert Ray HYSER, called Bobby, was the son of Harry HYSER (1850-1905) and Susan SHRINER HYSER (1857-1932). Bobby was born 24 June 1889 in Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas. His parents moved to Kansas from Maryland long before he was born. Bobby was the youngest of five children, and I wrote about his brother, Stearn, previously.
Bobby’s grandfather, Lewis Hyser, and my 2nd great-grandfather, Daniel Christopher Heiser, were brothers. This makes Bobby my 2nd cousin, twice removed.
Bobby’s father was a painter and was successful at it. In 1910, Harry owned his house free and clear. Bobby was 11, and he attended school. According to the census, Bobby could read and write.
At 14, Bobby was a carrier for the Wellington Daily News. He was ‘a very bright and active lad’ according to the newspaper article about his passing.
On 6 July 1903, Bobby and four other boys were in Slate creek below the dam. It was mid-afternoon and probably rather hot. Bobby didn’t know how to swim, and according to the newspaper Bobby ‘thought the water was not over his head and was wading around with the other boys. While walking around he stepped off into water too deep for him, and went under.’
Bobby grabbed two of his friends, Claude WILLIAMS and Arthur SCHWINN, pulling them down with him. They got free and tried to keep him from drowning but were unable to do so. ‘He came up a time or two then sank out of sight.’ His body was removed from the water about an hour later, and ‘all efforts to resuscitate him proved futile.’
Bobby was laid to rest at Prairie Lawn Cemetery in Wellington where his parents were laid to rest when they passed.
Copyright © 2016 Nancy H. Vest All Rights Reserved
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