From many miles away in Florida, Ivy Limuel-Thomas sent a query to Bastrop County in her quest to find out what really happened in a long-ago family tragedy that no-one wanted to talk about.

Limuel-Thomas grew up in Corpus Christi, the place her family fled to after the horrible accident that claimed eight family members on April 26, 1938.

According to a report in the Bastrop Advertiser, dated April 27, 1938, eight family members died when the car they were riding in plunged into a rain-swollen creek after the bridge over Piney Creek, in between Hills Prairie and Upton, collapsed.

“My parents never talked about it,” Limuel-Thomas said during a recent trip to the area. “It was too painful.”

Killed in the wreck were Limuel-Thomas’ great-grandparents, grandmother and several uncles, aunts and cousins.

Limuel-Thomas said that throughout her life, she had heard bits and pieces about the tragedy, but did not find concrete proof until the article in the Advertiser was discovered. After finding it, Limuel-Thomas reached out to the Rockne Historical Association through its website and discovered Marian Nelson, the president of the association and a dedicated genealogical researcher.

“I get many requests for help through the web site,” Nelson said.

She started searching and was thrilled to find out not only where the eight family members are buried, but also to find a woman who actually knew the Limuel family, including the ones who were killed.

Last week, Limuel-Thomas and her husband, Kenneth, traveled to Bastrop County and went to Clearview Cemetery to meet up with Esther Tolbert-Owens, 88, who not only remembered the family but also knew where the unmarked graves were located in the cemetery. Also present at the meeting was Nelson, who had worked tirelessly to find Limuel-Thomas’ relatives and their story.

“My father lost his mother, grandmother and little brother,” Limuel-Thomas said. She said Ernest Lemuel was driving the car and that her great-grandfather Lee Lemuel survived the wreck, but drowned trying to pull family members out of the creek.

Tolbert-Owens said the community mourned the loss of so many members of one family.

“The community was broken up,” she said. “It was sad.”

She said the family had been on the way to Smithville to shop for groceries. She also remembered that the family had belonged to Clearview Baptist Church.

As the women surveyed the peaceful scene where the two couples and four children lay in unmarked graves, they seemed serene. Limuel-Thomas was gratified that through the help of these two women, she and the rest of her family had found closure. Now she is on a mission to honor the place where those members of her family perished.

“We just want to recognize them,” she said. “They perished and no-one knows about it.”

Limuel-Thomas wants to erect a monument either at the site of the accident or in the cemetery. She is asking that anyone with any information or the desire to help call her at (813) 728-4698.

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From The Bastrop Advertiser April 27, 1938

EIGHT DEAD IN BRIDGE COLLAPSE

Eight colored people were drowned between sun-down and dark Tuesday evening when the bridge over Piney Creek, between Hills Prairie and Upton, collapsed and the car in which they were riding plunged headlong into the swollen water of the creek.

The dead include: Lee Lemuels and wife, Celia, and six of their children and grand children: Ernest Lemuels, age 22, and wife, Kennie, age 22, and their son, Ernest Jean, age 4; Vivian Evans, age 25; Velma Lemuels, age 28, and son, Jesse James, age 4.

Latest information received before going to press reported the finding of all bodies.  They were removed to Smithville and placed in care of the colored undertaker there, by County Commissioner Rosanky.

It is supposed that the bridge was weakened by the considerable amount of rain fall during the week, and the middle span gave way beneath the weight of the car.

The Lemuels family have been tenants on the farm owned by W. R. Price near Hills Prairie, for a number of years.