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Submitted: 1/3/22 • Approved: 1/4/22 • Last Updated: 1/7/22 • R478414-G0-S3
Ishmael's last name is Akin on the death certificate, but in other records it is Akins.
Ishmael was the son of Rev. J. A. Akins, a Baptist minister who died in 1924. Ishmael, his brother, Oddie (age 12), and his sister, Cleo (age 14), were living at the Buckner Orphans' Home when Ishmael died at age 14.
Ishmael was killed by lightning while in the cemetery helping to dug the grave for Mildred King. About 30 of the inmates of the home were in the cemetery, some using hoes and rakes and others picks and spades. About seven were reported in a group who with their implements in their hands, sought shelter from a passing storm cloud by huddling beneath a tree in the cemetery.
Joint funeral services were held in Crouch Hall at the home. Ishmael was laid to rest in a grave near the one he was helping dig for Miss King. Many flowers were sent to the funeral and a number of Dallas people attended. Six boys of the home were pallbearers.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, June 14, 1927
Grave is unmarked
*Photo courtesy of:
James Ellis
Contributed on 1/3/22 by ashaw444
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Record #: 478414