Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Newspapers.....Babb, Harvey J., 1919 

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HARVEY JAMES BABB

OFFICER H.J. BABB DIES OF INJURIES

TRAFFIC SQUAD TO HONOR MOTORCYCLE COP WHO WAS INJURED SUNDAY NIGHT

  H.J. Babb, motorcycle officer of the traffic squad of the Norfolk police 
department, who died yesterday of injuries he received in a collision with an 
automobile Sunday. 

  Traffic Officer H.J. Babb died yesterday morning at a local hospital at 10:20 
o'clock following injuries received in an accident on Church Street, near Cove, 
Sunday night.  Officer Babb was twenty-seven years of age and had been a member 
of the Norfolk Police department for three years, the last of which was served 
as a member of the motorcycle squad. The funeral will take place Thursday in 
Courtland, Virginia, to which place the body will be sent via the Southern 
railway Thursday morning at 7 o'clock. 

   All arrangements for the funeral, were completed yesterday. Fellow officers 
in the department will accompany the body to Courtland and will be the 
pallbearers.  They are: A.A. Nelson, J.R. Anderson, T.O. Jones, B.L. Smithwick, 
J.T. Lewis and A.B. Hudgins. 

   All traffic men have been ordered to assemble at the residence, 616 Maltby 
Avenue, at 6:30 o'clock Thursday morning and will accompany the body to the 
station. 

   Members of the force getting off duty at 6 o'clock Thursday morning will be 
stationed at the Southern depot to form a line and pay the last tribute to the 
deceased. 

   Members of the Norfolk police department yesterday paid a tribute to their 
dead comrade. Especially the members of the traffic squad, those who knew him 
best, declared him to be one of the best officers ever in the uniform.  He was 
one of the most popular men in the department. "Last Sunday night Officer Babb 
was following an automobile down Church Street and in an attempt to pass the 
machine collided with another machine coming in the opposite direction. He was 
thrown from the machine and seriously hurt. 

   He was carried to the hospital and then taken home, but later he complained 
of pains in his chest and side, and was rushed back to the hospital. It was 
found that the officer had been hurt internally and his condition continued to 
grow worse. 

   Officer Babb was the first motorcycle officer to lose his life as a member 
of the police traffic department. 

   He is survived by his wife and three children. 

   Orders were issued yesterday for all flags on city buildings to be placed at 
half mast beginning at the time when the body is transferred from the house 
until it leaves the city. 

[Harvey James BABB, d. Oct 1919, age 27, article on death and funeral escort, 
 newspaper unknown, ca. 22 Oct 1919] 

[file contributed by Joan Brinkley, 
 and re-formatted by File Manager.]