Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Obituaries for 1917

Submitted by Gale Stroud 23 Aug 2007

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Dimmitt Lewis R 170324 p1
Colony Boy Meets Accidental Death;  Another tragedy due to careless handling of a shotgun occurred last Sunday
afternoon when Lewis Rollin Dimmitt, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Dimmitt, was mortally wounded by the discharge of a
gun in the hands of his chum, Carl William Hammerstrand. The terrible accident occurred at the Dimmitt home in the
colony where young Hammerstrand was spending the day.  About 5 o clock in the afternoon Hammerstrand picked up a
single barreled shotgun with the intention of going out after rabbits, and without thinking loaded the gun while the nuzzle
was pointed directly at his friend who was kneeling beside a bed reading a book.  The gun was a hammerless, and when
Hammerstrand snapped the breech to after inserting the cartridge the safety device failed to work and the weapon was
discharged, the shot striking Dimmitt in the back and the lower side. As Hammerstrand was only about 10 feet away,
from Dimmitt at the time, the result of the shot may be imagined. Mrs. Dimmitt was in the room anti witnessed the
accident. Dr: A. M. Field was immediately called, but saw at once that nothing could he done for young Dimmitt except
through an operation, so the wounded youth was placed in an auto and hurried to the Evans Hospital at Modesto. There
he was put on the operating table, but died at 8:15. p.m. 15 minutes after reaching the hospital. Coroner Harry J. Wood
held an inquest Monday morning and a verdict of accidental death was rendered. Young Hammerstrand was exonerated
from all blame for his friend s death. The body was brought back to Patterson in charge of the local undertakers, Davis &
Evans, and funeral services were held Thursday in the Methodist church, Rev. Claude Smith officiating.  Interment was
in Del Puerto Cemetery. Lewis Rollin Dimmitt was born in Harrison Gulch, Shasta county, on March 3, 1901, and was
therefore 16 years and 15 days old at the time of his death.  He came to Patterson with his mother some four or five years
ago, and attended school here.  His father was not home when the accident happened, but was traveling in the northern
part of the state. The funeral was largely attended by school mates of the deceased, and special music was rendered by a
quartet.