Charles Baldwin, 6-year-o1d Jesup farmboy, ran joyfully to meet his grandparents as they drove up to his farm home Sunday morning.

Twenty-two hours later, shortly after 9 a. m. Monday he died in St. Francis hospital, Waterloo. His skull had a basal fracture and there were body injuries to show the tragic results of his dashing into the path of an automobile near the farm home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baldwin, three miles south of Jesup, on Shady Grove road.

The boy, elder son of the Baldwins, had failed to regain consciousness from the time of the accident, his attending physician said.

Charles had been at play with neighbor boys across the road when he saw the car of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leary, Jesup, enter the Baldwin driveway. Playmates said that the boy immediately began to run toward his home and dashed out onto the graveled road, directly in the course of a southbound automobile driven by Lester Hoffman, Littleton, Ia., youth.

Hoffman's efforts to stop the car were in vain, he said, and the car struck the Baldwin boy, knocking him to the roadway. His unconscious form was lifted into the Hoffman car by the driver and a companion, Elmer Jensen, of Jesup. With the boy's father accompanying, Hoffman sped to the office of a Jesup physician where an examination revealed critical injuries.

Charles was then taken to St. Francis hospital for emergency treatment. Convulsions, induced by the skull fracture, made the boy's condition grave thruout Sunday afternoon and night. The right femur was completely broken thru, the doctor reported Monday. Severe lacerations of face and body were also contributing factors to the boy's death.

Born Dec. 24, 1930, at the farm home south of Jesup, Charles is survived by his grief-stricken parents; a younger brother, Douglas, 4; paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Baldwin, Jesup; and his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leary.

Pending completion of funeral arrangements, the body was removed to the Parker & Son funeral home in Jesup. No inquest is scheduled, the Hoffman youth having been cleared of blame in the accident.

Funeral services for Charles Baldwin, six-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baldwin, who died Monday in a Waterloo hospital of injuries suffered when he was struck by an automobile Sunday near his home, will be at 2 p. m. Wednesday at the Parker funeral home here.

Rev. Roscoe Sires, pastor of Linden Methodist Episcopal church at Waterloo, and former Jesup pastor, will officiate, assisted by Rev. Howard Mercer of Jesup.

Burial will be in Cedar Crest cemetery near Jesup.

Source - Waterloo Courier - Aug 9 & 10, 1937