1901 — Nov 27, Passenger trains collide head-on, one burns, Wabash RR ~Seneca, MI–23-100
— ~100 Huhman. “1901 ‘Wreck of the Wabash’ burial site located.” Monroe News, MI. 1-13-2016.
–50-100 New York Times. “Train Wreck and Fire Kill 100 in Michigan.” Nov 28, 1901, p. 1.
–23-100 Blanchard estimate.[1]
— 70-80 Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “A Fearful Holocaust in Lenawee!” 11-29-1901, p. 1.
— 80 Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Eighty People Are Dead,” 11-28-1901, p. 1.[2]
— 75 Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1901. “The Wabash Wreck.” 1901, p. 184.
— 70 Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “The Dead,” 11-29-1901, p. 1.[3]
— 33 Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Eighty People Are Dead,” 11-28-1901, p. 1.[4]
— 23 Mich. Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 16.
— 23 State of Michigan Commissioner of Railroads. Annual Report for 1902, p. 600.
— 23 Wabash Railroad estimate. Noted by Jon Harrison, Michigan State University.
Narrative Information
Geocaching: “….It was late afternoon as the “Continental Express”, Wabash train #4, began loading passengers in Montpelier, Ohio, on their way to Detroit. Pulled by Engine #609, the train was engineered by Aaron T. Strong. The train consisted on the engine and six cars: two sleepers, one dining car, a coach, a chair and a baggage car. Engineer Strong was expecting a straight run to Detroit, but received new orders.
“Train #13 has been having an awful day. It had delays in Detroit that backed it up 75 minutes. Then in Milan, the lead engine broke down, and had to wait for Engine #88 to help Engine #151 pull its eight cars on westward. And by the time it reached Holloway, it was 2 1/2 hours late. It consisted of 2 sleeper cars and a chair car, a coach, and three baggage cars. However, the second and third baggage cars weren’t filled with luggage, but with immigrants from Italy heading westward from New York City.
“Typically on a single-line track, even-numbered trains have right-of-way over the odd-numbered trains. However, in this case, they decided not cause further delays for Train #13 and have Train #4 let the westbound go by at Seneca. The engineers of both trains received these orders at about 6pm before heading on their respective routes.
“Many different reasons for the accident have been given by the surviving Wabash rail men. Engineer Strong blamed a gust of wind blew a corner of the orders and only saw “Sand Creek” and not “Seneca”. Another was that the names “Seneca” and “Sand Creek” sound familiar and were confused, which caused the Wabash to change Seneca’s station name to “Ennis”. Each train saw the other’s headlights in the distance, but blamed the light now being electric that they couldn’t tell if they were stationary or moving at that distance.
“Either way, at 6:45 pm on this Wednesday, with each train full of mostly passengers on their way to family Thanksgiving celebrations, Engineer Strong ran past Seneca at full speed without stopping.
“Proving those working on Train #4 knew the orders, except for Strong, the brakeman and the conductor immediately contacted the Engineer that they ran past Seneca at 65 m.p.h. and applied the rear brakes. There was only enough time for Strong and the fireman to leap from the cab after just crossing Tuttle Road on the other side of the little bridge over Bear Creek as the trains came together only seconds later….
“All the cars on the “Continental Limited” (Train #4) survived but the day coach, which telescoped and was destroyed. Most of the deaths on Train #4 were those inside this day car.
“However, Train #13 fared much worse. The baggage car, and the two full of immigrants, took the full force of the collision. Lighter in construction, all three shattered at impact. As the immigrants in the cars were just coming to realize what had happened, a fire ignited underneath the wreckage of their cars and soon those remaining alive after the initial damage were caught without escape in an inferno. Very few survived.
“The Wabash acted quickly to downplay the number of immigrants on their train as no more than 50 or so. Recently found records from Detroit show the number well exceeded 100. As the wreckage was removed, on-lookers watched as some of the remaining larger body parts were placed into 3 or 4 coffins. The rest was apparently unceremoniously buried alongside the side of the track with the rest of the loose wreckage.
“At the inquest that quickly followed, it was found that it was the negligence of Train #4 that caused the accident. The Wabash only claimed the number of ticketed passengers who perished in the accident, and about a half-dozen of immigrants, in their total count of 23 dead….” (Geocaching. “The Wreck on the Wabash-1901.” 10-15-2009.)
Harrison: “On November 27, 1901, Thanksgiving Eve, one of the worst railroad disasters in Michigan history occurred about a mile north-east of the tiny village of Seneca in southern Lenawee County. The number of people who died in this head-on collision is still wrapped in controversy and mystery to this day. The official number of fatalities as reported by the Wabash Railroad still holds today at 23. However, most newspapers at the time, and reporters on scene, claim at least 80 passed away, and possibly closer to 100….”[5] (Harrison, Jon. MSU Libraries, Michigan State University. “November 27, 1901: Horrible Train Wreck Near Adrian,” 11-27-2017.)
Huhman: “One of the enduring mysteries of the 1901 “Wreck of the Wabash” will be put to rest 115 years later. The burial site of the estimated 100 victims of the devastating train wreck on the Wabash railroad line has been located in the northeastern part of Oakwood Cemetery in Adrian….
“According to the book “Wreck on the Wabash” by local historian Laurie (Dickens) Perkins, the head-on crash of two trains in late November 1901 was the worst accident in Lenawee County history and one of the worst railroad accidents in the United States. In her book, Perkins said a train traveling from Montpelier, Ohio, failed to stop on a siding at Seneca and collided with a train coming from the opposite direction. The train traveling from Detroit included two coaches packed with Italian immigrants traveling to Trinidad, Colorado, to work in the mines.
“It was reported that the remains of the immigrants were placed into five wooden coffins and buried at Oakwood without any markers. The tragedy became an international story, but many, including Perkins, could never locate the exact resting place of the immigrants.
“It was this past fall that Berryman was approached by Kyle Griffith, Lenawee Intermediate School District assistant superintendent, about trying to finally determine the burial location. Griffith said for years as a history teacher in Morenci he taught the train wreck story as part of local history lessons. He said the story has so many important details, from the treatment of the immigrants to understanding that period in history, that he and his students would spend a lot of reflecting on it. Berryman said, like Griffith, he is very interested in history, so this idea hit home. He went to cemetery superintendent Denny Vescelius and parks, forestry and cemetery administrative assistant Chareen Goven to ask them for help.
“There are nearly 20,000 burial sites at Oakwood, according to Vescelius, and there are records there that are really old and decrepit. However, this didn’t stop them from trying. Eventually, while going through all of the files Goven came across one indicating the locations of five coffins buried after a railroad accident in November 1901. She and Vescelius then set out to verify this through other sources in the cemetery records. They said they believe they’ve located the burial site….” (Huhman, Lonnie (Daily Telegram). “1901 ‘Wreck of the Wabash’ burial site located.” Monroe News, MI. 1-13-2016.)
Michigan Dept. of Transportation: “Nov. 27, 1901. Head-on collision on the Wabash Railroad near Seneca killed 23 persons.” (Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 16.)
Michigan Railroad Commission: “Report of Accidents for Michigan During the Year 1901.”
Killed [23 names]
November 27. D. Cambonia. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. L. Osteroi. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. E. Posterora. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. G. Ommerman. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. G. Hans. Seneca. Collision.
November 27 M. Shipart. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. E. N. DeWet. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. J. Benerhart. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. M. A. Umpton. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. J. Witchell. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. G. M. Youmans. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. C. Triconi. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. G. Giovanni. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. F. Das. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. A. Cortoroy. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. E. Jobe. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. T. Quivelie. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. D. Sordunn. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. F. Senkurch. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. L. Battorf. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. W. Doud. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. J. Brown. Seneca. Collision.
November 27. C. Jobe. Seneca. Collision.
(State of Michigan Commissioner of Railroads. Thirtieth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads of the State of Michigan for the Year 1902. Lansing, MI: Department of Commissioner of Railroads, 1902, p. 600.)
Newspapers at the time
Nov 27: “Detroit, Nov. 27 — As the result of a head-on collision on the Wabash Railroad one mile from Seneca, Mich., at 6:45 o’clock this evening, 100 passengers, most of whom were immigrants, lost their lives. The list of the injured will probably reach 50.
“There were 141 passengers on Train No. 13, including 20 first-class passengers from Detroit. On No. 4 there were about 30 Chicago and St. Louis passengers bound through to New York and other eastern points. Train No. 13 consisted of a baggage car and two day coaches filled with immigrants bound from New York to Western points, and two Pullmans. The immigrants were transferred from train No. 13 this afternoon in Detroit and were packed into the day coaches like sardines. Wabash officials in Detroit estimate that the greater loss of life occurred in these coaches, which were light. Meagre advices state that the baggage car and coach next to it were smashed into splinters and afterward caught fire, creating a holocaust in which the dying found a fiery death. The third coach was telescoped as well as part of the next car, which was a Pullman.
“The twenty Detroit passengers, it is said, with but one or two exceptions, occupied seats in the Pullman car, and it is not thought that the list of killed and wounded will include many of them. No. 4 consisted of a baggage car and a combination coach and sleeper. Most of the passengers were in the Pullman. The officials here believe that the loss of life on No. 4 will be heavy.
Thirty-two doctors from this city have gone to the wreck. The track at the point where the collision occurred was straight, and at first the officials could not understand how the accident could have happened. No. 13, which ordinarily is due to leave Detroit at 2:20 o’clock, was two hours late leaving here at 4:20.
“The two trains met at Montpelier, Ohio, according to schedule, but to-day, according to reports, No. 4 had orders to wait for No. 13 at Seneca. The blame is therefore placed on the conductor or engineer of No. 4. Had this train been held at Seneca the accident would not have happened. Train No. 4 was due at Seneca at 6:43, according to the change in schedule, but apparently orders to wait were disobeyed and the probabilities are that the true story of why will never be told, as the train crews undoubtedly met instant death.
“Advices from the wreck at midnight state that the country for miles around is lighted up by the burning cars, and that the flames could not be quenched because of lack of proper apparatus. Mangled bodies were picked up along the track by the farmers before the special train sent from Adrian arrived on the scene. In some instances the bodies were mangled beyond all recognition. The bodies which the rescuers managed to pull from the burning ruins of the immigrant cars were so badly burned that their identity will probably never be ascertained. Those railroad men who have seen the wreck declare it to be the worst that ever happened in Michigan, not even excepting the Grand Trunk wreck near Battle Creek in 1893 during the World’s Fair.
“As soon as the news of the disaster reached Superintendent Bierns of Detroit the wires were kept hot ordering specials from Adrian, Peru, and Montpelier to the scene of the wreck. At 8:40 a special train from Detroit, carrying physicians and surgeons, started for Seneca and was given right of way. When it reached the scene of the wreck the work was at once commenced of succoring the wounded.
“A special from Adrian bearing all the doctors and surgeons in the city had been at work for an hour, but the flames retarded the work of rescue. The wounded had been placed on stretchers in the coaches sent from Adrian. At 10:40 o’clock the first train loaded with wounded left the scene of the wreck for Adrian. The dead were left behind to be carried in on a later train.
The wrecking train ordered from Montpelier, thirty miles away, arrived shortly after 9 o’clock, but the heavy vestibuled cars of No. 4 lay between it and the burning immigrant cars, so that but little aid could be rendered by the rescuers.
“When the special train reached Adrian the wounded were carried in ambulances, drays, and delivery wagons to the hospitals until they were filled, when private residences in the neighborhood were pressed into service. The engines of both trains were reduced to scrap iron and the engineers and firemen on both perished. They were buried underneath a heap of iron and telescoped cars, which are burning fiercely.
“Advices state that the regular passenger train following No. 4 took a number of the wounded back to Montpelier. No. 4 and No. 13 were considered to be the two fastest trains on the road. Both were behind time, and the probabilities are that they were running at the rate of fifty miles an hour when the accident happened.” (New York Times. “Train Wreck and Fire Kill 100 in Michigan.” Nov 28, 1901, p. 1.)
Nov 28: “Detroit, Mich., Nov. 28–About 100 persons were killed or injured last night in the most disastrous railroad wreck in the history of Michigan railroads. Two heavily loaded passengers trains on the Wabash railroad collided head-on at full speed one mile east of Seneca, the second station west of Adrian. The west-bound train of two cars, loaded with emigrants, and five other coaches was smashed and burned, with the result of awful loss of life and fearful injuries to a majority of its passengers. The eastbound train, the Continental limited, suffered in scarcely less degree….
“No. 4, the Continental limited, had engine No. 609, Engineer Strong, Conductor G. J. Martin, and No. 13, double header, engine No. 88, Engineer Works, and engine No. 151, Engineer Parks, Conductor Charles Troll. No. 4, it is believed, disobeyed orders in not waiting at Seneca for No. 13, thereby causing the wreck.
“The track at the point where the collision occurred was straight, and at first the officials could not understand how the accident could have happened. No. 13, which ordinarily is due to leave Detroit at 2:30 o’clock, was two hours late, leaving at 4:20. The two trans meet at Montpelier, Ohio, according to schedule, but No. 4 had orders to meet No. 13 at Seneca. The blame is therefore placed on the conductor and engineer of No. 4. Had this train been held at Seneca the accident would not have occurred.
“Train No. 4 was due at Seneca at 6:43, according to the change in schedule, but apparently orders to wait there were disobeyed, and the probabilities are that the true story will never be told, as the train crews undoubtedly met instant death.
“Train No. 4, east bound, was made up of an engine, baggage car, combination coach and sleeper. The trains came together one mile east of Seneca, under a full head of steam. All but the two rear coaches on No. 13, the west bound train, were demolished, and the coach on No. 4 was telescoped. Five of the cars of train No. 13 caught fire and are still burning.
“The loss of life estimated at 8 on this train. The loss of life on No. 4 is said to be 25. Engine No. 88 of train No. 13 exploded, and engine No. 609 on No. 4 turned over into a ditch.
“Two firemen and one engineer on No. 13 were killed, and the firemen and engineer on No. 4’s engine jumped and escaped.
“Train No. 13 was a regular train, carrying 2 cars of emigrants going west, and was behind time. This train was composed of seven coaches, hauled by two engines, Nos. 88 and 151….” (Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Eighty People Are Dead,” 11-28-1901, p. 1.)
Nov 29: “Lenawee county, on Wednesday evening, about 6:45, gave to the world one of the most disastrous wrecks known to the history of railroading. The scene of the horrible affair was one and a quarter miles east of the little station of Seneca, on the Wabash road, about 12 miles southwest of the city of Adrian. At this point two heavy fast passenger trains, east bound train No. 4 and west bound train No. 13, came together with a fearful crash, while traveling at a rate of at least 50 miles an hour each…Added to the horror of the fearful collision the cars of train No. 13 caught fire, and literally consumed the inmates of one of them….
“Train No. 13 was composed to two locomotives and nine coaches, three of the coaches being filled with Italian immigrants, just from Italy, on their way to Trinidad, Colorado, to work in the mines. There were two sleeping cars on the rear of the train, in which the passengers were but slightly injured. Where the big loss of life came was in the cars occupied by the Italians, who were penned in like rats and left to burn to death, if not killed outright, after being jammed and wounded in a most fearful manner….
“One car was telescoped into the other, and at least 70 people must have been cremated before help could get to them….Train No. 4 was not so badly wrecked, only one coach suffering annihilation, the passengers escaping with remarkably good luck. Still there were the bodies of five dead pulled out of this part of the wreck. There were four men and one woman. The rest of the passengers were injured more or less severely, one woman dying on the road to the company’s hospital at Peru, where a large number were taken in a special train….
“…two firemen were caught in their cabs and buried in the wreck.
“The blame is now thought to be on A. T. Strong, engine 609, engineer of train No. 4, who it is said read his orders wrong….Engineer Strong is at his home in Detroit, under strict orders from his doctor to keep quiet. He is suffering from nervousness and some injuries received….
“It will be impossible to get a complete list of the dead, as there must have been 60 people burned up in the cars of train No. 13. They were all Italians. We give below a list of those who can be found.
The Dead.
James Brown, Chicago, porter…
Cal Batdorf, fireman, Ashley, Ind…
- L. Denell, Pontiac, Mich…
- D. Dowd, Delray, fireman…
Vida Denhart, Tupperville, Ont., died en route to Peru on relief train.
Job Witchell, shoe manufacturer, Detroit…
Geo. W. Youmans, Kansas City, cattle buyer….
Unknown woman, quite aged…[6]
Seven identified Italians.
Fifty-five (estimated) Italians cremated in the wreck.
“Total number of dead–70.” (Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “A Fearful Holocaust in Lenawee!” 11-29-1901, p. 1.
Nov 29: “….the inquest was started before S. M. Hamilton, in the supervisors’ room at the county court house, Friday morning [Nov 29]….In the afternoon after hearing the testimony of Conductor F. C. Trowl, of Detroit, conductor of No. 13…Conductor Trowl testified….[that] he had his order with him, which he received from Operator Martindale at Holloway, and it was received and placed on file.
I read the order aloud, as is the rule of the road, in the presence of the operator, and gave a like order to each of the engineers, Parks, of 151, receiving his first. Both were read in the presence of their firemen. The order stated we should side track for No. 4 at Seneca.
Had the engineer run past the siding it would have been my duty to set the automatic brakes at once, which would stop the train inside of an eighth of a mile providing the steam was shut off when the brake was first felt. There was no warning and when the shock came I was seated in the rear sleeper….
According to the report of Collector Eames, who took the immigrants’ tickets, we had 190 passengers on the train. We took one through passenger at Holloway, one at Adrian, and also seven local passengers at Adrian.
I made a list of those whom I could find who got safely out of the train and found 88. I couldn’t tell how many were killed and can’t even estimate it. Saw seven dead bodies taken out.’
(Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “Coroner’s Inquest.” 11-30-1901, p. 1.)
Tribune Almanac: “One of the worst wrecks in the history of the Wabash Railroad occurred at Seneca, Mich., on the night of November 27. An emigrant train came into collision at full speed with a regular passenger train. The loss of life was estimated at seventy-five, but could not be accurately determined, as many bodies in the emigrant train, the wreck of which caught fire, were completely incinerated. A misunderstanding of orders was the cause of the accident.” (Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1901. “The Wabash Wreck.” 1901, p. 184.)
Sources
Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “A Fearful Holocaust in Lenawee!” 11-29-1901, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/adrian-daily-telegram-nov-29-1901-p-1/
Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “Coroner’s Inquest.” 11-30-1901, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/adrian-daily-telegram-nov-30-1901-p-1/
Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “The Last Victim.” 11-301901, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/adrian-daily-telegram-nov-30-1901-p-1/
Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Eighty People Are Dead,” 11-28-1901, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/traverse-city-evening-record-nov-28-1901-p-1/
Geocaching. “The Wreck on the Wabash-1901.” 10-15-2009. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1ZWK6_the-wreck-on-the-wabash-1901?guid=46f6f9a2-a6bb-4a4f-ae86-633c01b0f89c
Harrison, Jon. MSU Libraries, Michigan State University. “November 27, 1901: Horrible Train Wreck Near Adrian,” 11-27-2017. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://blogpublic.lib.msu.edu/red-tape/2017/nov/november-27-1901-horrible-train-wreck-near-adrian/
Huhman, Lonnie (Daily Telegram). “1901 ‘Wreck of the Wabash’ burial site located.” Monroe News, MI. 1-13-2016. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/20160113/1901-wreck-of-wabash-burial-site-located
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. Lansing, MI: MDOT, 2014. Accessed 7-16-2018 at: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Michigan_Railroad_History_506899_7.pdf
New York Times. “Train Wreck and Fire Kill 100 in Michigan.” Nov 28, 1901, p. 1. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0E13F8355F1B738DDDA10A94D9415B818CF1D3
State of Michigan Commissioner of Railroads. Thirtieth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads of the State of Michigan for the Year 1902. Lansing, MI: Department of Commissioner of Railroads, 1902. Google preview accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=cv5AAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1901. New York: The Tribune Association, 1901. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=aF8wAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] This represents the range of reporting reflecting in our sources. All the contemporary and end of year reporting we have seen reflect a range of 50-100, with the range being due to an unknown number of Italian immigrants from amongst those onboard who were incinerated in what was described as a virtually all-consuming fire, leaving but ashes. The official number given out by the Wabash railroad, however, was twenty-three, which was used in the Michigan Railroad Commissioners annual report published in 1902. Writers we note as sources in recent years are skeptical of the official number. We see that there two identified deaths in press reporting at the time not reflected in the 1902 MI Railroad Commission report — that of E. L. Denell of Pontiac, MI, and Vida Denhart of Tupperville, Ontario, who “died en route to Peru on relief train.” If true, that would bring death toll to at least 25.
[2] Also notes that of the 125 injured, twenty-five were thought to be fatally injured (“is said 25 will die.”)
[3] Thus number is located further down in same paper which estimated 70-80 dead earlier.
[4] While the headline of this article notes 80 dead, the body notes 8 on one train No. 13 and 25 on train No. 4.
[5] Cites: Geocaching. “The Wreck on the Wabash-1901.” 10-15-2009.
[6] This may have been a Mrs. Upton, of Sherman, TX, identified on Nov. 30 by her stepdaughter Mrs. Lizzie Kramer, of Chicago. (Adrian Daily Telegram, MI. “The Last Victim.” 11-301901, p. 1.)