Transcribed from newpaper article from The McGehee Times dated 7 February 1929, McGehee, Arkansas.

Bayou Macon claims life of three of Grey Family when boat in which party was riding strikes snag and fills with water.

Clarence Gray, 34, Farmer who lived near Tillar in Drew County, his wife, Nellie Grey, 27, and there one-month old infant, Betty Jane, were drowned shortly after noon Thursday, 31 January 1929, after the small boat in which they were attempting to cross Bayou Macon, four miles above the Arkansas-Louisiana highway bridge struck a snag and filled with water.

This tragedy occurred while the Grey family was enroute from the home of Mrs. Gray's mother, Elsie Cochran,who lives on Bayou Macon, to visit friends on the opposite side of the bayou.

Halfway across the stream, the boat struck a snag and Mrs Gray, with the infant in her arms, fell out. Mr Gray leaped into the water to save his wife and child but he sank before he could reach them. It is thought the cold water gave him the cramps.

As Gray jumped from the boat, it tipped and filled with water. Lawson Strawn, Mrs. Gray's brother, saved two other Gray children, Lurlie, 7, and Thelma June, 3, by wading with them to the bank after the boat had floated into shallow water.

After reaching the bank he turned to aid the other members of the family but it was too late. The bodies of Mrs. Gray and her child were found lodged against drifwood. Neither sank and she was still clutching the baby tightly in her arms when she was removed from the water.

Searchers worked until nightfall seeking Mr Gray's body and renewed the search Friday morning until it was found four feet from the spot where the other bodies were recovered.

Relatives took the three bodies to DeWitt, where Gray's parents live. Friday afternoon, Funeral services were held there Saturday. Mrs Gray is survived by her Mother, Mrs. Elsie Strawn and a sister who lives in New Mexico. Mr Grey is survived by his parents, Mr and Mrs R. F. Gray of DeWitt.

While the accident occurred shortly after noon Thursday, news of the tragedy did not reach McGehee until late Thursday afternoon. The McGehee Undertaking Company took charge of the bodies.

Bayou Macon, which flows through a thinly settled farming country, ordinarily is a small stream but it had been swollen by recent heavy rains. At the spot where Grey's body was recovered the water was between 10 and 15 feet deep.