Extracted from The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)
Monday, March 19, 1934

Rankin Street Drama Ends As Rites Are Held For Lads

The ten-day Rankin street drama that held close interest in the city came to a conclusion yesterday with conducting of funeral services for John B. Garrett and Edgar Black, six-year-old south Jackson youngsters, whose bodies floated to the surface of the backwater late Saturday afternoon.

The youngsters had been the objects of a widespread hunt since their disappearance from their homes last Wednesday a week ago. The backwaters of Pearl river and Town creek had been searched diligently each day and several charges of dynamite had been set off in the hope of forcing the bodies of the boyds to the top of the water. They had last been seen playing in the backwater, attempting to maneuver about the stream with a kitchen sink for a boat.

Jackson police had followed numerous clues before the bodies came to the surface late Saturday afternoon, all of which centered about the youngsters being drowned.

The bodies were located by Frank Koskie, 126 Rankin street, uncle of the Black child, who was making a last inspection before nightfall. A tiny elbow showed above the water as Mr. Koskie stood on the west bank of the flooded Town creek. Taking a long pole the body of the Garrett boy was brought to the surface, while in a few minutes the body of the Black child floated up within a few feet. Unable to swim, Mr. Koskie summoned Leon Holdifield, who dived into the stream for the body.

News of the finding of the lads' bodies quickly spread and a large crowd gathered at the scene as funeral home attendants removed the bodies to the mortuary.

In simple white plush lined caskets the lads were borne to their last resting places as scores of friends of the bereaved family paid their last tribute. The Garrett child was attired in a brown suit, while his playmate, Edgar Black, was dressed in a linen suit. Floral designs sent by friends were placed about the funeral bier.

The Rev. D. A. McCall, pastor of the Griffith Memorial Baptist church, conducted the funeral services. His words of comfort to the grief-stricken family were of the most tender nature as the Man of God told of the mysterious wonders of the Master.

Both the Baldwin Funeral chapel and the Black residence where the rites were held, were crowded with friends and relatives. With the burial of the Garrett child in the family lot near Flora and the interment of the Black youth in Cedarlawn cemetery, these playmates were separated for the first time in a long while. They had been inseparable during their lifetime and in their last rendezvous they went to their watery death clasped in each other's arms.

A grandfather, W. I. Phillips, parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Black and one brother, Charles Ivey Black, are survivors of the Black child, while Johnny Garret[t] leaves his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence B. Garrett, 100 Peter street; five brothers and sisters, Andrew, 12; Edna, 9; Minnie, 9; Mary, 4; Gloria Nell, aged 11 months, grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Garrett, of Crowder, and Mrs. William J. Porter, of Jackson, to mourn his death.