Ward Lorenzo Bennett1,2,3 
M, (29 March 1899 - 1 February 1936)
Ward Lorenzo Bennett was born on 29 March 1899.4,5 He was the son of George Washington Bennett and Loretta Carrie Casselberry.2 Ward Lorenzo Bennett was baptized, at age 2 years, 2 months and 18 days, on Sunday, 16 June 1901 at Bethel United Presbyterian Church, Bottle Run, Old Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.6 He married Verna Viola Sholder, daughter of Harry Ellsworth Sholder and Clara Irene Bixler, circa 1918.1,2,3 Ward Lorenzo Bennett died on 1 February 1936 at Railroad Crossing at Mill Lane, Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, at age 36 years, 10 months and 3 days.4,2 He was buried on 7 February 1936 in the Wildwood Cemetery, located in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
Ward attended Bottle Run No. 2, Old Lycoming Twp., Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania during the 1910 - 1911 school year. A. C. Paulhamus, was the teacher. Board of Education consisted of George W. Bennett, President; L. H. Pidcoe, Secretary; Amos Smith, Treasurer; Chris Bower; Daniel Berry; Clarence Sholder; and G. Bruce Milnor, County Superintendent. He appeared on the census of 21 April 1910 in the household of George Washington Bennett and Loretta Carrie Casselberry at Old Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Ward Lorenzo Bennett was employed by Lycoming Manufacturing Company 1934. The following article about Ward Lorenzo and Geraldine Grace was published on 2 February 1936 in the local paper, printed in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. This article stated:
BOTTLE RUN MAN INSTANTLY KILLED, DAUGHTER INJURED AS TRAIN HITS AUTOMOBILE
Ward Bennett, 37, Victim of Crash - Girl, 16, being Treated at City Hospital
Severely injured in an accident in which her father was killed when their car was struck by a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train at the Mill Lane crossing, near Sunset Park, early yesterday afternoon, Geraldine Bennett, 16, of Bottle Run, was being treated at the Williamsport Hospital last night for lacerations of the scalp and the hands and for body bruises.
She also is being kept under observation for a possible skull fracture and will have an X-ray examination today.
The girl and her father, Ward Bennett, 37, were on their way from their home in Bottle Run to do their marketing in Williamsport, when the accident occurred. The two passengers of the car were hurled about 300 feet from the crossing, and their automobile was dragged about 100 yards.
Funeral Plans Incomplete
Bennett, a World War I veteran and father of seven children, was instantly killed. Arrangements for the funeral were incomplete last night.
Investigations into the accident have been started by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the county coroner, who expect to announce their findings early next week.
Residents of the section near Mill Lane believe the accident happened when Bennett, approaching the crossing, heard the train coming and attempted to stop, the car skidding directly into the path of the locomotive, which reduced the automobile to a tangled mass of wreckage. The road approaching the crossing from the East, the direction in which the Bennett car was traveling, is bounded on each side by high banks, cutting off a view of the tracks in either direction.
Girl Taken To Hospital
The train brought the dead man and the injured girl to the Pennsylvania Station, from where the girl was taken to the Williamsport Hospital for treatment.
Bennett is survived by his wife, Verna; six daughters and a son, June Elizabeth, Margaret Castleberry, Annabelle, Jean Lois, Shirley Joyce, Geraldine, and Ward Robert; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bennett, also of Bottle Run road; three sisters and two brothers, Mrs. Charles Tevis, of Youngstown, O; Mrs. Elmer Waltz and Catherine Florence Bennett, of Williamsport RD 2; Verus W., of Binghampton, N.Y., and Joseph A., of Youngstown, O.
Bennett had been employed in the aircraft department of the Lycoming Manufacturing Company and was an extensive trucker.2
Ward attended Bottle Run No. 2, Old Lycoming Twp., Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania during the 1910 - 1911 school year. A. C. Paulhamus, was the teacher. Board of Education consisted of George W. Bennett, President; L. H. Pidcoe, Secretary; Amos Smith, Treasurer; Chris Bower; Daniel Berry; Clarence Sholder; and G. Bruce Milnor, County Superintendent. He appeared on the census of 21 April 1910 in the household of George Washington Bennett and Loretta Carrie Casselberry at Old Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Ward Lorenzo Bennett was employed by Lycoming Manufacturing Company 1934. The following article about Ward Lorenzo and Geraldine Grace was published on 2 February 1936 in the local paper, printed in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. This article stated:
BOTTLE RUN MAN INSTANTLY KILLED, DAUGHTER INJURED AS TRAIN HITS AUTOMOBILE
Ward Bennett, 37, Victim of Crash - Girl, 16, being Treated at City Hospital
Severely injured in an accident in which her father was killed when their car was struck by a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train at the Mill Lane crossing, near Sunset Park, early yesterday afternoon, Geraldine Bennett, 16, of Bottle Run, was being treated at the Williamsport Hospital last night for lacerations of the scalp and the hands and for body bruises.
She also is being kept under observation for a possible skull fracture and will have an X-ray examination today.
The girl and her father, Ward Bennett, 37, were on their way from their home in Bottle Run to do their marketing in Williamsport, when the accident occurred. The two passengers of the car were hurled about 300 feet from the crossing, and their automobile was dragged about 100 yards.
Funeral Plans Incomplete
Bennett, a World War I veteran and father of seven children, was instantly killed. Arrangements for the funeral were incomplete last night.
Investigations into the accident have been started by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the county coroner, who expect to announce their findings early next week.
Residents of the section near Mill Lane believe the accident happened when Bennett, approaching the crossing, heard the train coming and attempted to stop, the car skidding directly into the path of the locomotive, which reduced the automobile to a tangled mass of wreckage. The road approaching the crossing from the East, the direction in which the Bennett car was traveling, is bounded on each side by high banks, cutting off a view of the tracks in either direction.
Girl Taken To Hospital
The train brought the dead man and the injured girl to the Pennsylvania Station, from where the girl was taken to the Williamsport Hospital for treatment.
Bennett is survived by his wife, Verna; six daughters and a son, June Elizabeth, Margaret Castleberry, Annabelle, Jean Lois, Shirley Joyce, Geraldine, and Ward Robert; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bennett, also of Bottle Run road; three sisters and two brothers, Mrs. Charles Tevis, of Youngstown, O; Mrs. Elmer Waltz and Catherine Florence Bennett, of Williamsport RD 2; Verus W., of Binghampton, N.Y., and Joseph A., of Youngstown, O.
Bennett had been employed in the aircraft department of the Lycoming Manufacturing Company and was an extensive trucker.2
Children of Ward Lorenzo Bennett and Verna Viola Sholder
- Geraldine Grace Bennett+2 (14 Mar 1919 - 29 Nov 1997)
- June Elizabeth Bennett+2 (14 Jul 1920 - 19 Feb 1998)
- Margaret Castlebury Bennett+2,3 (28 Mar 1923 - 10 Mar 2012)
- Annabelle Bennett+1,2 (29 Jun 1926 - 22 Aug 2002)
- Ward Robert Bennett+1,7,2,3
- Jean Lois Bennett2 (4 Sep 1931 - 25 Apr 1997)
- Shirley Joyce Bennett+2,3
Last Edited=19 Oct 2014
Citations
- [S785] Annabelle B. Kinley obituary, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 24 August 2002. Original obituary available in print or online for 30 days from publication at: http://www.sungazette.com/obituary/obituaryArchive.asp. Kevin Leonard Sholder, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
- [S1485] Bottle Run Man Instantly Killed, Daughter Injured As Train Hits Automobile, undated clipping from an unidentified newspaper presumably from a local paper in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 2 February 1936. The original article was from a scrapbook of personal memorabilia compiled by Johanna (Weiss) Edler (1915-1999) through out her life. Viewed in the home of her daughter Donna (Edler) Sayah on 1 June 1999, by Kevin Sholder. Donna Lee Edler, Montoursville, Pennsylvania, USA.
- [S2274] "Margaret C. Wurster obituary," Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 11 March 2012, online archives (http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/575654/… : accessed 13 January 2013). Kevin Leonard Sholder, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
- [S205] Ann M. (Bennett) Chapman, "Family Group Sheets (George Washington Bennett and Loretta Carrie Casselberry)," supplied 1995.
- [S745] Jean Bennett, Montoursville, Pennsylvania, USA [e-address for private use,] to Kevin L. Sholder, e-mail, 27 October 2005, "Bob's Dad," Sholder Research Files; privately held by Kevin Leonard Sholder, [(e-address) & street address for private use),] Dayton, Ohio, USA.
- [S30] Bethel (Bottle Run) Presbyterian records dated 1901 - 1945 on micro film kept in the Northen Central Bank in Williamsport safety deposit box by the Bethel Presbyterian Session. Contact person Gail Leidecker, RD 5, Williamsport, PA (n.p.: n.pub., unknown publish date).
- [S206] Eleanore Jean (Cline) Bennett, "Family Group Sheets (Ward Robert Bennett and Eleanore Jean Cline)," supplied 15 January 1996 ([address for private use,] Montoursville, Pennsylvania; USA).