robert shelley smitherman
East
Bend.- Robert Shelly Smitherman, 74, was found shot to death on his
farm half a mile south of here early yesterday afternoon.
Sheriff A. L. Inscore quoted Coroner R. V. Long as saying the death appeared to be suicide, but said he himself thought there was strong possibility it was an accident. He said there was no indication of foul play. No inquest is planned, Inscore reported.
Relatives, holding the belief that death was accidental, said that Smitherman might have been shot when his gun discharged as he attempted to climb the fence near which the body was found. They could give no reasons why he might take his own life.
Smitherman started hawkshooting about 9 o'clock, according to accounts, and when he had not returned home about noon, relatives started searching for him. When they found the body, officers said, they recalled hearing a shot about 9:30 which they had thought was a shot fired at a hawk.
Smitherman was born May 12, 1867, on the farm on which he died. He spent his entire life there. His parents were A. P. and Sallie Truelove Smitherman.
He was married four times, the last time to Miss Nancy Perry in 1915.
Survivors include the widow; two daughters, Mrs. T. E. Hutchins of East Bend and Mrs. Rosa Hackett of Union, Ia.; seven sons. Rufus, Robert, Foy, Yancy, Will and Jody Smitherman, all of Yadkin county, and Gilbert Smitherman of Charlotte; 21 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; one brother, J. A. Smitherman of East Bend; three sisters, Mrs. Matt Patterson and Mrs. Sarah Poindexter, both of East Bend, and Mrs. Fannie Binkley of Winston-Salem.
Funeral arrangements had not been completed last night.
Sheriff A. L. Inscore quoted Coroner R. V. Long as saying the death appeared to be suicide, but said he himself thought there was strong possibility it was an accident. He said there was no indication of foul play. No inquest is planned, Inscore reported.
Relatives, holding the belief that death was accidental, said that Smitherman might have been shot when his gun discharged as he attempted to climb the fence near which the body was found. They could give no reasons why he might take his own life.
Smitherman started hawkshooting about 9 o'clock, according to accounts, and when he had not returned home about noon, relatives started searching for him. When they found the body, officers said, they recalled hearing a shot about 9:30 which they had thought was a shot fired at a hawk.
Smitherman was born May 12, 1867, on the farm on which he died. He spent his entire life there. His parents were A. P. and Sallie Truelove Smitherman.
He was married four times, the last time to Miss Nancy Perry in 1915.
Survivors include the widow; two daughters, Mrs. T. E. Hutchins of East Bend and Mrs. Rosa Hackett of Union, Ia.; seven sons. Rufus, Robert, Foy, Yancy, Will and Jody Smitherman, all of Yadkin county, and Gilbert Smitherman of Charlotte; 21 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; one brother, J. A. Smitherman of East Bend; three sisters, Mrs. Matt Patterson and Mrs. Sarah Poindexter, both of East Bend, and Mrs. Fannie Binkley of Winston-Salem.
Funeral arrangements had not been completed last night.