NEWS

A number of Davidson College students are buried in the college cemetery. Among them are two victims of a tragic drowning - 21-year-old Marvin Fredick Hobbs and a Persian student named Aghabeg David Malek-Yonan, who dove in to rescue him.

Cornelia Shaw commented on Yonan’s background in her history of the college. A 1900 graduate, he had attended a Presbyterian mission school in Urumiah, Persia, and later attended the Pantops School in Virginia. He planned to attend medical school in the fall and then return to Persia as a medical missionary.

According to an article in the Charlotte Observer, on July 12, 1900, the two students were swimming near the old Withers place on the Catawba River with a number of other students and adults. In her history of the college, Cornelia Shaw describes this as a church picnic.

Aghabeg David Malek-Yonan (photo from Davidson annual "Quips and Cranks," 1901

Swimming in this deep part of the river was apparently controversial, with some locals claiming that the currents were too strong and resembled whirlpools. Rutledge Withers, however, who swam daily in the river there as a child, did not share in this opinion; neither did Davidson president and swimming aficionado Henry L. Smith, who proclaimed the spot ideal for anyone wanting deep-water swimming. Whatever the case, Hobbs set out and according to the Observer, either “tested his strength too long when it suddenly failed or else in the excitement he lost his head and so could not use his strength.”

Seeing Hobbs struggling, Yonan was running along the shore to try to reach him when he stepped off a sand bank into deep water, swallowed water and drowned instantly. According to Shaw, President Henry L. Smith “had left the river, but on hearing the calls he ran back, jumped into the water and dived repeatedly in search of the two boys, but without avail.”

According to the Observer, a “long and tedious” dragging of the river quickly resulted in George Cranford recovering

Marvin Fredick Hobbs (photo from Davidson annual "Quips and Cranks," 1901

Yonan’s body. It was not until 8 p.m. that Hobbs’ body was recovered by James Maxwell. The Observer called the event “most destressing” and “a sad day for Davidson.” Hobbs was an only child, and his death was “a crushing blow” for his parents. As for Yonan, he was “a stranger in a strange land, all of his relatives being in faraway Persia.”

A.L. Hobbs of Davidson later endowed a $1000 scholarship at the college in their memory. According to Shaw, Davidson College is proud of the fact that “Yonan was its son,“ and wishes [his] noble and self-sacrificing deeds to be a part of her story.