Florence Palmer Davis was an adventurous young woman. In May of 1930 she was excited about aviation, as were many young people at that time. She had logged many rides as a passenger in an airplane, but what she most wanted was to parachute from a plane.
She wanted this in spite of the fact that she was solely responsible for her two year old baby daughter, Jacqueline. Florence's husband was in South Carolina where he resided. Florence lived with her father and mother, Edward and Emma Palmer. Her father was a housefather at ISSCS and her mother was a saleslady in a department store.
Edward Palmer tried to persuade his daughter not to take such a dangerous risk with her life, as did the pilot, Art Carnahan. But with the assistance of Art Carnahan and Edward Brooks, another pilot and parachutist, she obtained a parachute (which had been used earlier in the day in Leroy) and scheduled a jump at the Bloomington airport.
Three thousand people were on hand to witness the jump. Art Carnahan piloted the plane and Brooks stood by to assist Florence. When the plane reached 2500 feet, Art gave the signal for Florence to jump. She stood at the opening of the plane (The door was removed for the jump) facing into the plane. The system was for the parachute to be tied to the jumper, but sitting on the floor of the plane. After Florence jumped, a part of the chute caught on the tail of the plane, ripping the parachute from side to side.
Art Carnahan immediately tried to turn the plane and catch Florence, but was unable to catch up to her. The two pilots reached Florence Davis first. She had landed feet first, with her feet digging eight inches into the soil.
As for little Jacqueline Davis, no trace can be found of her. Her Aunt Mary graduated a year early from Normal Community High School in 1931 and was the class Salutarian. She went to North Carolina for college and married in 1936 to George Tuetsch. Her Aunt Joan married Nathan Hayes in San Antonio in 1939. Edward and Emma Palmer continued living in Normal, but in the 1940 census, no mention is made of Jacqueline, who would have been 12 years old.