Gertrude E. Benner
Born: June 7th, 1871
Died: August 6th, 1917
Obituary
The party started home yesterday, Mr. Benner was driving. The rain last evening made the roads slippery. The party attempted to put up the side curtains for protection without stopping. The wheels began to skid and the driver was unable to prevent the car from going into the ditch. The machine turned over completely.
The death of Mrs. Benner was instantaneous, physicians declaring her neck was broken. Mr. Benner and the other members of the party were pinned under the car. Gertrude and Florence Benner were bruised and badly shaken up but are not seriously hurt.
Dr. McKittrick was called from Burlington and three Danville doctors went to the scene of the accident.
The accident occurred near the Will Dodds farm, near Danville. The road had recently been improved. The grader had cut a deep ditch at either side. The car skidded into this ditch and turned over.
The party reached Burlington shortly after midnight. Miss Ballinger was taken to Burlington hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Cady, Mr. Benner, and two daughters were taken to their homes.
“We left Burlington for Des Moines Saturday morning, “ said Mr. Cady in telling of the accident, “Monday morning we started on the return trip. Everything went well until we reached a point halfway between Danville and Middletown.”
“The rain made the road slippery. We were proceeding at a moderate rate of speed and were putting on the side curtains to protect us from the rain. Mr. Benner was driving. The car hit an unusually slippery place in the road, and skidded into the ditch, turning over. We were all pinned under the car. Help came soon and we were able to get out of the wreck.”
Mr. Benner, who was driving the car, stated that the road had been recently worked and that the wheels hit a bad spot, throwing the car into the ditch. The slippery condition of the road made it impossible to control the machine and it turned over. The machine was a Cadillac eight.