Christopher Thomas Carr -- Victim of Grain Bin Tragedy

 

Christopher Thomas Carr was born on September 5, 1964 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the third child born to Johnny Douglas Carr and Marion Kay Thomas.  His father, Johnny Carr was a native Trigg Countian, born on July 29, 1942.  He was a Baptist minister in the Trigg, Caldwell and Lyon Association and also worked as a timber man.  His mother, Kay Thomas Carr, had deep roots in the Thomas-Bridges family. She was born on June 5, 1942 in Trigg County and was the seventh of nine children born to Oscar Earl Thomas and Willie Mae Adams. Christopher’s two siblings were a younger brother, Gregory Douglas Carr, who died at childbirth on June 20, 1962 and a younger sister, Audrey Antoinette Carr who was born on July 7, 1963.

In the fall of 1977, Chris was thirteen years old and was a seventh grade student at Trigg County Middle School.  Nineteen Seventy Seven was a year of great excitement for his home county. Local residents began a tradition that year when they organized the First Annual Trigg County Country Ham Festival. The three-day festival was held on October 20-22 and was highlighted each day with main attractions around the courthouse square. The excitement of the festival, however, was dampened with a terrible tragedy.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday evening, October 20, Chris Carr and several companions were playing around a grain bin on a farm in the Donaldson Community. The boys were inside the bin when an automatic auger came on.  This lowered the grain level in the bin and Chris was accidently buried under about five feet of grain, resulting in his death. His companions managed to escape the bin without any injuries.  The cause of death was suffocation caused by being underneath the grain. 

Chris was buried in the Peyton Thomas Cemetery in the Donaldson Creek area of Trigg County.  He was buried next to his brother Gregory Douglas Carr who died at birth.  Chris and Greg share a tombstone with an inscription that reads “Our babies are resting in the arms of Jesus”.

Tombstone of Christopher and Gregory Carr

LINEAGE:  (Christopher Thomas Carr was the son of Johnny Douglas and Marion Kay Thomas Carr.  Marion Kay was the daughter of Oscar Earl and Willie Mae Adams Thomas.  Oscar was the son of Richard Ellis and Nannie Hendricks Thomas and the grandson of Carroll and Margaret Jane Reid Thomas.  Carroll was the second child of James, Jr., and Margaret Ethridge Thomas.  James, Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas. Willie Mae Adams was the daughter of John Quincy and Suphronia Adeline Williams Adams.  John Quincy was the son of John Wylie and Martha Jane Coleman Adams and the grandson of Alfred Boyd and Alpha Thomas Coleman.  Alpha was the second child of Perry and Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.  Elizabeth was the sixth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)