Robert Henry Sallee (1920 - 1937)

Died 18 Mar 1937 at age 16 in New London, Rusk, Texas, United States

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Biography

16 year old Robert was a senior at New London school when he was killed in the explosion. Son of Robert Marion Salyer & Martha Alice Parmley.

The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the London School of New London, Texas, a community in Rusk County previously known as "London". The disaster killed more than 295 students and teachers. As of 2017, the event is the third deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City disaster.

London School did not publish a yearbook in 1937, instead substituting a memorial book that recognized all of the students and teachers who had died during the disaster.

Sources

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11077950

• 1930 US census

• Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000

• Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982

• https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/367568?page=3#sr-13698618

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

• http://nlsd.net/Cenotaph.htm

• https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/artifacts/1936-london-school-yearbook

• https://www.facebook.com/newlondonmuseum/posts/remembering-senior-victim-robert-sallee3261920-3181937/1774748022627339/

• https://www.gluseum.com/US/New-London/665867160182103/New-London%2C-TX-School-Disaster-Museum

• https://overtonpress.wordpress.com/category/london-school-explosion/