Harve BILES

1944 - 1951  (6 years)

• Name	Harve BILES  [1]
  	The Charleroi Mail Newspaper; Washington County Pennsylvania, Friday, May 25, 1951, Front page: Headline:SMALL BOY DROWNS IN RIVER OFFSET HERE Harve Biles Steps into 12-Foot Depth Uncle Recovers Body Grappling Hook Contact Body of Fallowfield Ave. Lad Four Hours After Death In Monogahela River Here Small Companion of Lad took clothes home Stepping off a shore and -ledge into 12 feet of water, Harve Adrian Biles, age six years, 615 Fallowfield avenue, drowned in the Monogahela River here late yesterday. His lifeless body was brought up by a grappling hook in the hands of an uncle four hours after the late afternoon tragedy. The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. near an anchored houseboat on the lower section of the Chamber of Commerce grounds. Harve Davis, the boy's uncle contacted the body with a grappling hook at 9:05 p.m. from one four small craft which engaged in the search. The remains were brought ashore and removed before the distraught gaze of hundreds of onlookers who watched the operations. The lad was said to have never played at the riverside before. 'He went to the river with a small girl playmate and it was her action in removing his clothes to her home that the drowning was discovered. The boy had intended wading about on the three foot sandbar which exists near the death spot. Dredging of several years ago to provide a place for boat mooring causes a dangerous shelf offset into deep water there. When the girl reported to her parents that she had waited in vain for the boy to return from he water and summarily, in childlike innocence, brought the lad's clothing away and the alarm was given. Charleroi police were called and instigated the search with local and North Charleroi fired departments co-operating, Edmond Santini of North Charleroi was notified by police and that department's rescue boat was hauled to the scene, while local firemen also went into the hunt took their light plant to the river in preparation for grappling after dark. Alfred Netti used his power boat in the work, while three power boats were manned by police, firemen and other grapplers, additional hooks having been obtained from Belle Vernon. Harve Davis, uncle of the boy, felt the contact on his grappling line and drew the inert form to the surface a few feet from the houseboat and at the point just about where the boy is believed to have gone down. Deputy Coroner Francis Slezak took charge of the remains and they were later turned over to the Schrock Funeral Home. After the alarm, word of the drowning spread rapidly. Scores went to the river and lined the bank for the long vigil of searching. The boy was born Nov. 9, 1944, in North Charleroi, a son of Allen Biles, who is in Germany, and Grace Davis Metzger, 615 Fallowfield Avenue, Charleroi. He was a member of the Sunday School of the First Christain Church. In addition to his father and mother, he leaves his stepfather, Bradley Metzger, and two brothers, Allen Davis Biles and William L. Biles; a half -brother, Bradley Metzger; two half sisters Sharon Lee Metzger and Dorothea Alice Metzger. "The Daily Courier" Connellsville, Pa - October 25, 1951 Sues for $30,000 WASHINGTON, Pa Oct 25 - A suit to recover $30,000 damages for the death of her son, Harve A. Biles, a minor, has been filed by Mrs. Esther Grace Metzer of Charleroi against Clifford Alen Popp of Rostraver township, Westmorland county. The accident occurred at Charleroi October 19, 1954. (May 1951)
  Birth	9 Nov 1944	Allenport, Washington County, Pennsylvania   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Cause of Death (Facts Pg)	Drowned   [1]
  Death	24 May 1951  [1]
  Person ID	I66180	Main Tree
  Last Modified	11 Sep 2011

  
  

  Father	Allen Ream BILES,   b. 9 Aug 1921, Allenport, Washington County, Pennsylvania d. 12 Jul 1996, Commerce Twp., Michigan (Age 74 years)
  Mother	Grace DAVIS,   b. 9 Aug 1921, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania d. 4 Oct 2006, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania (Age 85 years)
  Marriage	bef. Aug 1943
  Divorce	abt. 1949  [1]
  Family ID	F26629	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 9 Nov 1944 - Allenport, Washington County, Pennsylvania Cause of Death (Facts Pg) - - drowned  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S4445] E-Mail from Allen Biles dtd 08-25-2011.