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Accidental Drowning while fishing
Disappearance of Culve Man Creates Mystery
The disaapearance of George Brown, former waiter at the Academy and recently
employed doing odd jobs about town, is enveloped in somewhat of a mystery and
it may be several days before any definite conclusions are reached, says the
Culver Citizen
Thursday the boat in which he is said to have gone fishing was found empty on
Lake Maxinkuckee
THe boat was anchored and fishing p oles were set but no Georhe Brown was in
the craft.
It was decided he must have fallenn overboard and dorwned, since it was too far
for most persons to swim to shore.
THe lake was dragged for two days without success and on Friday when the water
was unusually clear the bottom was carefully searched without any signs of the
body.
Howeever, it i s possible that the body might have been washed away in Thursday's
storm from the area where the boady was anchored, thus causing the searching crew
to miss it with grappling hooks. In this case the body should come to the surface
withing the next week.
A theory has been advanced that Brown might have left town and his family, using
the empty boat as a decoy to check any search for him elsewhere - Bremen
Enquirer (Indiana) - Nov. 9, 1939
Rochester News-Sentinel of Friday, November 10, 1939 ---- The body of a 46-year-old
Culver colored man, whom police described as "his own worst enemy" was taken from
the cold waters of Lake Maxinkuckee at Culver Thursday morning about 8 o'clock, after
he had been missing 15 days. He was George BROWN, a handy man about the town there.
Coroner L. W. VORE of Plymouth returned a verdict of accidental drowning while fishing.
The colored man a former employe [employee] at the Culver Military Academy, was last seen
about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 by A. B. "Nick" LONG, who had given him some minnows before he
rowed his boat away from Brown's and came to shore. When Long arose the next morning
and went to the lake for more fishing, he saw the empty boat, anchored at about the spot at
which he had last seen it the night before.
Upon investigating, officials found part of the fish line and a baited hook on the inside of
the boat but the pole was missing.
The colored man's wife, Ada Lee [BROWN], reported to Town Marshal Charles BUFFINGTON early on
the morning of Oct. 26 that her husband had not been home over night and feared that he had
drowned while fishing. Mr. Buffington, along with other men, began to draw the vicinity where
the boat was anchored. At intervals the men continued dragging the vicinity until Monday noon,
Oct. 30, when they gave up the search. Cold weather and high waves halted their search at times.
About 8 o'clock Thursday morning, Ivan LOWDON and "Monty" LAWRENCE saw the body floating on the
lake, about 250 yards off shore from the site of the old Lake View hotel, with the fish pole still
clutched in his hand.
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The men rowed a boat out into the lake and brought the dead man's body ashore and called the Easterday
funeral home at Culver . The funeral home in turn immediately notified Dr. Vore who ordered the
funeral director to remove the body to the funeral home.
The dead man, a resident of Culver many years, was a veteran of the World war, having fought with
809th Pioneer Infantry, Company A and enlisted at Indianapolis. He was honorably discharged on July
23, 1919, after serving about one year.