The  Shelbyville  Republican
 Tuesday December 23, 1924
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MARGARET  IVIE  KILLED  SISTER
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Mrs. Elva Havens, Nineteen, Fatally Wounded
During Hunt This Afternoon
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SAYS  IT  WAS  AN  ACCIDENT
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Ivie Girl Tells Officers That She Stubbed Toe
Causing the Gun to Explode
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          Mrs. Elva Havens, 19, of South Bend, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Ivie, of Morris Avenue, was shot and instantly killed this afternoon, shortly after three o’clock, by her sister, Margaret Ivie, 16.
          According to Margaret Ivie, who was taken to police headquarters and questioned, immediately after the accident, the affair was an accident. Margaret Ivie told the officers that during the morning she and her sister, Mrs. Havens, had had a quarrel over the housework, but that the quarrel left no ill feeling between them, and had nothing to do with the shooting, which she declared was purely an accident.
          In relating her story to the police and sheriff, Margaret Ivy said that she had decided to go hunting soon after noon, and that her sister desired to accompany her. She stated that as they were walking through the woods in the river bottoms, about one mile from their home, she stubbed her toe on a root and as she did so, her rifle was fired.
          The bullet struck her sister, Mrs. Havens in the side of the head, and death is believed to have been instantaneous.
          The girls were in a woods pasture, in the river bottoms, off of the Knightstown road, when the accident occurred.
          Albert Coulson, who was cutting wood in the place, said that he heard some one howling or calling and that he believed that it was hunters who were attempting to scare out rabbits. A short time later, he said that the Ivy girl came running up the hill and called to him.
          “I’ve shot my sister, it was accidental,” the girl cried, as she threw her arms about Coulson, according to the story which he related this afternoon.
Coulson said that he then telephoned to police headquarters here regarding the affair. Sheriff Jesse J. Smith, his deputy, William Robinson, and Patrolman Ralph J. Edwards’ ambulance was called and the body was brought to his undertaking parlors this afternoon, where it was viewed by the coroner.
          Mr. Coulson, accompanied by Coat Pickett, who had been hunting near the scene of the accident, went with the girl to the scene of the accident. They found that the body of Mrs. Havens had fallen forward on the ground and was lying across the rifle, which she had been carrying.
          Both of the girls had .22 calibre rifles, which were the property of their brother. The rifle, which had been carried by the dead girl, was cocked and ready to be fired, when picked up.  The other rifle was found on the ground, with the hammer down, and an exploded cartridge.
          Margaret Ivy appeared greatly grieved over the accident.  She moaned and cried as officers attempted to question her, and repeated over and over that the affair was an accident.  She appeared to fear that her mother and other relatives would blame her for the death of her sister.
          Mrs. Havens had come here from South Bend about three weeks ago.  Her husband, Elmer Havens, is now at South Bend.  She has an adopted child.
          Mrs. Havens is survived by her parents, three sisters, and four brothers.  They are  Mrs. Ed [Lula] Swinehart,  Margaret Ivy,  Mrs. Jesse [Hazel] Kirk,  Hobart,  Herbert,  Fred  and  Frank Ivy, all of Shelbyville.
Contributed by Barb Huff


The  Shelbyville  Republican
 Wednesday December 24, 1924
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CORONER  HOLDS  INQUEST  TODAY
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Investigates Matter of Shooting
of Mrs. Elva Havens By Her Sister
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FUNERAL  SERVICE  FRIDAY
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          Dr. George I. Inlow, of Blue Ridge, coroner for Shelby county, was in Shelbyville today conducting an investigation of the death of  Mrs. Elva Havens, daughter of  Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Ivie, of Morris Avenue.  Mrs. Havens was shot and killed by her sister,  Margaret Ivie, Tuesday afternoon while the two girls were hunting about a mile from their home.
          The coroner stated that he did not expect to complete his investigation of the affair today.  He said that he had talked with Margaret Ivie, and that the girl had repeated the same story to him that she had told to the officers yesterday, after the tragedy.  She said that she and her sister were hunting in the river bottoms and that when she turned to call to her dog, that she stumbled over a root, and as she did so, her rifle was discharged.  The bullet struck her sister in the right temple, causing instant death.
          Dr. Inlow said that although his inquiry has not been completed, that his verdict will probably state that death was accidental.  His verdict will be filed with the clerk of the circuit court the latter part of the week.  Dr. Inlow plans to examine the wound in Mrs. Haven’s head, to determine the course of the bullet, and the angle at which it had been fired.
          Funeral services for Mrs. Havens will be held Friday afternoon at two o’clock at the Forest Hill chapel, the Rev. L. T. Freeland, pastor of the First M.E. church, officiating.  Burial will be made in Forest Hill cemetery, R. T. Stewart in charge.
Contributed by Barb Huff


The  Shelbyville  Republican
 Saturday December 27, 1924
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WAS  ACCIDENT,  CORONER  SAYS
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Verdict Filed With Clerk of Court
Regarding Death of Mrs. Elva Havens
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DENY  STORY  OF  QUARREL
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          The death of  Mrs. Elva Havens, on December 22, 1924, resulted from the “accidental discharge of a .22 caliber rifle in the hands of her sister,  Margarette Ivie,  while hunting, causing a gunshot wound to the right side of the head,” according to the official verdict of  Dr. George I. Inlow, county coroner, which was filed this afternoon with the clerk of the Shelby Circuit Court.
          Margarette Ivie, in testifying before the coroner in his inquest stated that there never had been a quarrel or trouble of any kind between her and her sister, Mrs. Havens.  Local police stated that when they questioned Miss Ivie she has said that she and her sister had quarreled on the morning of the shooting over some house work, but that the quarrel was slight, and had been forgotten before they left their home in the afternoon for a short hunting trip.
          The girl, in her statement to the coroner, said that she and her sister had left home about two o’clock in the afternoon to hunt.  She said that while looking for her dog, she stumbled and her gun was discharged.  Miss Ivie said that she saw her sister fall, and ran to her.  She stated that she felt her sister’s heart beat four or five times, and that she put a sweater under her head and tore off her own waist, using it and her handkerchief in an effort to wipe away blood.
          Albert Coulson,  who was chopping wood near the scene of the accident, and who was the first person to reach the place after the shooting, told the coroner that everything indicated that the affair had been an accident.  Coat Pickett, and his son,  Londa Pickett, who were hunting nearby, and who reached the place soon after the shooting occurred, also were witnesses before the coroner.
Contributed by Barb Huff


The  Shelbyville  Democrat
 Wednesday, May 8, 1912
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BRIGHT  YOUNG  LIFE  IS  SUDDENLY  ENDED
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MISS  BLANCHE  HAVENS  DIED  THIS  MORNING
OF  INJURIES  RECEIVED  MONDAY.
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HURT  IN  RUNAWAY  ACCIDENT
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Jumped from Buggy and Brain Concussion Resulted
--- Was a High School Student
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          Injuries she received in a runaway accident that occurred last Monday evening while she was on her way home from attending high school in this city, caused the death this morning at nine-thirty o'clock of  Miss Blanche C. Havens, daughter of  Mr. and Mrs. Sherman A. Havens, prominent and well-known residents of  Marion township.  The victim of the sad accident was aged only fifteen years, three months and fifteen days.  She was a favorite among all who knew her and many hearts will be saddened by her untimely death.  She was in her first year in high school and was an unusually bright girl.  Painstaking as a student and capable of the closest of application she was making rapid progress in her work and her future indeed seemed bright till the prospects were ended by the ruthless hand of death.
           Monday afternoon she started home from school. She was driving a trusted animal, but it took fright at the bridge north of the city, and the girl, thinking to save herself from injury and impending death, leaped from the buggy.  She alighted on her head, suffering brain concussion, which was the direct cause of her death.  Reports regarding her condition yesterday were very encouraging till late in the afternoon, when she suddenly became unconscious again and physicians were summoned, but their combined skill was not able to stay the visit of the death angel and the bright eyes of the beloved girl closed for the final sleep this morning.  The heart-broken relatives will have the sympathy of all who know them.
          Besides the parents, two sisters and a brother survive. They are  Addie Pearl,  Ruth, and  William P. Havens.
          The funeral services will be held at the house at two o'clock Friday afternoon, the Rev. Earl R. North officiating, and the interment will be made in the Marion cemetery in charge of  D. B. Wilson & Son.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming


The  Shelbyville  Republican
 Tuesday April 9, 1912
Page 1 column 5
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DEATHS  AND  FUNERALS
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          Mrs. Emily Havens, wife of  John Havens, died at the home of her daughter,  Mrs. B. F. Drake, in Lewis Creek, at 7:40 p.m. Monday, aged sixty-three years, two months and four days. Death was due immediately to a paralytic stroke that came over her last Friday. For the past four weeks Mrs. Havens has been critically ill with a severe cold bordering on pneumonia, contracted at the time of the funeral of her granddaughter,  Lucille Drake.  She is survived by three daughters and one son.  The daughters are  Mrs. B. F. Drake, at whose home she died;  Mrs. Walter Cowen, of Lewis Creek, and  Mrs. James Phillipi,  and  Charles Havens of this city.  Also four brothers and two sisters -  Wilford Spurlin, of Tipton;  Ithamar  and  Frank Spurlin, of this city;  Washington Spurlin, of Washington township, and  Mrs. Esther Pherigo and  Mrs. M.H. [Amanda] Sullivan, of this county. Also her husband, John L. Havens, who has been in Dixon, Montana, since May, 1911, where he had taken a claim and was improving it.  Mr. Havens was notified Friday of the serious illness of Mrs. Havens.  A telegram received by family Sunday stated that he was on his way home.  He is expected to arrive this evening.
          Mrs. Havens had long been in delicate health, even when a young girl; she laid in a hospital at Indianapolis for six months from the effects of an operation which she had undergone, yet through all these years she has born her affliction with patience and fortitude and has endeared herself to all with whom she came in contact.  She was a member of the New Bethel M. E. Church, a good Christian woman and a kind and loving wife and mother.
          Funeral services will be held Thursday morning at 10 o’clock at the Wesleyan M. E. church in Lewis Creek, the Rev. S.D. Hawkins officiating.  Interment will be in the Patterson cemetery under the direction of Stewart & Fix, funeral directors of this city.
Contributed by Barb Huff

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