| The level
crossing took a heavy toll from Simcoe and Norfolk County early
Sunday morning when it claimed the life of Hugh Patterson Innes
K.C., county judge of Dufferin and one of Norfolk's foremost
citizens for over a score of years.
With ghastly suddenness
Simcoe was deprived of a man whose recent elevation to the bench
was the signal for a spontaneous acclaim from his fellow townsmen
tendered a scant week before his life was taken in a tragedy which
has cast a pall of gloom wherever Judge Innes was known.
Judge Innes died Sunday
morning when the car he was driving crashed head on into a
stationary freight train at the Air Line crossing. There were no
eyewitnesses.
On Saturday he had
telephoned from Orangeville to say that he would be home that
evening. Shortly after one o'clock Sunday morning, Wabash freight
train No. 2058 pulled into Simcoe and stopped, a long string of
cars obstructing the highway.
After the train came to a
stop at 1.05 a.m. John Jones of Waterford, waiting on the south
side of the tracks, heard a crash and leaving his vehicle, gained
the other side to find that the Innes' car had crashed into the
train, striking one of the box-cars near the middle. The vehicle's
front end had been telescoped in the impact. Its driver,
unconscious, had been terribly crushed.
Almost immediately F. C.
Cassidy, station agent and L. C. Cratt of Simcoe were on the
scene. Dr. W. A. McIntosh was called but all efforts to save the
injured man's life proved of little avail and ten minutes after
the crash, he died.
Corner Dr. S. S. English
was notified and he immediately empannelled a jury which viewed
the remains and adjourned until yesterday when an inquest was to
have been held. The jury consisted of Geo. E. Mottashed, W. T.
Chadwick, Russel McCraig, J. F. C. Wark, Gordon Swart and Earl
Maxwell. Provincial Constable Shipley and Taggart investigated.
Failed to see cars. Rain
had fallen intermittently from midnight onward and the night was
unusually dark, making visibility for driving very poor. The
tracks at the point of the accident are raised sufficiently so
that a clear view of the downtown lights are possible under the
cars even when a train obstruct the crossing. This is the only
possible explanation of the fatality. Seeing the lights of Simcoe
ahead of him in the blackness of night, Judge Innes had
undoubtedly not even seen the train until a split-second before
the crash.
In the death of Judge
Innes Norfolk's loss is coupled with that of Dufferin County. Mr.
Innes had planned to move his family on Tuesday of this week to
their new home in Orangeville where he had taken over the duties
of county judge.
A useful career. Active in
virtually every local endeavor he leaves behind him on every hand
evidences of a very fruitful career. Member of one the the
county's oldest established law firms, trustee of the Board of
Education, representative of his constituency in the provincial
legislature, he life was one that carried out to the full the
precepts on his father, the late W. P. Innes.
Hugh Patterson Innes was
born in Dundas, Ont. on September 14, 1870 and came to Simcoe at
an early age. Receiving his education in local public and high
schools, he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto and
returned here becoming a member of the firm of Wells and Innes.
On the appointment to the
bench of the late Judge Wells, he took in as his partner, W. P.
Mackay who is now senior member. His son H. P. Innes Jr. is now a
member of the firm.
In January, 1927, he was
appointed clerk of the surrogate court, supreme court registrar
and county court clerk for Norfolk. His appointment as judge of
Dufferin county came on May 1 of this year. He was made a King's
Counsel in 1911.
His career at the bar
extended over a period of 38 years and during that time he served
Simcoe and many nearby municipalities as solicitor, besides
conducting a large general law practice.
Politically, he was active
as a Conservative and in 1908 was elected as member for [North]
Norfolk in the Ontario legislature, bing the first of his party to
successfully contest the seat. He was again [nominated] in 1914
for the House of Commons but resigned in favor of the late Hon. W.
A. Charlton, candidate of the Union Government.
For many years he was a
member of the Board of Education and served as that body's
chairman in 1911 and 1912. He was a past master of Norfolk Lodge
No. 10, A. F. and A. M. and a member of Ezra Chapter,
R. A. M. Of recent years he became interested in golf and was a
member of the Norfolk Golf and Country Club.
He was particularly active
in St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, serving as a member of the
Board of Managers and as a trustee. For nearly a century the Innes
family has been prominently identified with Presbyterianism in
Simcoe.
Surviving him are: Mrs.
Innes, daughter of the late Judge
Livingstone; five daughters:
Mrs. Paul H. Donly of Simcoe, Mrs. C. J. Henry of Rochester, N.Y.,
Misses Constance and Grace at home, and Miss Edith attending the
University of Toronto; three sons, Hugh P. Jr. barrister of
Simcoe, Robert T. L. barrister of Brantford, and James attending
the University of Toronto; two sisters, Mrs. H. W. H. Nelles of
Toledo, Ohio, and Mrs. W. R.
Drynan, Hamilton, and three brothers,
William L. and Charles E. Innes of Simcoe, and
Robert L. Innes of
Hamilton. |
