1907 — March 13-18, Flooding, numerous rivers, Southern OH, Western PA, WV — ~76
–~76 Blanchard tally based on State breakouts below.
— 51 World Today. “The Calendar of the Month. United States.” V12, N. 5, May 1907, p. 554.[1]
Summary of State Breakouts Below:
Ohio ( 32) Especially Athens
Pennsylvania (~26) Especially Pittsburgh
West Virginia ( 18) Especially Wheeling
Breakout of Flood-Related Fatalities by States and Localities:
Ohio ( 32)
–32 Statewide. Ohio Historical Society. “March 14-18, 1907: Floods Sweep Southern Ohio.”
–32 Schmidlin and Schmidlin. Thunder in the Heartland. 1996, p. 172.
–12 Athens.
— 2 Chillicothe
— 2 Circleville.
— 2 Marietta.
— 3 Nelsonville.
— 1 Sabina.
— 6 Steubenville.
— 4 Zanesville.
Pennsylvania (~26)
— ~26 Blanchard tally: Allegheny/1, Glen Osborne/2, Harmorsville/3, McKeesport/6, Pittsburgh/~14.
— 1 Allegheny, Mar 15. NYT. “Pestilence Feared in Pittsburg,” March 17, 1907, p. 3.
— 2 Glen Osborne, March 13. Towboat Cruiser hits dam abutment; thrown by flood water.[2]
— 3 Harmarville, Mar 14. Titusville Herald, PA. “Floods…Vicinity of Pittsburg,” 3-14-1907.[3]
— 5 McKeesport, Mar 14. NYT. “Pittsburg Losses Now $25,000,000,” March 16, 1907, p. 2.
— 6 “ Mar 15. NYT. “Pittsburg Losses Now $25,000,000,” March 16, 1907, p. 2.
— 2 Pittsburg, Mar 13. Titusville Herald, PA. “Towboat Wrecked…Sunk in River,” 3-14-1907.
— 4 “ Mar 14. Titusville Herald, PA. “Flood Records of Pittsburg Broken,” 3-15-1907.
–6-12 “ By Mar 15. Brooklineconnection.com. “Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle – 1907.”[4]
–6-12 “ By March 16. Historicpittsburgh.org. “Pittsburgh Flood of 1907.”
— <12 “ Pittsburg Post-Gazette. “Record flood inundates Pittsburgh in 1907.” 3-13-2013.[5]
— 14 “ by March 15. Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Flood at Pittsburg.” 3-15-1907, 1.[6]
— 14 “ Mar 14. World Today. “The Calendar of the Month. [U.S.].” May 1907, p. 554.
— ~20 “ Mar 13-15. NYT. “Pittsburg Losses Now $25,000,000,” March 16, 1907, p. 2.
West Virginia ( 18)
— 4 Wheeling, Mar 15. Titusville Herald, PA. “Wheeling Cut Off by Raging Waters,” 3-16-07.
–18 “ March 16 report of known dead as well as others missing and reportedly dead.[7]
–1 Simon Allis, 2.[8]
–1 Ed Collins found at Alley 19 and Main Street.
–1 Philip Cusman, 43.[9]
–1 Mrs. Cusman, 41.
–4 Cusman children.
–1 John Festicci.[10]
–1 Bradley George, 10 months.
–1 Rosa Luswic.[11]
–1 Alton Petries, 19-months, found at Twenty-fifth and Main.
–1 Mike Petries (or Betries), 30.[12]
–1 Mrs. Peter Satti, 24, found near body of Ed Collins.
–1 Badray Tomhas, 5.
–1 Effie Tomhas, 3.
–1 Annie Yesbitt, 20.[13]
–1 Unknown foreigner.[14]
–18 Wheeling, March 16. NYT. “18 Die in Flood, Fleeing From Fire,” March 17, 1907, p. 3.
Ohio Rivers Flooded: Pennsylvania Rivers Flooded
Hocking River, OH Allegheny, PA
Miami River, OH Clarion, PA
Muskingum River, OH Juniata, PA
Ohio River, OH Kiskiminetas, PA
Scioto River, OH Monongahela, PA
Ohio, PA Youghiogheny, PA
Ohio
Ohio Historical Society: “All rivers flowing southward into the Ohio River reached flood stage during March 14-17, 1907. More than 4 inches of rain fell across the southern third of Ohio during March 12-14, with the heaviest rain, 5 to 6 inches, in a band from Cincinnati eastward to Athens and Noble County. There were 32 deaths reported in Ohio. Dozens of homes in Athens were swept away, overturned, or lifted off their foundations by the raging Hocking River. There were 15 deaths along the Hocking River at Athens and Nelsonville. At Waverly, the Scioto River washed out every railroad leading into the city. Six hundred people were forced from their homes in Zanesville. The Miami River reached flood stage from its upper reaches at Sidney downstream through Dayton, Miamisburg, and Hamilton, causing major damage in many neighborhoods.
“As the flood waters moved into the Ohio River, a flood extended downstream from Pittsburgh past Cincinnati. Six people drowned at Steubenville. At Marietta, the Ohio River rose 30 feet in two days, reaching the highest level since 1884 and leaving 5,000 homeless. Portsmouth was inundated by the flood, but with temperatures reaching 70 degrees on Sunday March 17th, ‘thousands took advantage of the fine weather to row about the city’s streets’.” (Ohio Historical Society, “March 14-18, 1907: Floods Sweep Southern Ohio”)
Pennsylvania
March 13, Indiana, PA: “The heavy rains during the past few days, together with the melting of the five inches of snow which fell Sabbath, have caused a flood stage in the streams about Indiana. The water reached its highest point this morning. Paper Mill run in the West End was bank full. At several places where the banks are low the surrounding fields were under water. March Run, on the other side of town was also at flood stage….
“Traffic on the West Penn Division of the P.R.R., is tied up on account of high water. Word has been received that a bridge was taken away at Hammerville, which caused a serious wreck this morning….” (Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA. “Heavy Rains Seriously Impede Railway Traffic in this Vicinity.” 3-13-1907, p. 1.)
March 13, Pittsburgh: “Pittsburg, March 13.— The Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers are rising rapidly tonight. A stage of twenty-three feet has been reached in this city and by tomorrow twenty-seven feet is anticipated. This stage is five feet over the danger mark and will inundate the lower portions of the city. Reports from up-river points are alarming. A greater part of many towns in the Monongahela valley are submerged and many persons narrowly escaped with their lives. The property damage is heavy.
“Tonight it is raining heavily all over western Pennsylvania. The present high water, while not unexpected, came so rapidly that little time was given persons in the flood districts to prepare for it. Basements were flooded, destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of perishable goods; a bridge at Harmorsville collapsed, precipitating a freight, train into the water and drowning three trainmen; residents in the flood districts were rescued from their homes in skin’s and thousands of men are idle owing to the suspension of work in the coal mines along the river.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Floods are Heavy in the Vicinity of Pittsburg,” March 14, 1907, p. 1.)
March 13-14, Pittsburgh: “Pittsburg, March 13 – Swept with terrific force by the swollen current against the pier at lock No. 3, the towboat Cruiser, owned by the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke company, was wrecked and sunk, sending two of her crew to death. Two others were rescued, exhausted and almost frozen, a mile below the scene of the accident, after they had been in the water an hour. Three of the crew, clinging to the bow of the submerged boat, were saved after a hard fight with the heavy ice which fills the stream….”
“Pittsburg, March 14. – With an estimated property damage of $10,000,000, the enforced idleness of over 100,000 persons, almost the complete suspension of Pittsburg’s world famous manufacturing plants, the sacrifice of four lives which will probably be increase to twenty deaths, train service annulled, trolley service out of commission, telegraph and telephone lines crippled, between twenty and thirty thousand persons homeless, hundreds of homes undermined and ready to collapse, theaters closed, guests marooned on hotels, thousands of families living in the second story of their homes, and nearly all the down town section of Pittsburg under waster, is the record established by a sudden rise in the Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohio, Youghiogheny, Kiskiminetas and Clarion rivers, which were swollen abnormally by the combination of warm weather, melting snows and general rain throughout western Pennsylvania and West Virginia during the past forty-eight hours.
Greatest in History.
“The record of the greatest flood in the history of Pittsburg, which was in 1832, was passed at midnight, with the rivers still rapidly rising at a foot an hour. A stage of water reaching at least thirty-seven feet is expected in this city. According to a statement issued at the United States weather bureau at midnight, it was stated, the crest of th flood is expected at 3 a.,. It is added, however, that this statement is conservative. App predictions, prophesies and guesses have already been shattered and the fact alone remains that every stream in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia is on the rampage and the extend of the flood at this time is very uncertain.
“To add to the confusion here tonight numerous small fires have occurred on the flooded territory and the firemen, some of whom are quartered in the hotels, had had great difficulty in reaching them. In addition to this, most of the fire engines are engaged in different sections of the city assisting in keeping electric light plants free from the water in order that lights at least many not fall….
“Conditions in this city are the worst ever recorded. The whole lower down town district is under water and the people are moving about in wagons and skiffs. Duquesne way, Penn avenue and liberty street, running parallel with the Allegheny river, are submerged to a depth of several feet. Hundreds of business houses located in this section are flooded. In a number of instance the water is almost up to the second floor…
“The Gayety, Belasco, Alvin and Bijou theaters are surrounded by water and will be unable to open for several days. Water has destroyed or greatly damaged the power plants of all four theaters. The guests in the Colonia, Lincoln, Annex and Anderson hotels are either marooned or compelled to use skiffs to and from the hotels. Trolley service between Pittsburg and Allegheny was suspended early today and tonight the scenes at the Union depot of the Pennsylvania railroad are almost beyond description.
“Electric light plants in many down town buildings are out of commission and candles or gas light is being used.
“Within the last thirty-six hours four fatalities directly due to the flood have occurred….
“All the railroads entering Pittsburg are crippled. Train schedules have been annulled….”
“Huntingdon, Pa., March 14 – Juniata valley is witnessing the most disastrous flood since the memorable one of 1889. The melting snow, combined with torrents of rain, has raised the Juniata river seventeen feet above low water mark. (Titusville Herald, PA. “Flood Records of Pittsburg Broken,” 3-15-1907.)
March 14, Pittsburgh, World Today: “Floods.–March 14.–Floods cause damage in Pittsburg estimated at $10,000,000 and the loss of fourteen lives. Nearly all the down-town section of the city under water. Manufactories suspended business, theaters closed. Many places in Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia likewise suffering.” (World Today. “The Calendar of the Month. United States.” V. 12, No. 5, May 1907, p. 554.)
March 15: “Pittsburg, March 15 – This city tonight lies wet, dark, and scorched. It has been a day of suffering and of terror, and though the floods are receding now all danger is by no means past. The rivers early today reached the unheard of point of 36-8 feet, certainly the highest point in 100 years. The floods broke some of the water mains yesterday and the main feeding the high Mount Washington district was among the first to go. This placed that part of town practically at the mercy of fire. At daybreak fire started there and before it could be gotten under control a block of twenty-six houses had been destroyed. It was necessary to use dynamite to break the path of the flames, else all the Mount Washington district might have been destroyed….There were numerous other smaller fires….
“It is likely that twenty lives have been lost. Coroner Armstrong cannot get reports from the outlying districts owing to broken telephone connections.
“Chaos has reigned throughout the city for the last twelve hours. The street car system stopped early this morning completely. There were no electric lights, no telephones, and no water where it was most needed….The city presented a dismal appearance. Every basement in the downtown district is filled with water. The sidewalks are piled high with perishable goods. Every railroad entering Pittsburg, except the Pennsylvania from the east, was out of business….Business was practically suspended today, and reports of crimes were many….
“It is reported that five men were drowned at Sewickley while trying to cross the Ohio in a yawl….Six persons were drowned in the night and today at McKeesport. Five were drowned there yesterday. Mayor Coleman of McKeesport announced that the Relief Committee of that city had 25,000 persons to feed and take care of and that a bread and mild famine seemed certain.
“In Allegheny, matters are most serious. Hundreds of families are being held on the second or third floor of their houses, where food is being handed them from skiffs by the police. The Riverside Penitentiary is flooded, and the convicts were today all removed from the first floor….” (New York Times. “Pittsburg Losses Now $25,000,000,” March 16, 1907, p. 2.)
March 15: “Pittsburg, March 15 – With the rapid receding of the waters in the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers, which is taking place here tonight, conditions are fast assuming normal proportions and the greatest and most destructive flood in the history of the city is at an end….Ten square miles were inundated….Thirty large blast furnaces in this city are out of commission on account of the flood….” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Pittsburg Conditions… Improving Rapidly,” 3-16-1907.)
March 16: “Pittsburg, March 16 – The floods which for some days have held greater Pittsburg in a state of terror have gone, but conditions, according to the medical authorities, have not bettered a particle….The receding waters in Allegheny today uncovered the lifeless body of Mrs. Frank Carr, who had hanged herself in her little home rather than leave it when the waters rose. Ten days ago the husband of Mrs. Carr was killed in a street fight.” (New York Times. “Pestilence Feared in Pittsburg,” March 17, 1907, p. 3.)
March 18: “Pittsburg, March 18.–This city is just recovering from the most disastrous flood in its history. The famous ‘pumpkin flood’ of 1832, which has long been considered the daddy of them all, has been driven into seclusion by the flood of 1907, unadorned as it was by floating cow feed. The 1832 flood record of 35 feet was surpassed by one foot and two-tenths.
“The two most costly features of the flood were the lack of warning and preparation and the unusually large quantity of sediment deposited by the yellow deluge. The loss is almost beyond computation. Many merchants were unable to do anything to save goods stored in cellars because the flood came unheralded in the night and when morning came goods were already submerged.
“Pittsburg newspapers, after carefully canvassing the flooded districts, place the damage between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000. Many industries were closed down. The Allegheny County Light Co. and other public service concerns were practically put out of business. The telephone service was badly crippled, and in the flooded district there was neither electric light nor gas. Thousands of work people were thrown out of employment for a week and many a longer period. Of the many theaters but three were not obliged to close….
“Of the big business houses Joseph Horne & Co., being in the heart of the flooded district in Pittsburg, probably suffered the most, notwithstanding the fact that their new building had been especially designed to repel floods. The water exceeded in height all calculations, and the expensive equipment provided was practically useless.
“From all towns on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Kiskiminetas rivers comes the same story of unpreparedness and heavy loss. As nearly all manufacturing plants in the Western Pennsylvania district are situated on the banks of streams where the flood compelled their closing, the losses will be heavy. The Westinghouse plants on Turtle creek suffered heavily, the official estimate of their loss being $50,000.” (Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA. “Coated With Slime.” 3-18-1907, p. 3.)
West Virginia
March 15: “Parkersburg, W. Va., March 15 – Thousands of people are homeless. Mayor Leonard today appointed a large number of special policemen. The county and the city jails are under water and no arrests are made. A number of the residences in Beechwood and Riverside have been washed down the fast current of the Ohio river. The Little Kanawha river is falling.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Report From Parkersburg,” March 16, 1907, p. 1.)
March 15: “Wheeling, W. Va., March 15 — With the marks here showing almost fifty feet and the rate of rise decreasing to one inch per hour, the maximum height of the worst flood the Wheeling district has had since 1884 is near at hand. The city and surrounding towns on both sides of the river are completely cut off from the world by railroad or steamers. Every foot of Wheeling island is submerged and its 70,000 inhabitants have been driven to upper floors and in hundreds of cases to higher ground on the city side of the river. Conditions are nearly as bad in East Wheeling, South Side, the east of town submerged and the Ohio side towns of Martin’s Ferry, Bellaire and Bridgeport. It is estimated 5,000 homes are flooded, affecting 25,000 people. The property loss will reach half a million dollars, including the loss in wages at the half hundred industrial plants in the district.
“Only one fatality is reported. Dan Cowl of Wheeling island is missing since last midnight, when he was in a skiff. He is supposed to have been drowned by the overturning of the boat.
Extortion in Flooded District.
“Extortion is rampant in the flooded district. A woman stood in a second floor window in a foot or water with a babe in her arms and begged men in passing skiffs to take her out, but as she had no money her appeals went unheeded until sue was rescued by a passing police boat.
“There have been several small fires owing to trouble with the natural gas…The water works…may go out of commission tonight as the water is in the pumping plant. The city electric lighting plant is flooded and the city is in entire darkness tonight, this adding to the terrors of the flood and making rescue work extremely perilous….
“During the day a score or more of houses passed down the river, including two three-story dwellings and a school house….
“Tonight at midnight an explosion of gas at the Warwick pottery in South Wheeling destroyed the greater part of the plant and threatened many houses in the vicinity occupied mostly by Syrians. A panic set in and frantic cries for rescue made the night hideous. The police requisitioned all the skiffs they could find and a hundred or more people were taken out of the houses, which were surrounded by twelve feet of water. All were rescued excepting three little Syrian children who fell into the flood and were drowned.” (Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Wheeling Cut Off by Raging Waters,” 3-16-1907, p. 1.)
March 16: “Wheeling, West Va., March 16 – Panic-stricken as a result of an explosion and fire at the Warwick Pottery Works, in the flooded district early today, many persons jumped from the windows of their houses in the neighborhood or took refuge in boats, and eighteen are known to have been drowned.
“Because of the flood it was impossible for the fire apparatus to reach the fire. The firemen pressed into service all the boats that could be secured, and carried lines of hose to the burning building by this means. They did heroic work, and not only fought the fire but assisted in rescuing many persons. All the police that could be spared were rushed to the scene to assist in the work of rescue. The crew of a boat that was moored across the river from the building manned a yawl and rescued about 100 persons. At times the big yawl was filled to overflowing, and it was with difficulty that the rivermen prevented the frantic refugees from upsetting the craft. The screams for help of those in the buildings could be heard as far as the steel bridge, a mile north, where thousands of persons, unable to lend any assistance, watched the blaze.
“The work of rescuing the bodies of those who were drowned has been going on all day. The current has been very swift, and the impression is that more bodies will be recovered when the flood subsides. Following is a partial list of those who were drowned…[9 names, including four children ages 19 months to 7 years old] Had the drowned persons remained in their homes none of them would have met death. The buildings were not touched by the flames. The explosion that started the fire is what terrified the people living in the vicinity. No sooner had the report of the explosion occurred than people commenced leaping from the windows. Not all of those who met death were drowned by jumping into the water. Five of them were drowned by the upsetting of a boat that was carrying them to a place of safety.
“Most of the persons living in the vicinity are Syrians, and after the fire they refused to return to their homes. They are being taken care of in the City Hall and county jail. There is scarcely a family that did not lose a member, and the survivors are frantic.” (New York Times. “18 Die in Flood, Fleeing From Fire,” March 17, 1907, p. 3.)
March 16: “Again the Ohio River by its conduct forcibly reminds us of the folly of timber destruction. No other cause than the devastation of the forests could have given the Ohio Valley such a deluge following the fall of so comparatively slight a volume of water.
“Twenty years ago two inches of rain would have done little else than make a big river. Today it caused the second largest flood in the history of the valley. The barren hillsides are responsible for it. There is nothing to hold the water back. The river have become little more than a sewer.
“It is a story, however, that is familiar to Wheeling citizens. There is not much use of dwelling upon it because the answer is inevitable “what are you going to do about it?” The timber is gone; it cannot be replanted and re-grown within the life of the present generation — but for the sake of posterity some action should be taken. France has a law which requires the replanting of a tree for every one cut. If the United States had had such a law Wheeling would have been out of water today.” (The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “Floods and Timber” [Editorial]. 3-16-1907, Flood Special Edition.)
Sources
Brooklineconnection.com. “Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle – 1907. The Year of the Big Flood.” Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Flood1907.html
Historicpittsburgh.org. “Pittsburgh Flood of 1907.” Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:MSP388.B012.F01.I03
Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA. “Coated With Slime.” 3-18-1907, p. 3. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-evening-gazette-mar-18-1907-p-3/
Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, PA. “Heavy Rains Seriously Impede Railway Traffic in this Vicinity.” 3-13-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-evening-gazette-mar-13-1907-p-1/
Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Flood Damage Will Be Enormous Along Youghiogheny, Especially in Connellsville and New Haven.” 3-14-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/uniontown-morning-herald-mar-14-1907-p-1/
Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Two Drown When Big Boat Sinks in the Ohio River in the Vicinity of Pittsburg.” 3-14-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/uniontown-morning-herald-mar-14-1907-p-1/
New York Times. “18 Die in Flood, Fleeing From Fire,” 3-17-1907, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56797979
New York Times. “Pestilence Feared in Pittsburg,” 3-17-1907, p. 3. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/17/archives/pestilence-feared-in-pittsburg.html
New York Times. “Pittsburg Losses Now $25,000,000,” 3-16-1907, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56797941
Ohio Historical Society. “March 14-18, 1907: Floods Sweep Southern Ohio.” Severe Weather in Ohio. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/swio/pages/content/1907_floods.htm
Pittsburg Post-Gazette. “Record flood inundates Pittsburgh in 1907.” 3-13-2013. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2013/03/13/record-flood-inundates-pittsburgh-in-1907/
Schmidlin, Thomas W. and Jeanne Appelhans Schmidlin. Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio. Kent State University Press, 1996, 362 pages. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=QANPLARGXFMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “42 Feet or over.” 3-14-1907, pp. 1 & 9. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3133
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “47 or 48 Feet Here To-day. Worst Flood Since Great One of 1884.” 3-15-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3134
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “Floods and Timber” [Editorial]. 3-16-1907 (Flood Special Edition). Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3138
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “River Is Yielding Up Its Dead.” 3-16-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3136
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “South Siders in Toils of Flood.” 3-15-1907, p. 6. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3135
The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “The City A Scene Of Desolation.” 3-16-1907, 6 P.M. edition. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/3137
Titusville Herald, PA. “Flood Records of Pittsburg Broken,” 3-15-1907, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104630634
Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Floods are Heavy in the Vicinity of Pittsburg,” 3-14-1907, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104630630
Titusville Herald, PA. “Report From Parkersburg,” 3-16-1907, p. 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/titusville-herald-mar-16-1907-p-1/
Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Towboat Wrecked and Sunk in River,” 3-14-1907, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104630630
Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Wheeling Cut Off by Raging Waters,” 3-16-1907, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104630639
Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “Flood at Pittsburg.” 3-15-1907, 1. Accessed 7-7-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tyrone-daily-herald-mar-15-1907-p-1/
World Today. “The Calendar of the Month. United States.” V. 12, No. 5, May 1907, p. 554. Google preview accessed 7-5-20019 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=cZjNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] After reporting fourteen lives in Pittsburg March 14, writes: “March 15.–Thirty-seven lives lost at points in Ohio and West Virginia. The flood in Pittsburg decreasing. At Parkersburg and Wheeling it was on the increase.”
[2] “Pittsburg, Mar. 13.–Within five minutes after she had struck the abutments of the new government dam at Glen Osborne the towboat Cruiser, one of the largest boats out of the local harbor, was sunk in 25 feet of water and two members of the crew of 22 were drowned….The Cruiser was coming up stream…Pilot Swaney said that the heavy flood threw the boat against the abutments and it was too late for him to turn her around…The men who drowned were Jack Kenneth, a deck hand, and a man by the name of Sesso, a cook.” (Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Two Drown When Big Boat Sinks in the Ohio River in the Vicinity of Pittsburg.” 3-14-1907, p. 1.)
[3] “Three employees of the West Penn Railroad drowned in the Allegheny River…” (Pittsburg Post-Gazette. “Record flood inundates Pittsburgh in 1907.” 3-13-2013.) Another account: From Pittsburg comes the report that three men met death on the West Penn railroad near Harmarville by the engulfing of a train in swollen Deer creek when a bridge gave way.” (Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Flood Damage Will Be Enormous Along Youghiogheny, Especially in Connellsville and New Haven.” 3-14-1907, p. 1.)
[4] Brookline in a Pittsburgh neighborhood.
[5] Notes additionally the three employees of the West Penn Railroad who drowned in Allegheny River.
[6] Writes “the sacrifice of 14 lives…will probably be increased to 20 deaths…”
[7] The Intelligencer, Wheeling, WV. “River Is Yielding Up Its Dead.” 3-16-1907, p. 1. Cite “police authorities.” Note named victims were “mostly Syrians residing on Main street between Papermill alley and Twenty-second street.”
[8] “Simon Allis and Bradley George, two infants, were swept out of a boat while their mothers were jumping into it from a second story window.”
[9] “It was reported at noon today that the entire family of Philip Cusman, consisting of father, mother and four children, perished in the current sweeping down Main street during the fire panic in Papermill alley shortly after midnight this morning….the family had crowded into a small johnboat. A weighty woman tried to get into the boat, upturning it…all the family were swept away in the water.”
[10] “John Festicci, an Italian living on Main street in the Sixth ward, fell of a raft early last evening. His body is said to have drifted out into the swollen river at once.
[11] “Rosa Luswic and Mrs. Petar Sutti, who resided on Main street below Papermill alley, are said to have fallen from capsized boats and perished before any help could arrive.”
[12] Last name spelled two different ways in article. Writes: “Mike Bretreis, in the plain view of Detective Kelly, who was rushing to his rescue in a skiff, leaped from a second story window of a foreign boarding house with his infant child in his arms. He disappeared…A search was made for the bodies, but in vain.”
[13] “Annie Yesbit is said to have been drowned while being towed on a raft from a flooded house down Main street.”
[14] “An unknown foreigner, wearing hip boots and dressed like a merchant, attempted to wade across the creek bridge by walking alongside the railing. He stepped into a deep hole near one of the new B. & O. piers at the north end of the bridge and disappeared. This accident happened before 7 o’clock this morning.”