Wayne County Press
Nov  13, 1952

Son of Charles Weaver, Berry Twp. School Teacher Had Been Despondent

Elman Weaver, 37, son of Charles Weaver, Berry township farmer and school teacher, was found dead Tuesday afternoon about two o'clock in a wooded section of the Stella Little farm northeast of the Dickeyville church.  He had apparently taken his own life by hanging.

The body was found by three hunters, Orville Dickey, of Sims, Bernie Weaver of Johnsonville, and Glen Weaver of Cisne.   Bernie Weaver was a first cousin of the victim.  Mr. Weaver had hung himself in a tree, using old fence wire.

A coroner's jury Tuesday night returned a verdict of "suicide by hanging."  Coroner James Colbert conducted the inquest at Combs funeral home in Wayne City.

For several years, Mr. Weaver had held a responsible position at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, quitting that work in June and returning to his home near Sims.  Later he went to Oklahoma and California to work, but came home two weeks ago.

His father told the jury that he had last seen his son alive Saturday morning. He added, "Elman told us that he was going to St. Louis to see about getting work.  If he didn't succeed, he was going to come back and see if he could get a school.   He's been despondent the past six months and thought he had been given a bad deal in his work. He wouldn't talk, just sat and studied all the time."

The victim had wrecked his new Mercury car in a roadside ditch near Dry Fork Creek on the graveled highway three miles north of Sims sometime after leaving home Saturday and apparently walked across to the Little farm. Sunday neighbors saw the car in the ditch but did not recognize it because of its Ohio license plate.  Mr. Weaver said he saw it there Monday noon but did not recognize it.  In the meantime the sheriff's office here communicated with Ohio police and learned the name of the owner of the car.  It was then that a search for the victim was begun.

Two notes were left by the suicide victim. One said "I have done everything I can to keep from drowning myself."  The other note said, "Should I spend all of eternity paying for what I did in five minutes."

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday at the Bailey church.