Friends Expire on Same Day

The following article appeared in the 17 November 1906 issue of the Hopkinsville Kentuckian and was accessed through Chronicling America   http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.

Lawyer Friends of Smithland Die the Same Day

Paducah, Ky., Nov. 15 - James C. Hodge, 63 years old, and Capt. John w. Bush, both prominent attorneys of Smithland, expired suddenly last night within an hour. James C. Hodge dropped dead in view of his son as he stepped off the steamer Royal, at Smithland, and Capt. Bush expired from the shock of his chum's death. Capt. Bush had been ill two months.

James C. Hodge was returning from Paducah, and had just stepped ashore from the gang plank when he turned to say something to his son, Blount Hodge, the pilot, threw up his hands and fell to the ground. Life was extinct when his son reached his side. He leaves his wife and the following children: Blount, Robert and Annie Hodge, and Mrs. R.J. Perkins of Smthland; James Hodge, of Louisville.

Capt. Bush was stricken with paralysis at the Livingston County courthouse two months ago, but had recovered sufficiently to be sitting up when the news of Hodge's death reached him. He sank back without a word and expired. He was a Captain in the Union army in the Civil War. He is survived by his wife and the following children: Frank and Chas. Bush, Mrs. Robert Rivers and Mrs. George Harris, of Smithland; Mrs. J.A. Crenshaw, of Newbern, Tenn. and Mrs. C.C. Grassham, of Paducah.

Tombstone of J.W. Bush and wife, Sarah Ann Watkins, Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky.