Well, this goes to show you that family stories are helpful, but not always accurate. My aunt said they didn’t find water in his lungs and he probably died of a heart attack. However, as you can see from the death certificate, they didn’t do an autopsy and it states he died of an accidental drowning.
However, she did remember that they had 3 funerals in her church and John Adams was sent back home. According to his death certificate, he was sent back to Fayetteville for the funeral.
The other 3 men were buried in Elizabeth City, NC at Stokely Burial Ground. The funerals were handled by Walson Funeral Home in Elizabeth City. The sad part, besides 4 men losing their loves, is my great uncle Johnny drove them to the river that day. Johnny is Shelton’s nephew. I wish Linton was still alive, I would love to talk to him about this and get his story.