Obituary Sunday~George R. Boatwright

George BOATWRIGHT - Frank Teal is in the county jail charged with murder of his friend Geo. Boatright, Christmas eve night near Westfield Creek church. It seems that Frank Teal, Geo. Boatright, Ben Brock and Robert Teal, brother to Frank were returning from a Christmas tree at Westfield Creek church about 8 o'clock Dec. 24th Teal and Boatright were walking together, the other boys a little distance away. At the coroner's inquest all the boys testified that there had been no quarreling or hard feelings when they heard Boatright say, "You ought not to make me bleed like that." When they reached the spot they found Boatright on the ground bleeding badly. Teal was arrested a short while later at the home of relatives in the neighborhood. Officers state that he was clearly under the influence of liquor when arrested. He is said to deny any knowledge of the affair and claims he and Boatright were the best of friends. The coroner's physician found that death had been produced by a knife thrust in the neck severing an artery from which death came very quickly.¹


George R. Boatwright, SC Death Certificate #21080; Chesterfield County, SC, Cause of Death:  Knife wound into left side of Neck. Informant: His father, John Boatwright, Buried at Zoar Cemetery.²
George R. Boatwright was the son of John Davis Boatwright and Susannah ‘Annie’ Davis. He was the sixth of eight children leaving his parents, three brothers and four sisters surviving.
George R. Boatwright was just 19 years 11 months and 25 days old; dying just shy of his 20th birthday.

George R. Boatwright is my 2nd cousin twice removed. Our common ancestor is my 3rd Great Grandparents Michael and Huldah Rivers Davis.

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[1] George BOATWRIGHT obituary, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 2 January 1930, page 1, col. 4. Knife wound into left side of Neck according to death certificate.
[2] George R Boatwright, death certificate 021080 (24 December 1929), Vital Records, Department of Health and Environmental Control, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina.