William R. Donaldson Jr. (1875-1914) Donaldson was a lawyer and car enthusiast. He owned and drove his own automobile and was brought into the Clayton courts often on charges of speeding. It was his love of cars that ultimately led to his death. He was cleaning spark plugs with gasoline and spilled the can. Later, while working under the car his clothes became saturated with the oil. A spark caused by the nails in his shoe made his clothes to catch fire as he was getting up to go change and engulfed him in flame. A farm hand helped extinguish the flames but Donaldson was covered in burns from shoulders to feet and doctors said he would not recover. He made his will before passing unconscious, giving half of his estate, valued at $250,000 to his fiance, Miss Bertha Bates and the other half to his two sisters.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:36:47 +0000
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