THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, August 18, 1921

M. A. Davis, 28, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Davis of St. Johns Park and a native born citizen of Flagler County, died Monday last in Jacksonville, his body arriving in Bunnell Wednesday and was interred at Pellicer Cemetery during the afternoon.

About a week prior to his death Mr. Davis was crushed under a falling derrick, the property of the Ohio Well and Drilling company, for whom Mr. Davis has worked for ten or twelve years. The breaking down of the derrick was caused by the pipe getting jammed while being withdrawn from a well just completed, and the young man was trapped so escape was impossible.

Mr. Davis was an honest, industrious and well liked citizen. His friends were numbered by his acquaintances, and his untimely death is deeply deplored by all who knew him. His relatives have the sympathy of the entire community,

The body was shipped from Jacksonville and here taken by loving hands to its last resting place Wednesday afternoon.

 

Thursday, August 18, 1921 - - A cloud hung over our entire community when the sad news came today of the death of Mathew Davis, son of Mat. Davis of St. Johns Park. The body was brought to the Davis home late tonight from Jacksonville and will be buried tomorrow at the Pellicer Burying Ground east of Bunnell.

The blow fell especially hard upon the sorrowing family, for Mathew was a great favorite of them all and was beloved by all who knew him. The writer hastens to extend his heartfelt sympathy and the sympathy of the many friends who requested him to do so, to the grief stricken family in their hour of trial and sadness.

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THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, August 25, 1921

Mathew Davis, third son of Mathew Davis, Sr., of St. Johns Park, was fatally injured while engaged in drilling a deep well in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday, August 9th. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital immediately after the accident and everything that medical skill and care could do for him was done without avail.

He died from his injuries Tuesday at 12:30, August 16, after lingering in the hospital a week suffering great pain. His brother, Harry, who had been called to his bedside, was with him when he died, but other members of his family did not know of his misfortune in time to see him before the end came.

Deceased was 33 years of age - - in the very prime of life. He was born and raised on a farm in what is now a part of the St. Johns Park Colony. His parents were early pioneers in this section, having lived for many years on what is known as the Davis Branch of Haw Creek. Their place was one of the landmarks of a by-gone day, and it has now been transformed into the modern Villa-Lasche, the home of Professor and Mrs. Alfred Lasche, one of the beauty spots of the Colony at St. Johns Park.

Mathew Davis was one of a family of twelve children, five boys and seven girls, all living at the time of the accident, and all present at the funeral of the first one to go to the great beyond. Burial took place at the old family burial ground on Pellicer Greek, where the mother was laid to rest seven years ago. A singular coincidence is that Mother Davis died on the 16th of August, the same day of the year that Mathew passed away.

Mathew Davis had been engaged in the well drilling business continuously for the past eight years. Some of the flowing wells at St. Johns Park were drilled by him. He was considered one of the best men in his line of work and had been employed on many deep wells in the state. The well he was working on in the city of Jacksonville was 1,200 feet deep when the accident occurred which cost him his life. It appears that Mathew was standing on a platform about 12 feet high above the well and immediately under the big derrick over the well. The engine was running full speed, while the drill was being raised from the bottom of the well. It is thought that a rock or boulder must have caught and wedged between the drill and the eight inch casing while the drill was being raised and that the engine running at full speed while the drill suddenly stopped as it became wedged tight by the rock tore down the derrick, or certain parts of it, which stuck Mathew, knocked him off the platform and onto the ground where a heavier piece of the derrick fell across his body and crushed him fatally.

Mathew Davis was known by everybody around here and universally liked by all. He entered the Army during the great world war and was with the Tank Division of the service. His many friends are sorry to lose him and sympathize with his family and relatives in their grief.