1907 — Sep 15, freight and passenger trains collide in dense fog near West Canaan, NH– 25

Last edit on 10-30-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–25-26  Wikipedia. “List of rail accidents (1900-1909.” 10-9-2023. Accessed 10-30-2023.

—     25  Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “Twenty-Five Killed.” 9-15-1907, p. 4.

—     25  Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5th printing). 1989, p. 287.

—     25  New York Tribune. “Trains in Crash; Twenty-Five Dead.” 9-16-1907, p. 1.

—     25  Washington Post. “Mystery in Disaster…Complete List of Dead.” 9-17-1907, p. 46.

—     25  Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” [Discontinued.]

Narrative Information

Holbrook: “On the 15th of September 1907, a freight and a passenger train crashed together at 4:26 a.m. in a dense fog, near West Canaan, New Hampshire, killing twenty-five persons. Investigation disclosed that the accident had been ‘due to an error in a dispatcher’s order.’ It was said at the time, and is still generally believed in the region, that the error mentioned concerned a mistaken use of “Canaan” instead of ‘West Canaan.’….” (Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5th printing). 1989, p. 287.)

Wikipedia, 1900-1909: “September 15 – United States – On the Boston and Maine Railroad, northbound freight train 267 received a train order referring to southbound passenger train 34 instead of train 30, the Quebec-to-Boston Express, which was 20 minutes ahead of it and was heavily loaded with passengers returning from the Sherbrooke Fair. Consequently, trains 267 and 30 collided at 4:26 a.m. on a foggy Sunday morning, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Canaan station; 25 or 26 people were killed and about 40 injured.”[1]

Wikipedia, Pre-1950: “September 15, 1907, Canaan, New Hampshire, United States: Quebec to Boston Express wreck; 25 people killed, with nearly 39 injured. The southbound express (No. 30), heavily loaded with passengers returning from the Sherbrooke Fair, collided at 4:26 a.m. on a foggy Sunday morning with a northbound Boston & Maine Railroad freight train (No. 267). The accident, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Canaan Station, was “due to a mistake in train dispatcher’s orders”.”  (Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”)

Newspaper

Sep 16: “White River Junction, Vt., Sept. 16. – A fearful head-on collision between the southbound Quebec express and a northbound freight train on the Concord division of the Boston and Maine railroad occurred four miles north of Canaan station Sunday, due to a mistake in train dispatcher’s orders, and from a demolished passenger coach there were taken out twenty-five dead and dying and twenty-seven other passengers, most of them seriously injured. Nearly all those who were in the death car were returning from a fair at Sherbrooke, Que., sixty miles north.

 

“The conductor of the freight train was given to understand that he had plenty of time to reach a siding by the night operator at Canaan station, receiving, according to the superintendent of the division, a copy of a telegraph order from the train dispatcher at Concord which confused the train numbers 30 and 34.

 

“The wreck occurred just after the express had rounded into a straight stretch of track, but owing to the early morning mist neither engineer saw the other’s headlight until too late.

 

“The identified dead are:        [15]

 

Timothy Shaughenessy, Castle Bar, Que.;

Mrs. Shaughenessy;

Miss Annie St. Pierre, Isleverte, Que.;

Fred M. Phelps, Ochiltree, Tex.;

Mrs. A. E. Warren, Haverhill, Mass.;

Mrs. F. C. Blake, South Corinth, Vt.;

Mrs. Margaret Largy, Manchester, N.H.;

Miss Barrell, Manchester, N.H.;

Mrs. Phillip Gagnon, Sherbrooke;

Miss Alvina Giron, Nashua;

Mrs. Webster, a dress-maker, living in Massachusetts;

J.L. Congrot, Somerville, Mass.;

Infant child of Irving Gifford, Concord, N.H.;

Mrs. E. L. Briggs, West Canaan, N.H.;

John G. Duncan, Bethel, Vt.

 

“The unidentified include:      [10]

 

            A boy four years old,

A man forty years old,

A woman thirty years old,

A man fifty-five years old,

A man thirty-five years old,

An unknown boy and

Four others

 

“Twenty-two of the bodies were removed to Concord.

 

(Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “Twenty-Five Killed. Passenger Train Collides With a Freight Train.” 9-16-1907, p. 4.)

 

List of Fatalities from Newspapers

(from Brainerd Daily Dispatch unless otherwise noted)

 Barrett, Miss Annie, Manchester, NH (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)

  1. Benoit, Dominick, Lowell, MA. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  2. Blake, Mrs. F. C., South Corinth, VT [or L.C. Blake of MA (New York Tribune)]
  3. Boisvert, Mrs. Adolph, Concord, NH (New York Tribune)
  4. Briggs, Mrs. E. L., West Canaan, NH [or E. S. Briggs (New York Tribune)
  5. Cady, Leon S., West Lebanon, NH. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  6. Clarkson, Richard F., Lebanon, NH (New York Tribune)
  7. Congrot, J. L., Somerville, MA [or John M. Congdon (New York Tribune)] Or:[2]
  8. Cunningham, Mrs. Alice, Hamilton, MA. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  9. Derby, C. E., Boston. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)

Duncan, John G., Bethel, VT. (Not listed in Wash. Post “complete list” of deaths.)

  1. Gagnon, Mrs. [Vena] Phillip, Sherbrooke, Quebec (Washington Post. 9-17-1907)

Gifford, infant child of Irving Gifford, Concord, NH. [Not in WP “Complete List.]

Giron, Miss Alvina, Nashua, NH. (Not listed in Wash. Post “complete list” of deaths.)

  1. Hould, Delia, Manchester, NH (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)

Largy, Mrs. Margaret, Manchester, NH [not noted in New York Tribune]

  1. Lower, F. H., Barton Landing, VT. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  2. Phelps, Fred M., Ochiltree, TX
  3. Royer, Austin, Manchester, NH (New York Tribune) [Augustine Royer, WP. 9-17-1907]
  4. Shaughenessy Timothy, Castle Bar, Quebec [or Manchester, NH (New York Tribune)]
  5. Shaughenessy, Mrs. Timothy [or Manchester, NH (New York Tribune)]
  6. Southwick, George L., No. 6, Linden Street, Worcester, MA (New York Tribune)
  7. Pierre, Miss Annie, Isleverte, Quebec
  8. Stevens, H. D., Musquodoboit Harbor, Nova Scotia. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907.)
  9. Ventinnier, Mrs. William, Robinson, Quebec. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  10. Ventinnier, Miss Lillian, daughter of Mrs. Wm. Ventinnier. ( Post. 9-17-1907.)
  11. Warren, T. Howard, Haverhill, MA. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907, p. 46.)
  12. Warren, Mrs. M. E., Haverhill, MA

Webster, Mrs., a dress-maker, living in MA (not listed in WP “complete” list of 25.)

  1. Wilson, M. N., Spring Street, East Cambridge, MA. (Washington Post. 9-17-1907.)

 Sources

Brainerd Daily Dispatch, MN. “Twenty-Five Killed. Passenger Train Collides With a Freight Train.” 9-15-1907, p. 4. Accessed 10-30-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/brainerd-daily-dispatch-sep-15-1907-p-4/

 

Holbrook, Stewart H. The Story of American Railroads (5th printing).  New York: Crown Publishers, 1959 and 1989.

 

New York Tribune. “Trains in Crash; Twenty-Five Dead.” 9-16-1907, p. 1. Accessed 10-30-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-tribune-sep-16-1907-p-2/

 

Washington Post. “Mystery In Disaster. Boston and Maine Officials Unable to Fix Blame.” 9-17-1907, p. 46. Accessed 10-30-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-post-sep-17-1907-p-46/

 

Wikipedia. “List of rail accidents (1900-1909.” 10-9-2023. Accessed 10-30-2023 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_accidents_(1900%E2%80%931909)#1907

 

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents

 

[1] Cites: Kichenside, Geoffrey. Great Train Disasters. Bristol: Siena Books, 1997, pp. 48, and 65.

[2] John N. Congdon of Bethel, VT. (Washington Post 9-17-1907.)