Ira Thomas “Boone” Bridges was born on December 1, 1902 in Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the fourth of seven children of Starkie Emerson “Bud” Bridges and Matilda Elizabeth Wallis Bridges. Bud was a farmer and a native of Trigg County and Matilda Elizabeth was also a native of Trigg County. Bud was a son of Starkie Bridges.
Boone’s siblings were Johnnie Pearl Bridges, born in 1897 and married Herman Conrad Coleman; Roy Emerson Bridges, born in 1899 and married Tishie Lucille Adams; Jesse Arvil Bridges, born in 1901 and married Nellie Vertris Thomas and then married Gladys Helen Childress; Mary Alma Bridges, born in 1904 and married Wiley Bell Stallons; Myrtle Ernestine Bridges, born in 1908 and married Raymond Howard Williams; and Willie Louise Bridges, born in 1913 and married Raymond Rodgers Stallons.
Boone grew up in Trigg County and attended the county schools. He never married and spent his career working as a laborer on a farm. He lived in his father’s household over the years and worked primarily on his father’s farm. He also worked as a truck driver in the county. After his parents’ death, he made his home with his sister, Mrs. Herman Coleman.
On Thursday afternoon, September 4, 1947, Boone went to a café located on the Cerulean Road near Cadiz which was operated by Mrs. Gertie Turner. Mrs. Turner asked Boone to “watch” the café while she left to attend to some other business. While Boone was watching the café, Marvin Adams who lived near the restaurant came in to buy a package of cigarettes. Apparently, some type of argument ensued between the two men. Mr. Adams shot Boone just below the heart, reputedly with a 32-caliber pistol, the bullet completely piercing his body and coming out through his back. Boone was taken to a local clinic for first aid treatment but the seriousness of his wound required that he be rushed to Jennie Stuart Hospital in nearby Hopkinsville. His condition required three blood transfusions before he could undergo surgery. His family gathered around him and they thought his condition was satisfactory.
Meanwhile, Marvin Adams was arrested late Thursday afternoon about an hour after the incident and was charged with malicious shooting and was placed in the county jail. He was later released on a $2,000 cash bond. County officials at that time failed to establish the motive or the background for the shooting. Adams was a landowner of a large farm in Lyon County as well as several farms in Trigg County. The sheriff said at the time that arraignment of Adams was delayed pending the outcome of Bridges’ condition.
Five days following the shooting, Boone’s condition worsened and on Tuesday afternoon, September 9, Boone died in the hospital in Hopkinsville of the wounds he suffered in the shooting. His cause of death on his death certificate was “coronary occlusion following a gunshot wound to the abdomen.”
In the following May, 1948, Marvin Adams was brought to trial in Cadiz for the murder of Ira “Boone” Bridges. Adams pleaded not guilty in the case and claimed he had shot the deceased in self-defense. Two days were given to selecting the jurors for the case. A large number of prospective jurors were disqualified for having opinions about the case, but finally twelve men were selected. The trial only lasted one day and on the following morning, May 22, 1948, the jury rendered their verdict that Mr. Adams was “Not Guilty.”
Ira “Boone” Bridges died at the age of 44 and was buried in the Lawrence Cemetery in Trigg County.
Ira "Boone" Bridges tombstone
LINEAGE: (Ira Thomas “Boone” Bridges was the son of Starkie Emerson “Bud” and Matilda Elizabeth Wallis Bridges and the grandson of Starkie T. and Elizabeth W. Lawrence Bridges. Starkie was the second child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)
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