32 chapters
3 hour read
Selected Chapters
32 chapters
THE Ashtabula Disaster.
THE Ashtabula Disaster.
BY Rev. Stephen D. Peet , OF ASHTABULA, OHIO. ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO, ILL.: J. S. Goodman — Louis Lloyd & Co. London, Ont.: J. M. Chute & Co. 1877. Copyright, A. D. 1877, By J. S. Goodman and Louis Lloyd & Co. Ottaway & Colbert, Printers , 147 & 149 Fifth Ave., Chicago. Blomgren Bros. & Co., Electrotypers , 162 & 164 Clark St., Chicago....
23 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The narrative of the greatest railroad disaster on record is a task which has been undertaken in the following pages. No event has awakened more wide-spread interest for many years, and the calamity will not cease to have its effect for a long time to come. The author has had unusual facilities for knowing the particulars, and has undertaken the record of them on this account. A familiarity with the locality, the place and the citizens, personal observation on the spot during the night, and a cr
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER I. ASHTABULA.
CHAPTER I. ASHTABULA.
The scene of this direful event is situated on the Lake Shore Railway, midway between the cities of Cleveland and Erie, and about two miles from Lake Erie. The village itself contains nearly thirty-five hundred inhabitants. At the mouth of the river is another small village, making in all a population of nearly four thousand. Between these points of the village and harbor many families of the poorer classes have made their homes, the most of them being Swedes, Germans and Irish. There are a few
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER II. THE RIVER AND THE BRIDGE.
CHAPTER II. THE RIVER AND THE BRIDGE.
The Ashtabula river is a shallow stream which runs through the county and the town. As it approaches the lake it widens and deepens into what constitutes the harbor. The banks lining the valley of it are high and rocky precipices. They form in the rear or to the southward of the town a gorge which is called, by the inhabitants, by the significant name “the gulf.” Near the depot this gorge widens, and its banks become less precipitous; but, even at this point, the river flows at least seventy-six
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT AND THE STORM.
CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT AND THE STORM.
The night was portentous. All nature conspired to make it prophetic of some direful event. The sympathy of the natural with the historic event was known and felt. Ominous of evil, a furious storm had set in. It was one of the periodical snow storms for which the season had been remarkable. Every Saturday throughout the month it had returned, the same fearful blast and fall of snow. As if in warning, it had come three or four times during the season, and now with redoubled force appeared. The sno
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IV. THE WRECK.
CHAPTER IV. THE WRECK.
The cars lay at the bottom of the gorge. That which had been such a thing of speed and a line of beauty, now lay wrecked and broken, and ready to be burned. It was indeed a beautiful train, and was well known for its elegance and beauty. At this time it consisted of two locomotives, one named “Socrates” and the other “Columbia;” two express cars, two baggage cars, two day passenger coaches, a smoking car, a drawing-room car called “Yokahama;” the New York sleeper named “Palatine;” the Boston sle
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER V. THE STARTLING CRASH.
CHAPTER V. THE STARTLING CRASH.
The citizens were startled by a sudden crash. Those who lived near the bridge knew that the train was late. Many of them were in some way connected with the road, either as telegraph or baggage men or in some capacity of the railroad service. For some reason there was an expectancy among them all. Those who dwelt on the banks of the gorge could look from their rear windows and see each train as it came. As the first awful crash was heard the whole neighborhood was startled. Then as the ominous s
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VI. THE ALARM IN TOWN.
CHAPTER VI. THE ALARM IN TOWN.
The citizens of the village were sitting by their fires, or at their tables, or in their places of business. A sound was heard! It was a sudden, startling sound. To those who were living near the depot, it was a succession of sounds; first a crash, then a fall, then a distinct sound for every car. To those who were at a distance it was a single, but a prolonged and terrible crash. To those who were within doors it seemed like a sudden fall of a distant building, or the nearer slide of a heavy bo
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VII. THE FIRE AND THE FIREMEN.
CHAPTER VII. THE FIRE AND THE FIREMEN.
The firemen arrived at last; the station agent had reached the spot before them. All was haste and confusion. No orders, and no one in command. The wounded were already coming up the bank. Citizens, as they came, had taken the survivors from the wreck, and were now helping them to a place of safety and comfort. Appalled by the scene and confused by the horror, none knew what order was to be given or who was in command. Mr. Apthorp was in the employ of the road, and was supposed to have some cont
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VIII. CARE OF THE SURVIVORS.
CHAPTER VIII. CARE OF THE SURVIVORS.
An engine house stood on the bank. It was the place where water was pumped from the river to the tank, at the depot buildings. It was a little brick building with a stone floor and a large boiler and engine occupying the middle of the room. Into this building, the wounded were taken, and were laid on the cold, damp floor,—a ghastly throng. As citizens came, they found them there, suffering from the cold as well as from the shock and wounds. The effort was made to take them to places of more comf
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IX. THE ROBBERS.
CHAPTER IX. THE ROBBERS.
The fire continued to burn. For a time the wreck was left unguarded. When it was, that so much plundering occurred no one knows. The flames were lifting up their lurid light, and covering the ghastly scene with a sickening glare. The dead lay in every direction amid the driving snow. A skull lay by itself amid a blackened heap, whitened by the fire. The heap of bodies lying in the sleeping-coaches were still burning, and yet this appalling scene did not intimidate the human vultures who were loo
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER X. MIDNIGHT AT THE WRECK.
CHAPTER X. MIDNIGHT AT THE WRECK.
At twelve o’clock quietness had settled down upon the scene. The streets were deserted. All had formed the impression that the bodies were to be burned, and had gone to their homes, leaving the wreck still burning, and the dead to be consumed. The engines had been ordered to their houses. The lights glimmered from the homes where the wounded were lying. A few were at the wreck. The expressman guarding the treasures in the safe, sat solitary and alone through the long hours, while the flames whic
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XI. THE PUBLIC EXCITEMENT.
CHAPTER XI. THE PUBLIC EXCITEMENT.
The morning dawned. Those who had known of the event, awoke as if from a fearful dream. The horror of the great calamity haunted the sleeping hours, and came back with returning consciousness. The dream was, indeed, a sad reality. The bodies, which were wrapped in the sleep of death and whose bed was the driven snow, were the first thought at the awakening of the living; nothing else was thought of in the village. Those who had not heard of it were startled by the news, but those who had seen an
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XII. SCENES AT THE MORGUE.
CHAPTER XII. SCENES AT THE MORGUE.
At eight o’clock, work was begun upon the wreck. Guards were stationed about the spot. Planks were placed upon the ice. Men were employed to remove the debris of wood and iron. Boxes were procured, in which to place the dead. A special policeman was stationed at the head of the stairway; no one was permitted to go on the ice, except the workmen, who were engaged in removing the debris. The mayor of the city was on the ground; the stationing of the police was at his request, but the removal of bo
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIII. THE RAILROAD OFFICIALS.
CHAPTER XIII. THE RAILROAD OFFICIALS.
It was well that the revolting sights of that dark, that horrid morgue were denied to many of the friends. Every effort was taken to relieve the pangs of sorrow and to remove the revolting features of that awful scene. Coffins were soon procured. Each body was placed in its silent, its narrow house. The keeper of the morgue was stationed to watch the sacred forms. He was a silent man. Tall and dark and gloomy, he walked amid the dead, but beneath that silent face he bore a kindly, a sympathetic
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIV. THE ARRIVAL OF FRIENDS.
CHAPTER XIV. THE ARRIVAL OF FRIENDS.
There was a succession of arrivals of people: each day brought a different class; first the officials of the road; next the crowds of curious men and women from the village and surrounding country; then the representatives of the press from the distant cities, Chicago and New York; then the long swelling wave of the sorrowing friends. From farther and farther away this wave swept in. At last the two sides of the continent were reached. Two oceans had sent their echoes to moan over the graves of
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XV. THE WAVE OF SORROW.
CHAPTER XV. THE WAVE OF SORROW.
There was a storm of grief. The waves were tossing high upon the sea of life, and their crests were lifted far and wide, and dropping tears upon the deep. The solemn murmur was echoed all along the shore. It intruded upon the business thoughts. Its roar was heard above the noise of commerce, and the city’s hum. It was a melancholy sound, men for once were led to give up their eager haste, and ask, to what all this love of gain might tend. The serious affairs of life were brought to mind. The int
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVI. THE SEARCH FOR RELICS.
CHAPTER XVI. THE SEARCH FOR RELICS.
The week began with a search for relics. It was a difficult task. The wind was cold; the water was deep and frozen over. Snow and ashes filled the air. A confused heap of iron, tin roofs, broken trucks, and other debris were mingled into one mass of ruins. A company was organized for the work, with the train-dispatcher at the head. Men were hired, police were stationed, the ice was broken, great iron beams and rails and rods were drawn out, trucks and wheels and brakes and bolts were moved away,
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVII. THE PASSENGERS.
CHAPTER XVII. THE PASSENGERS.
The following account of the passengers on the ill-fated train has been gathered with great difficulty. Communication with survivors and correspondence with friends have been the sources of information, and the description is given more for the satisfaction of the friends than for any general interest. It must however be remembered that each name has its own associations. This is true especially of those who died. Their names are freighted with precious memories and carry a weight of affection w
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVIII. THE EXPERIENCE OF SURVIVORS.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE EXPERIENCE OF SURVIVORS.
Every one of those who got out of the train had a different story. These are valuable because they bring before us a picture of the scene in its different features. Some one escaped from every car but one. From the second passenger coach no one was left to tell the tale. Every one perished in the fall or crash. From the first and third and fifth, many escaped; from the fourth, only one; from the sixth, three; and from the last, all but one. The story of Mr. Parslow, who was in the first, has bee
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIX. PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
CHAPTER XIX. PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
The personal incidents which occurred were numerous. Many of these have been brought to public attention through the press, yet there are others which have not been narrated. Every one had his own story, but in the confusion of the scene no one is really supposed to have a clear view of the whole event. These incidents are told by the different passengers who escaped and by the citizens who hastened to the rescue. The following are given as showing the experiences of the women who were on the tr
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XX. KINDNESS SHOWN.
CHAPTER XX. KINDNESS SHOWN.
The citizens of Ashtabula did all in their power. The disaster was no sooner known than many of them hastened to the rescue. Great exertions were made by those who were present, not only to save the living, but as far as possible in their separate action to extinguish the flames. The survivors were no sooner in a condition to be removed than persons were found who were ready to take the worst cases among them to their own homes. Some of the wounded who were left near the depot, especially those
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXI. THE MEMORIAL SERVICES.
CHAPTER XXI. THE MEMORIAL SERVICES.
The time at length arrived for laying away the unburied dead. Nobody had recognized them. God alone knew them, and therefore to his sacred earth were they consigned, that at the resurrection day he might bring them forth to the knowledge of all. Garnered in the harvest of flame, they were to be laid away in God’s store-house. The hands of strangers were outstretched to bury them, for the hearts of others could only mourn for them, without claiming the poor remnants which were so unrecognizable.
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXII. THE SUICIDE.
CHAPTER XXII. THE SUICIDE.
In the Ashtabula “Telegraph” appeared the following article: Another Victim of the Bridge Disaster. “Our community received another shock on Saturday last, hardly less severe than that of the news of the disaster itself. The announcement that Charles Collins, the Chief Engineer of the L. S. & M. S. road was dead, without any cause but that he was found lifeless in his bed, carried every one back in mind to the bridge calamity, and there was an intense eagerness for an explanation. The ev
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIII. THE CHARACTER OF MR. COLLINS.
CHAPTER XXIII. THE CHARACTER OF MR. COLLINS.
The funeral services of Mr. Collins were held at Ashtabula on Wednesday, Jan. 21st. The occasion was one of great interest. The Cleveland “Herald” of the following day, says: “It was the last tribute of respect that could be paid by the citizens of the place to a man who, while not a permanent resident, was one among the most respected and loved. He held a prominent place in the hearts of the people as an exemplary man and faithful friend, and their attendance upon the services yesterday was the
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIV. THE LOVED AND LOST.
CHAPTER XXIV. THE LOVED AND LOST.
There was a young lady on that train. Accomplished and beautiful, she had already become the object of admiration to many, and was the pride of fond parents. Blooming, buoyant and hopeful, she was a delightful companion. Her light, rosy complexion so radiant made her a picture of health. She used to laugh and say to her mother, “I never have any compliments except that I am such a healthy looking girl.” Her mother writes: “On her sweet, fair hand she wore a slender thread of gold which held the
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXV. SKETCHES OF CHARACTER.
CHAPTER XXV. SKETCHES OF CHARACTER.
Many noble characters were lost to the world in this great calamity. Very few disasters ever reached so far, or brought bereavement to so many communities. The breadth of the land was swept by it. There never was so widespread mourning for any death which brought loss to only private circles. It was more like the mourning which follows the death of some public officer—some great and good man—when a nation is called upon to weep. It was, indeed, almost a national calamity. The very mention of the
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVI. P. P. BLISS.
CHAPTER XXVI. P. P. BLISS.
One of the saddest things connected with the whole calamity, and the circumstance which made the event a personal bereavement to many thousands of people, was the death of Mr. P. P. Bliss and his wife. His name will always be associated with Ashtabula in the sad memories of that hour. Yet there are brighter visions connected with that name, which have a tendency to relieve the gloom of that whole calamity. The very mention of those loved persons brings up the memory of their sweet songs. These s
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVII. TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES.
CHAPTER XXVII. TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES.
The following is the testimony of some of the more important witnesses before the Coroner’s Jury. It is taken from the short hand report made at the time, but abridged as much as possible. MR. A. L. ROGERS TESTIFIES: I was foreman of the raising of the bridge; superintended the screwing of nuts to bring the strain upon the vertical rods; Amasa Stone examined it and said my part of the work was well done; after knocking out the blocks, the bridge settled six inches; it settled gradually as we put
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVIII. LESSONS OF THE EVENT.
CHAPTER XXVIII. LESSONS OF THE EVENT.
The narrative of this great disaster is finished; space does not admit of the addition of further material. All that remains to be said is of a religious nature. Mr. Devereaux, as representative of the friends of the Road, beautifully alluded to Moses as a Civil Engineer. So we, in conclusion, go to the word of God for the lesson of the hour. Moses went up the mountain and received the patterns of all things which were to be made; but the Israelites were not permitted to transgress the bounds se
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE CORONER’S VERDICT.
THE CORONER’S VERDICT.
“It is from a careful consideration of the evidence elicited from professionals and experts that our verdict is made up in the matter of the bridge, and should it seem severe upon the railway company, or upon any of its past or present officials, it is because the truth, as shown by the evidence, demands it at our hands. We cannot do less and feel that we have discharged our duty. Mr. Amasa Stone, President of the company at the time of the erection of this structure, had been for years a promin
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Transcribers’ Notes
Transcribers’ Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected; heavy use of commas has been retained. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. With the exception of the Frontispiece, all uncaptioned illustrations are decorative tailpieces. Page vi : “Westenhouse was printed that way.” Page 134 : Quotation marks added to surround the paragraph beginning “In
43 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter