1900 — Aug 12, Train hits horse-drawn coach at grade crossing near Slatington, PA –13-15
–16 Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1.[1]
–13-15 Blanchard estimate. (See 12 named deaths, and several sources noting 13 or 15 deaths.)
–15 New York Times. “Fifteen Killed at a Grade Crossing.” 8-13-1900, p. 1.
–15 The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900.
–15 Woodland Democrat, CA. “Close of…19th Century. The Year 1900…” 12-31-1900, 6.
–13 Adams and Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. 1992, 145.
–13 Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2.
Narrative Information
Adams and Seibold: “August 13,[2] 1900 Near Slatington, Lehigh County. It was during a heavy thunderstorm on a lonely road just south of Slatington. A funeral procession of several omnibus coaches was traveling along a road when it approached the Lehigh & New England railroad crossing at what the locals called Benninger’s Crossing. Bill Benninger was at his farm when the horse-drawn coaches passed by. He wasn’t paying particular attention, but testified later that he did notice that all proper signals were working as Train No. 6 on what was commonly called the ‘Poughkeepsie Route’ was about to roll by.
“Seconds before the signals heralded the oncoming westbound train, one of the omnibuses had safely crossed over the tracks. Another coach was close behind, with James Peters urging his steed through the S-curve along Lockport Creek. Later, the driver of the first coach said he warned Peters not to attempt crossing in front of the train, but Peters took the chance.
“Thirteen of the 28 passengers in the coach were killed.
“In the coroner’s inquest, Peters, and the crew of the train were blamed for the collision, and Benninger said he detected the odor of whiskey on Peter’s breath when he pulled him out of the wreckage.”
Newspapers
Aug 13: “Slatington, Pa., Aug. 13. Eleven persons were instantly killed and 11 others, several of whom will die, were seriously injured last night in a grade crossing accident three miles east of this city, by a passenger train on the Lehigh and New England railroad crashing into an omnibus containing 25 persons. All the dead and injured were in the omnibus and but three escaped uninjured. The dead are:
Eli Remaley, aged 70, of Slatington;
Mrs. Eli Remaley, his wife, aged 65;
Mrs. James Kern, their daughter, aged 32;
Samuel Hummy, aged 60, of Walnutport;
Mrs. Samuel Hummy, his wife, aged 58;
Mrs. Elias Sourwine, a widow, aged 53, of Slatington;
Mrs. William Kane, aged 51,
Mrs. James Minnich, aged 33,
Miss Carrie Smith, aged 23,
Mrs. Tilghman Kuntz, aged 35, of Walnutport.
One yet unaccounted for….
“The accident occurred about 5 o’clock. The omnibus driven by a man named peters was returning to Slatington from a funeral the occupants had been attending at Cherrysville. The dead and injured were nearly all relatives of Sophia Schoffer, at whose obsequies that had been present. The train was a special and consisted of an engine and one car. At the point at which the collision occurred there is a sharp curve in the road and the omnibus came along at a good rate of speed, the occupants unconscious of any impending danger. As the ‘bus swung around the curve, the engine and car came in sight. It was too late to stop either the omnibus or the train and as the driver of the former whipped up the four horses to cross the track ahead of the train, the latter crashed into its middle. The occupants were thrown in all directions, bruised and bleeding. The 11 dead were killed outright. Physicians and a special train were sent for and the injured were taken to South Bethlehem.” (Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Killed at a Crossing. Eleven Dead and as Many More Injured near Slatington, Pa.” 8-13-1990, p. 3.)
Aug 13: “Slatington [near Allentown], Pa., Aug. 13. – Fifteen persons were instantly killed and 10 others, several of whom will die, were seriously injured last night in a grade crossing accident three miles east of this city. A passenger train on the Lehigh and New England railroad crashed into an omnibus containing 25 persons, but three of whom escaped uninjured….
“No watchman is employed to warn teams or pedestrians of an approaching train, and those living in the vicinity state that it is impossible to hear an approaching train.
“A feature of the accident was that the horses drawing the bus escaped unhurt.” (The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900.)
Aug 14: “Allentown, Pa., Aug. 14 –Thirteen are dead and 16 injured as a result of the grade crossing accident at Benningers, on the Lehigh and New England railroad, in which a rapidly moving passenger train crashed into an omnibus containing 25 persons. Besides those previously reported, Miss Maggie Jones, aged 20, and Miss Susan Bachman, aged 83, are dead. The first named died in the hospital.” (Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2.)
Aug 17: “Sunday evening [Aug 12] a horrible railroad accident happened at a grade crossing on the Lehigh and New England railroad, near Berlinsville, Northampton county, when a train crashed into an omnibus containing a party of people coming home from a funeral. There were thirty-five persons in the ‘bus and sixteen were killed and nearly all of the others were injured.”
(Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1.)
Sources
Adams, Charles J. III and David J. Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania. Reading, PA: Exeter House Books, 1992.
Bedford Gazette, PA. “A Week’s History.” 8-17-1900, p. 1. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bedford-gazette-aug-17-1900-p-1/?tag
Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Victims of Grade Crossing Disaster.” 8-14-1900, p. 2. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/warren-evening-democrat-aug-14-1900-p-2/?tag
Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Killed at a Crossing. Eleven Dead and as Many More Injured near Slatington, Pa.” 8-13-1990, p. 3. Accessed 9-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lebanon-daily-news-aug-13-1900-p-3/?tag
New York Times. “Fifteen Killed at a Grade Crossing.” 8-13-1900, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52174203
The Agitator, Wellsboro, PA. “Train Killed Fifteen Near Slatington, PA.” 8-13-1900. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com
Woodland Daily Democrat, CA. “Close of the 19th Century. The Year 1900 in the Record of Time.” 12-31-1900, p. 6. http://newspaperarchive.com/woodland-daily-democrat/1900-12-31/page-6
[1] Consensus of other sources cited are either 13 or 15, and we see twelve named fatalities, thus we choose not to use the figure of sixteen fatalities, as we do not use early reports of ten or eleven deaths.
[2] Was August 12.