The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-06-28
Four Children, Man Drown Sunday In
Gulf Coasts Worst Wafer TRAGEDY
Five Relatives Are
Buried AT Joint
Funeral Services

Tragedy stdlked the Mississippi.
Sound Sunday when its waters al
Pascagoula claimed five lives
a man, his child and two nieces
and = nephew-in a single swim
ming catastrophe.
The victims were Robert O.
Pcnton, 30 years old, his sor
Phillip Edward P%enton, 4, Rich
ard Steven and Sarah Octavia
Grant. o and IL, respectively,
children of Mr.. and Mrs. Steven
Grant. and Octavia Marie Beck
ham, 0, daughter of Mr.. and Mrs
r. c. Beckham, Paseagoulans
who now reside in Birmingham.
One of the worse tragedies in
the history of the Gulf Coast, the
deaths cut deep into three
branches of the family of Forrest
Grant, theatcr owner, and Mrs,
Grant VINO are members oe cid
respected P~ascagcula families.
Mrs. Penton is Mr.. and Mrs.
Grants Youngest daughter, the
former Miss Dorothy Grant, MI.
Steven Grant is their only son
and Mrs. Beckham is the former
Miss Oetavia Grant. The chill
dren were four of the six Grant
grandchildren and the little Beck
ham child is also the granddaugh-
ter of +. c. Beckham, a we'll
known Pascagoulan. Their great
uncle is j. o. Cole who is also
a business partner of MI. Grant.
The accident occurred Sunday
afternoon when Mr.. Penton took
the four children in a row boat TO
60 swimming. The group was act
missed until later in the after
noon when their delayed return
home caused Mr.. Grant and Mr..
Steven Grant to go out to look
for them. The row boat was
found anchored in eight inches {
water-a sand bar near where the
Yazoo Lake on which the Grants
live empties into the Sound. The
and towels of the swim
mers were folded in the boat but
there was no sign of any member
of the party.
No Witnesses
Although there were about a
dozen fishing skiffs in the vi
of the sand bar, so swiftly
and quietly had the entire group
disappeared that there was no eye
witness.
The first BODY, that of the lit
tie Penton boy, was found about
7 o'clock that night by a cousin of
the family Ralph McFaul, who
had not heard of the missing
group and who stumbled on the
child as he and his son were
laundering. Tive more bodies
were found Sunday night and
Monday morning the bodies of Mr.
Penton and Sarah Octavia ''Tavie'
Grant were recovered.
The search continued through
the night as men and women
all over the city joined the
searchers as the news of the trag-
edy spread. The sea wall was
lined with automobiles and the
water was thickly spotted with
the lights of many boats. both
and small. combing the wa
ter in the vicinity of where the
Penton child was found.
Monday the five white cas-
kets of graduating size stood in
the Stokes Funeral Home chapel
and relatives and friends of the
stricken families formed a con-
stream into the chapel
which rapidly became filled be-
yond capacity with floral offer
ings numbering in the hundreds.
Funeral services were conduct
ed Tuesday with those who came
to offer condolences. paw their
respects and mourn with the fam
lilies filling the chapel. the ad-
rooms and porch and
overflow into the funeral home
DR.. J. c. Crane. pastor of the
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