The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-09-15
TAR HEEL FARMER WILL
NOT BURY SONS BODY.
John +. Speaks Keeps Remains OF
Soldier Son in Best Room.
in the House.

Statesville, n. c., Sept. s. John
p. Speaks of Union Grove township.
refuses to bury the body of his son,
Thomas B. Speaks, who was killed in
France in October, 1918. The re-
mains of the dead soldier were ship
ped from France to the United
States. arriving at the home in Ire
dell county August 13.
The report being circulated that
Mr.. Speaks was keeping the remains
of his son in the home and would
not consider burial caused an in
vestigation on the part of County
Welfare officer w. w. Holladn. Yes
terday morning Mr.. Holland. accom-
panied by County Physician DR.. Ross
McElwee and Sheriff NJ. P. AleNan-
der, drove in a car to the Speaks
home, 20 miles north of Statesville.
The box in which the casket was
shipped was seen lying under shed
near the house; the casket, draped
in a United States flag, was resting
on chairs inside the home, where it
was placed by the undertaken on it's
arrival three weeks ago. There was
nothing offensive about the casket,
and the mother and other members
of the household were moving around
looking after the duties of the home
as though the caSket were piece of
choice furniture in the best room in
the house.
Immediately following the arrival
CT the body at the home, the father,
John p. Speaks. who has the repu
tation of being a man of very pecul-
lar and uncompromising ideas and
convictions, first decided that he
Awanted to satisfy himself that the
casket contained the remains of his
own boy. He therefore had the cas-
ket opened and found little more than
a mere skeleton, The shape of the
teeth and the dental work with which
he was familiar, the length and size
of the bones of the body all gave
MIR. Speaks good hope that the re-
mains were those of his son. He
then announced his purpose to keep
the. body in the house and not bury
it. During the past few days, how
ever, he stated that he ment to
build a special room in or near the
house in which to keep the body.
and he is now arranging to have
timber cut for that purpose.
Mr.. Speaks treated the visitors
with special courtesy and considera-
ton. He manifested no stubborn or
rebellious disposition in regard to
the request of the officers and friends
to have his boys body buried, stat
ing that he would bury only If re-
quired by law to do so, or If it was
found necessary from sanitary
standpoint "I do not want to bury
my boy now," said Mr.. Speaks to a
newspaper man, "but 1 will bury
him if have to, or if it is unsanitary
to keep him in the house. l am
expecting another son, who is in Ger
many in the United States army, to
come home in a few months, and we
might decide to bury him then.
prefer to fix a place for him in or
near the house, since he has already
been buried once, and keep him until
I am dead and have his bones buried
with me. do not want my body
left out when 1 die, and after am
gone / do not want my boys body
left out, as the farm might change
hands, and 1 would not want his
body neglected or abused in any
way"
Mr. Speaks refuses to make ap-
plica lion to the government for the
$4,000 war insurance which his
son had taken on entering the war.
Another popularity of Mr.. Speaks.
which was learned through neigh
Dor, is that, while he does not go to
church himself nor permit the mem
bers of the family to attend church,
still he is said to be a constant read
e.. of the Bible, conducts family wor-
ship in the home and can quote the
Scriptures freely and accurately when
the occasion demands.
What will be done with the body
of the dead soldier" was asked the
officers yesterday on their return to
Statesville from visit to the Speaks
home. The reply was that nothing
could be done. If the keeping Of the
body in the home was found to be
unsanitary. the man could be forced
by law to bury It. The county ply
sician does not find that it is dan
gerous to the health of the family.
and the officers are therefore at the
end of the row.
Members of the Speaks household
do not express any dissatisfaction
over the trend of affairs. They
freely yield to the wishes of the head
of the home and state that what he
does is satisfactory to them.
q