20th Century

–22  Advertiser-Courier, Hermann, MO. “Twenty-Two Dead in Train Wreck,” 12-30-1903, p. 1.

–22  Ogdensburg Advance, NY. “Twenty-Two Killed,” Jan 1, 1904.

–22  New York Times. “More Victims of Wreck,” Dec 28, 1903, p. 3.

–21  Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “One More Dead.” 12-29-1903, p. 1.

–21  Ellison. “21 Christmas travelers were killed in 1903 Kentwood train wreck,” mlive, 12-26-2011.

–18  Michigan Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History. 2014, p. 16.

–18  Sunday Review, Decatur, IL. “Orders Confused and Two Trains Crash,” 12-27-1903, p. 1.

 

Narrative Information

 

Ellison: “….the trains hit about 5:40 p.m. The westbound bound No. 5 train was traveling down grade about 60 mph, while the Detroit-bound No. 6 train was climbing the hill at about 40 miles mph. They slammed into each other in the middle of a long, sweeping curve.

 

“The collision immediately reduced the baggage and smoking cars behind each locomotive to a pile of wood. One engine turned over and lay facing the opposite direction, the other climbed the wreckage, its boiler torn from the running gear and stood erect in the center of a heaping debris pile.

 

“Between them, the trains carried 120 passengers total. The collision caused the instant death of 19. Two others died later….

 

“Pere Marquette officials blamed the weather and a mix-up in orders for the accident. The No. 6 train was directed to meet the No. 5 at a different site, farther east than usual.

 

“Running in heavy snow and darkness, the engineer on No. 5 blew past McCords, never seeing the stop signal, which the operator didn’t realize was blown out until too late. Dispatchers managed to phone a farmer nearby, but were not in time to flag down the eastbound train….

 

“The engineer of No. 5 survived the wreck, cleared his name following a coroner’s inquest, but later left his family and disappeared, still feeling the guilt. Today, the track is still in use, although the Pere Marquette company was folded into CSX Transportation long ago….” (Ellison, Garret. “21 Christmas travelers were killed in 1903 Kentwood train wreck,” mlive (Michigan Live), Grand Rapids News, 12-26-2011.)

 

Michigan Dept. of Transportation: “Dec. 26, 1903. Pere Marquette Railroad passenger train accident at East Paris[1] killed 18 persons.”

 

Public Opinion: “….The official explanation of the Michigan wreck is that the wind blew out a signal set to prevent the two trains running toward each other on the same track from coming together. The Chicago News declares that such explanations will not do:

 

The public is expected to believe that in these cases no blame can be placed upon any of the officials or employees of the roads. Even if it were true that under present methods of railroading such catastrophes could not be foreseen or prevented, what should be said of the system or lack of system which fails to provide for such prevention? Is the science of railway management still so primitive that collisions can not be guarded against?  It is the business of railways to transport passengers safely, and it is the prime requisite of that business that they supply every conceivable precaution necessary to prevent killing people. Accidents can not be explained away. It is the fact that they occur and not the reason for their occurring that constitutes proof of inefficiency. If they are not due to gross negligence that fact only emphasizes the innate and essential faultiness of the system. The railroads must stop this slaughter of their passengers, and it is the duty of congress, of the state legislatures, and of the courts to compel tem to stop it.

 

“The Michigan papers agree in saying that the wreck in that state shows that our signal system is inadequate. We must, says the Detroit Free Press, have a system that ‘can be absolutely depended upon whatever the atmospheric conditions.’ The News says that ‘the risk of such a signal system is too great.’  A lantern, in the opinion of the News, is not a sufficient safeguard for 200 lives. The Detroit Tribune comments very severely upon the relatively flimsy construction of day coaches, to which it attributes part of the loss of life in the Grand Rapids wreck, adding that ‘It is a most atrocious system that enables railroads to use the possibility of a hideous fate as a means to oblige a traveler to pay the extra fee to ride in a car that will preserve his life, in case of an accident.’

 

“In the opinion of the Chicago Post, ‘the real cause of wrecks,’ or of most of them, is that the safety of passengers and trainmen is sacrificed to a desire to ‘make time’:

 

Back of any system, automatic or otherwise, which the railroads may install must ever remain the competency of the railroad operatives and the urgency of railroad travelers. So long as there is this public demand to be taken rapidly from one point to another the trainmen will be required by their superiors to ‘make time.’ And the more of this urging there is, the more accidents will there be to chronicle. When the public refuses to travel on railroads which have built a reputation for ‘making time,’ no matter what the cost, there will be more careful running; and when the railroad managements cease crowding their employees to the point of nervous and physical collapse in order to maintain schedules, there will be fewer accidents. The chief cause of these fatalities is the insane American rush, and human skill can not devise any mechanism that will offset this and wholly prevent accidents and the seeming recklessness of life.

 

“There is in most of the comment on this subject no such disposition as the Post displays to divide the responsibility between the railways and the public. As the Columbus Press says –

 

“Somebody blundered” is regarded as the most inexcusable of all excuses that could be offered for such a misfortune. And in most instances the “somebody” who must bear the brunt of the blunder is a martyr for the real “somebody” who is to blame and ought to be held responsible. In the Michigan instance the imprecation falls upon the head of the train dispatcher. It seems nat­ural and conclusive, so nobody waits to hear the dispatch­er’s story and nobody seems to care. It appeases public vengeance to hold any miserable mortal responsible, and survivors await the next horror with the same wide lati­tude for jumping at conclusions.

 

“The comment which follows shows that the feeling is widespread that something must be done to lessen the loss of life through railway catastrophes. No less attention is paid to the subject on the Pacific coast than in eastern papers, the San Francisco Call saying:

 

The crowding of business on American railroads, which is steadily increasing, is adding to the perils of their operation. Railroad managements are employing all kinds of devices and methods for the insurance of greater safety to life and property in handling the traffic. They appear, however, to be entirely inadequate. The list of fatalities is increasing yearly. While the British railroads are be­ing operated with comparatively little loss of life to passengers and a minimum of casualties to operatives, the proportion of fatalities and other casualties on the rail­roads of the United States is increasing at an alarming rate. Increased density in the population is evidently cre­ating conditions in this country which railroad managers have apparently been unable to meet with suitable provi­sions for safety to the traveling public and their own em­ployees. The last quarterly bulletin of the interstate com­merce commission shows that during the fiscal year end­ing June 30, 1903, 3,554 passengers and railroad employees were killed outright on the railroads of the United States and 45,977 injured, the mortality being 735 and the in­jured 6,177 more than in the previous fiscal year. These figures are big enough to make everyone thoughtful and to call loudly for the adoption of improvements in methods of operation for greater security to life and property.

 

“Room for Great Improvement

 

“Another evidence that the agitation of this subject ex­tends to every part of the country is found in this edito­rial in the Spokane Spokesman-Review:

 

For this long list of disasters many causes have been assigned, but no satisfactory reasons are given why, in these days of modern railroad management, wreck should follow wreck so regularly. For many of the train dis­asters train dispatchers and other negligent employees have been at fault. The list of collisions has been unusu­ally large, and these, almost without exception, are due to the carelessness of employees. Other catastrophes have occurred, the blame for which could be thrown upon no particular individual. In this class the causes have been obstructions, such as that which resulted in the recent holocaust in Pennsylvania; rail-spreading, broken wheels and axles, failure of air brakes to work, and other irregu­larities that often could not be overcome with the closest attention. There is no doubt that the American railroad managers are the ablest in the world, and they are ever in search of new devices that will make train operation easier and insure greater safety to life and property in transit. But there is still room for great improvement, as the wreck story of this year proves, and the railroad men must make this improvement, both for the reputation of their lines and in order to escape from immense damage payments.

 

(Public Opinion. “The Loss of Life on Our Railways,” V. XXXVI, No. 1, Jan 7, 1904, pp. 4-5.)

 

Public Opinion: “A disaster in which 600 people are killed in a few minutes makes a deeper impression upon the sympathies and imagination of the public, but this is a very favorable moment to call attention to the fact that more than ten times six hundred people were killed on railways in 1903. The exact number is 6,973.”  (Public Opinion, “The Week,” Vol. XXXVI, No. 1, Jan 7, 1904, p. 1)

 

Newspapers at the time

 

Dec 26: “Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec 26.–Two passenger trains on the Pere Marquette railroad met in a headon collision six miles east of this city this evening. Eighteen persons are known to be dead and it is expected several more bodies will be found under the wreckage. More than thirty people were injured, some of whom will probably die.

 

“The two trains were running at full speed and the engines were reduced to a tangled mass of wreckage. The first cars were also demolished, and the entire trains left the track, except the last coach on each, so great was the force of the collision.

 

“The eastbound train was due to leave here at 5:20 bound for Detroit, but was a little late. The westbound train due from Detroit at 5:15 was also late. The latter, on account of being late, was sent out before the other arrived. The wreck is said to be due to a misunderstanding of orders.

 

“The eastbound train was crowded with passengers when it left Grand Rapids. It carried scores of Christmas visitors, returning to their homes along the Pere Marquette line after spending the holiday here.

 

“The incoming train also bore a holiday crowd, as well as the regular Saturday rush of passengers. The wreck occurred half a mile west of East Paris, where there is a curve and a long grade.

The Casualties

 

“This is the identified list of the dead:

 

Engineer Charles A Stoddard, Detroit.

Baggageman William Helmrich, Grand Rapids.

Charles A Devine, Grand Rapids.

William Smith, farmer, near Saranac, Mich.

Allen H. Wells, Big Rapids, Mich.

Peter W. Wierengo, Grand Rapids.

Lester Williams, Boston, died in hospital.

Fireman Ed Burns, missing, supposed to be under the wreck.

[Gerrit Motman; Advertiser-Courier, MO. “Twenty-Two Dead…” 12-30-1903, 1.]

 

 

“It is also reported several more bodies have been taken from the wreck since the special train came from the scene, including two women….

 

Eight More Bodies

 

“Grand Rapids, Dec. 26.–It is now stated that eight more bodies have been recovered from the wreck, five men, two women and a boy, making the total bodies recovered seventeen. The missing fireman is thought to be one of the last four….” (Sunday Review, Decatur, IL. “Orders Confused and Two Trains Crash,” 12-27-1903, p. 1.)

 

Dec 27, NYT: “Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 27.–The death list resulting from the head-on collision between two Pere Marquette Rail road passenger trains near East Paris early yesterday evening stands to-night twenty-two, four of whom are unidentified. Twenty-nine persons were injured, several of them probably fatally.

 

“It was the most disastrous wreck in the history of the Pere Marquette system, and as already stated, is charged to the high wind which extinguished the red signal light in the order board at McCord’s Station, where the west-bound train was expected to stop and receive new orders.

 

“Two minutes before the train rushed by McCord’s the light was burning, according to the operator there, but in that brief interval the blizzard that was raging extinguished it, and train No. 5 flashed by the station to crash into east-bound train No. 6, near East Paris. The trains, which were two of the finest on the system, were reduced to a pile of broken and twisted timber and metal, with dead and injured pinned down and crushed by the fragments of the heavy cars. Five cars and two locomotives were jammed into a space ordinarily occupied by three coaches, and the wreckage was strewn across the railroad’s right of way from fence to fence.

 

“When Train No. 5, bound west, whizzed by McCord’s the frightened operator notified the dispatcher, and then found that his red light had been extinguished. He reported this fact, but the collision was inevitable. The dispatcher’s office called for medical aid and gave orders to get the

wrecking outfit under steam. They then waited for the word they knew must come.

 

“There was no chance for the flying trains to see each other through the driving blizzard even in time to slow down, and in a few minutes word came from the conductor of No. 5 that they had crashed together and that there was an awful loss of life.

 

“The west-bound engine. No. 397, drove through No. O’s engine like a wedge, separating the gear from the boiler and standing the latter on end like a broken, twisted shell. The running gear was crumpled up like so much twine. Great steel side-rods were bent Into many shapes, and even the big driving wheels spilt and sprung, landing in some cases ten feet from the engine. The boiler of engine No. 397 turned over several times, and the very force of the twisting impact seems to have been the means of saving the life of Engineer Waterman. He was flung forty feet over the fence at the edge of the right of way…his fireman, was sitting on the opposite side of the cab, and he, too, was thrown clear of the pile of wreckage.

 

“No. 6, east bound, was composed of a mall and baggage car, combination smoker, buffet parlor car, day coach, and diner.  The baggage coach, caught between the engine and heavy train, crumpled up like pasteboard, only the roof remaining partially broken. The big mail coach, heavily bulk-headed, took the brunt of the blow, but withstood the crash and communicated it to the smoker next in the rear. The smoker in turn crashed several feet into the parlor car. And it was at the rear end of the smoker and forward end of the buffet where most of the passengers were killed and injured. From a space six feet square the bodies of two women, a boy, and a man were taken out.

 

“The west-bound flyer with its heavy bulk-headed cars remained on the rails, back of the baggage and mail cars, and the passengers in this train escaped serious injury.  As one man they rushed out of the train to assist the less fortunate ones on the train from this city. According to statements made by officials of the Pere Marquette, the west-bound train was traveling down grade at the rate of sixty miles an hour. The east-bound train was climbing the hill at a speed of forty miles an hour.  The former carried probably 75 passengers, while the latter Is- believed to have been carrying at least 125 persons….

 

“General Superintendent Smith interviewed Booth, the operator at McCord’s last night and said to-day: ‘I have reason to doubt the statement of Booth that his light was burning two minutes before No. 6 passed McCord’s, and that the wind extinguished it.  He is an old operator, and has been in the employ of the road several years.” (NYT. “More Victims of Wreck,” Dec 28, 1903, 3)

 

Dec 28: “Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 28.–The death list Sunday night resulting from the head-on collision between two Pere Marquette railroad passenger trains near East Paris Saturday evening stands at 22, with 38 persons injured, several of them probably fatally….” (Advertiser-Courier, Hermann, MO. “Twenty-Two Dead in Train Wreck,” 12-30-1903, p. 1.)

 

Dec 28: “Record of the Dead.

 

Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Baldwin and son George of Mulliken.

Lester Williams, Lansing.

Mrs. Daisy Giles, Lowell.

Burt Meyers, Lake Odessa.

Walter B. Jordan, Clarksville.

Jasper Hullum (colored), Windsor, Ont.

Austin I. Wager, Detroit, baggageman.

Charles A. Stoddard, Detroit, engineer No. 6.

Charles A Devine, Grand Rapids, parents line in Dexter, Mich.

William Helmerich, Detroit, baggageman.

William J. Burns, Detroit, fireman No. 6.

George T. Palmer, Detroit, American Express Co.’s agent on train No. 6.

1. Frank May.

William G. Smith, Portland.

William Smith, Saranac.

1. F. Coykendall, Lake Odessa.

Peter W. Wierngo, Grand Rapids.

1. Wells, Big Rapids.

Unknown man, aged about 25, with initials “A. J. K.” marked on cuffs.”

 

(Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Frightful Death List. Awful Wreck on Pere Marquette Near Grand Rapids.” 12-28-1903, p. 1.)

 

Dec 29: “By Wire to the Evening Record. Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 29.–Gerrit Motman died this morning at the Union Benevolent Association hospital of injuries sustained in the Pere Marquette wreck. Motman leaves a widow and five children, who live in Grand Rapids. This makes a total death list, as a result of the wreck, of 21. It is believed none of the others injured will die.” (Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “One More Dead.” 12-29-1903, p. 1.)

 

Jan 1: “….The two trains collided at about the middle of a long, sweeping curve three-quarters of a mile west of East Paris. On the inner side of the curve is a high embankment, preventing a view of the track ahead. When the engines met one turned completely over and lay with its nose in a direction opposite to that in which it had been traveling. The other climbed the wreckage of the first, its boiler, torn from the trucks, standing erect in the center of the debris.

 

“Investigation by the Pere Marquette officials into the cause of the wreck has brought out some conflicting statements. Operator F. M. Booth at McCord’s states most emphatically that when he received orders to hold the westbound train at McCord’s he immediately displayed the red light and set the board against the approaching train.

 

“Engineer Waterman, his fireman and Conductor Neil all state that the signal lamp was burning, but that instead of a red light it displayed a white light.” (Ogdensburg Advance, NY. “Twenty-Two Killed,” Jan 1, 1904.)

 

Recap of Fatalities (22) Noted in Sources Above

 

Baldwin, Mr. S. A.

Baldwin, Mrs. S. A.

Baldwin, George, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Baldwin, Mulliken, MI

Burns, William J. (Ed.). Fireman (No. 6), Detroit, MI.

Coykendall, E. F. Lake Odessa, MI.

Devine, Charles A. Grand Rapids.

Giles, Mrs. Daisy, Lowell, MI

Helmrich (or Heimerich), William. Baggageman, Grand Rapids, MI.

Hullum, Jasper (African American), Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Jordan, Walter B. Clarksville, MI.

May, A. Frank.

Meyers, Burt. Lake Odessa, MI.

Motman, Gerrit.

Palmer, George T. (American Express Co.’s agent on train No. 6.), Detroit, MI.

Smith, William. Farmer, near Saranac, MI.

Smith, William G. Portland, MI.

Stoddard, Charles A. Engineer (No. 6), Detroit, MI.

Wager, Austin I. Baggageman, Detroit, MI.

Wells, Allen H. Big Rapids, Mich.

Wierengo (or Wierngo), Peter W. Grand Rapids, MI.

Williams, Lester. Lansing, MI, died in hospital.

Unknown man, aged about 25, with initials A. J. K. marked on his cuffs.

 

Sources

 

Advertiser-Courier, Hermann, MO. “Twenty-Two Dead in Train Wreck,” 12-30-1903, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hermann-advertiser-and-advertiser-courier-dec-30-1903-p-1/

 

Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Frightful Death List. Awful Wreck on Pere Marquette Near Grand Rapids.” 12-28-1903, p. 1. Accessed 7-18-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/traverse-city-evening-record-dec-28-1903-p-1/

 

Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “One More Dead. Gerrit Motman Succumbed to His Injuries Today. This Makes a List of Twenty-One Deaths Due to the Pere Marquette Wreck.” 12-29-1903, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/traverse-city-evening-record-dec-29-1903-p-1/

 

Ellison, Garret. “21 Christmas travelers were killed in 1903 Kentwood train wreck,” mlive (Michigan Live), Grand Rapids News, 12-26-2011. Accessed 7-17-2018 at: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/12/21_christmas_travelers_were_ki.html

 

Ogdensburg Advance, NY. “Twenty-Two Killed. Results of Pere Marquette Disaster Exceed First Report,” 1-1-1904. At: http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/mi/trains/eastparis-trainwreck-dec1903.htm

 

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. “More Victims of Wreck. Michigan Disaster’s Death Roll Now Numbers Twenty-two,” Dec 28, 1903, p. 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52187379

 

Sunday Review, Decatur, IL. “Orders Confused and Two Trains Crash,” 12-27-1903, p. 1. Accessed 7-18-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/decatur-daily-review-dec-27-1903-p-1/

 

[1] As Ellison notes, East Paris was “a tiny country village in eastern Paris Township, later to become the city of Kentwood.”

–76-78  Blanchard tally based on State and Maritime breakouts below.

 

Summary of Fatalities by State

 

Connecticut                           (       7)

Georgia                                  (       3)

Illinois                                    (       7)

Indiana                                   (       3)

Iowa                                        (       2)

Kentucky                               (       2)

Massachusetts                       (     16)

Michigan                                (   3-4)

Missouri                                 (       1)

Nebraska                                (       1)

New England Maritime        (       5)

New York                               (17-18)

Ohio                                       (       3)

Pennsylvania                         (       7)

Rhode Island                         (     ~9)

            Total               76-78

 

Breakout of Winter Weather Fatalities by State and Locality (where noted):

 

Connecticut                           (   7)

–1  Ansonia, Jan 11. Effects of exposure to severe cold during fishing trip Jan 5.[1]

–1  Derby, Jan 5. Scalded lungs. “In attempt to warm himself…placed mouth over steaming spout…”[2]

–1  Moodus, Jan 4 (body found). Exposure? Body of Patrick O’Neill found in snowdrift.[3]

–4  New Haven railroad yard, Jan 3. Italian snow shovelers.[4]

–3  New Haven near Cedar Hill station, Jan 2. Gang of 20 RR snow shovelers hit by train.[5]

 

Georgia                                  (   3)

–1  Americus area, McNeil farm, Dec 25. Snow and wind storm; man killed by flying timbers.[6]

–1  Americus area, Larter plantation, Dec 25. House blown down and man killed.[7]

–1  Rome area ~Berryhill’s crossing and Central RR, on doorsteps. Frozen to death; Jeff Ware.[8]

 

Illinois                                    (  7)

–1  Chicago, Dec 25. Traction car runs into train “[d]uring the blinding storm.” James Dooley.[9]

–1  Chicago, Dec 26. Froze to death near Lake Shore & Michigan Southern RR; Frederick Houston.[10]

–1  Chicago, Dec 26. Hit by train engine on Wabash RR at 43^rd St. in blinding snow; Archie Stewart, 65.[11]

–1  Chicago, Dec 26. Notes four people dies as a result of Saturday’s blizzard [have noted 3].[12]

–1  Elmwood area, Dec 26. Froze to death; temperature reached 7 below zero, John Weir, 45.[13]

–1  Pana area farm, Jan 5. Froze to death; farmer in his barn; William Ukena, 55.[14]

–1  Peoria, Dec 26. “…found frozen to a tree here…” Temp. 7 below. George Baumgarten.[15]

 

Indiana                                   (  3)

–1  Anderson, Dec 25. Traction train car hits man in street during “fiercest part” of blizzard.[16]

–1  Brazil, Dec 30. Froze to death; farmer (W. Akre) froze before getting to home from town.[17]

–1  Earl Park area, Dec 30. Frozen to death; after drinking, tried to walk home during blizzard.[18]

 

Iowa                                        (  2)

–1  Davenport, Jan 1-2. Exposure; body found Jan 4; thought to have died ~36 hours earlier; Shipper.[19]

–1  Storm Lake area, Dec 28. Exposure; body of unknown man found mile from Storm Lake.[20]

 

Kentucky                               (  2)

–1  Bennetts Fork, Dec 27. Froze to death in cabin seeking safety from blizzard; Tim Thompson.[21]

–1  Stoney Fork Creek valley near Middlesboro, body found Dec 27 frozen; William Wilson.[22]

 

Massachusetts                       (16)

–3  Boston harbor, Dec 26. Dredger Gen Poe, sinks in “one of the heaviest seas ever known.”[23]

–1  Boston, Brookline st., Jan 2. Apparent hypothermia at home “due to the severe weather.” Harvey J. Chick, 67.[24]

–1  Boston, Jan 2. Heart “failure, brought on by the intense weather.” Harvey J. Church, 66.[25]

–1  Boston, Jan 2. Heart attack due to exposure to cold; Captain Joseph Hallet, 70, of Cotuit.[26]

–1  Boston, Jan 2. Heart attack sweeping snow from in front of his house; John Manning, 70.[27]

–1  Boston, Jan 2. Corner of Washington & Bedford, “overcome by the storm,” Calvin T. Whittier, 80.[28]

–1  Boston, Goodnow’s wharf, schooner Maggie Hurley, Jan 4. Fall; numbed by cold sailor.[29]

–1  Cambridge, Jan 2. Man shoveling snow and “blinded by the storm” hit by train; Joseph Battle.[30]

–1  Cambridge, Jan 2. Man sweeping snow out of a switch hit by train during storm; James Beattie.[31]

–1  Charlestown. Jan 3. Exposure; found against fence of rail drawbridge at the Neck; John McNulty, 60.[32]

–1  Nantasket shore, foot of Atlantic Hill, MA. Jan 3. Body of woman washed onto rocks.[33]

–1  North Webster, Jan 4. Found frozen to death in the snow; William Pattison.[34]

–1  Revere, Dec 27. Found frozen to death on Revere street; Frank Morin, 40, of Lynn.[35]

–1  Rockdale, Jan 5. Found frozen to death a short distance from her house; Mrs. Kate Foley, 80.[36]

 

Michigan                                ( 3-4)

–3  Bay Port, Jan 2. Froze to death; pre-teen boys out on frozen Bay during “terrific storm.”[37]

–1  West Bay City, Jan 3. Hypothermia? Body found frozen on floor of home; Mrs. Catherine Todd.[38]

 

Missouri                                 (     1)

–1  St. Louis, Jan 4-5. Froze to death; traveling salesman, thought to have gone to sleep outdoors.[39]

 

Nebraska                                (      1)

–1  Omaha, Dec 26. Man “found frozen to death in a shed in the north part of the city today.”[40]

 

New York                               (17-18)

–1  Fonda area, Jan 2. Track hand hit by train during “blinding snow storm…” William Sconite.[41]

–8  New York City and vicinity by Jan 5; three reported on Jan 5. Cold and exposure.[42]

–1  New York City, Jan 4. Elevated train gateman “found frozen to death at his post.” John Adick.[43]

–5  New York City, Jan 4-5 (24-hours). “Five additional deaths, due directly to the cold…”[44]

–4  NYC, Jan 6. The News, Frederick, MD. “Four Dead In New York.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.

–1  Found frozen to death in street cleaning dept. snow cart; William Brooks.

–3  Found frozen to death; unknown itinerants or homeless men.

–1  NYC, 117^th st and Nelson Ave, Jan 6. Hypothermia in barn of employer; John Nicholson, 29.[45]

–4-5  New York City, by Jan 6. Gas asphyxiation; frozen gas pipes thaw, gas asphyxiated.[46]

–1  New York Hotel, 1541 Broadway. Frozen pipe thaws overnight; Frank Coffey.[47]

–1  NYC harbor, barge Claremont cabin, coal gas fumes; Sigmund Goldgrandsen.[48]

–1  Park Ave, Jan 6. Asphyxiated by “escaping gas…freezing of the pipes.” Robert Isbistis, 31.[49]

–1  Shelter Isl., Jan 6. Asphyxiated; illuminating gas after pipes thawed; Frederick C Johnson, 18.[50]

–1  Newburgh station area, Jan 4. Train engine derails; pulling car through “deep snow.” John F. Miller.[51]

–1  Richmond borough [Staten Isl.], Jan 3. Froze to death; body found at golf course; Peter Johnson.[52]

–1  Richmond Terrace, Jan 3. Froze to death in her woodshed; Mrs. Frances Jeanette, 75.[53]

–1  Sauthfields [?], “last week.” Froze to death; William Conklin.[54]

–1  Spencerport, Dec 28. Froze to death; Frank Goft, 54.[55]

–1  Staten Island, Jan 3. Found “frozen to death in a drift near his home…” Frederick Spring, 45.[56]

 

Ohio                                       (   3)

–1  Findlay, Jan 5 report. Frozen to death; oil worker Grant Travis.[57]

–1  Findlay area; Froze to death after fall from pole and injury; lineman William Helpen.[58]

–1  Lima, Dec 28. Found frozen to death in snowdrift near home; Charles Wisemeyer, 40.[59]

 

Pennsylvania                         (  7)

–1  Hazleton area. Frozen to death; Upper Lehigh miner on road ~Hazleton; James Pendegast, 63.[60]

–1  Potter Co., late Dec. Froze to death; body of hermit found in “crude dugout.” August Swanson.[61]

–1  Reading, ~Jan 4. Apparent heart attack while shoveling snow; unnamed male.[62]

–1  Shimer’s Cut, Honesdale branch, Jan 3. Froze to death; “little home…” Charles Higgins, 80.[63]

–1  Tamaqua, Jan 4. Frozen to death on road; had left Middleport for home; John Hoffman, 55.[64]

–1  Titusville area, Dec 27 (body found). Froze to death just outside “his little hovel.” Frank Friel.[65]

–1  Womelsdorf, Jan 4; Heart attack “superinduced” by prolonged exposure to “severe cold.” Benjamin Gerhart.[66]

 

Rhode Island                         (~9)

–~7  Providence. Severe Cold and exposure; “several” prior to Jan 4 and four on Jan 4.[67]

–3  [“Several”] prior to Jan 4.

–4  Jan 4.

–Margaret Cronin.

–Robert Cross.

–Lottie Harris.

–James McLaughlin of Scituate (it was thought).

—  2  Providence, Jan 9. Men clearing snow from RR tracks, Brayton Ave. crossing hit by train.[68]

 

New England Maritime        (  5)

–5  Week of Dec 25-Jan 1. Drownings; northeast gale and snow; four shipwrecks; 5 men lost.[69]

 

Narrative Information

 

General

 

Dec 26: “Chicago, Dec. 26.–The crest of the cold wave east-bound passed Chicago today. The minimum temperature here is eight degrees below zero. Trains as a result of the cold, generally are unable to maintain schedule time.

 

“The weather remains cold throughout the northwest. Some of the low temperatures reported this morning are: St. Pau. 16 below; Winnipeg, 30 below; LaCrosse, 15 below; Lafayette, 8 below.

 

“In Western Missouri, Eastern Kansas and Oklahoma the temperature averaged five below with high winds while in Western Kansas the mercury is thirty-six above zero.” (Muscatine Journal, IA. “Cold Wave is Passing Away.” 12-26-1903, p. 1.)

 

Jan 4: “Washington, D.C., Jan. 4.–All of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains [rest of article makes it clear it was meant to be “east”] is held in the grasp of the storm king. From nearly all of the northern states reports come of the coldest weather of the winter, in some places the record for many years being broken. The weather bureau promises a gradually rising temperature for the next few days but it will remain very cold.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Intense Cold Over Country.” 1-4-1904, p. 4.)

 

Jan 6: “Washington [DC], Jan. 6.–The weather bureau this morning issued the following:

 

Temperatures have risen in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys, the lower, lake regions and eastern New York, although it continues unseasonably cold in the last named district. The cold weather continues in the south and middle Atlantic and east gulf states and New England. Zero temperatures are reported this morning from Eastern Pennsylvania, Eastern New York and the interior of New England. In the last named a minimum temperature of 20 degrees below zero was recorded at Concord; N.H.

 

The eastern area of high pressure has drifted slowly southward and is central this morning, over the middle and south Atlantic coast. A second area of high pressure has moved in from the north Pacific and occupies the plateau regions. A depression of considerable magnitude covers the northwest territories, and is apparently moving eastward.

 

There has been no precipitation of consequence on the last 24 hours.

 

The temperature will rise in eastern districts to-night and Thursday. It will also be warmer to-night in the Ohio valley and lower lake regions.”

 

(Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Cold Wave Is Over.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.)

 

Alabama

 

Dec 26: “Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 26.–The thermometer today registered 17, the coldest of the winter, and a drop since yesterday of 35 degrees.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Coldest of Winter.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Connecticut

 

Jan 4: “New Haven, Conn., Jan. 4.–The most severe spell of winter weather in some years in Connecticut is the present cold snap. Around the state this morning the temperature ranged from zero to 23 degrees below zero. The railroad trains were running this morning in all directions but were all late.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Traffic is Impeded.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5: “New Haven, Conn., Jan 5.–This was the coldest morning in the last five years in Connecticut. From midnight until 5 o’clock this morning the official thermometer was 6 below. The lowest in the state is at Danbury, 26 degrees below. Traffic was delayed on account of the difficulty of making steam.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Traffic Delayed.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 6: “New Haven, Jan. 6.–The thermometer at the local weather bureau early this morning again reached 6 below zero, the same point as yesterday. In other parts of the city it was from 10 to 20 below last night. At 8 o’clock the weather bureau thermometer was at 2 below and rising rapidly.

 

“Hartford, Jan. 6.–The thermometer at 7 o’clock this morning registered from 18 to 20 degrees below zero in various parts of the city.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Cold Wave Is Over.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.)

 

Delaware

 

Jan 5: “Wilmington, Del., Jan 5.—The cold wave extends over Delaware with practically no variation. The thermometers ranged from 2 to 8 below zero. In this city many large industrial establishments suffered from bursting pipes, and many were compelled to shut down.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Factories Close Down.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Georgia

 

Dec 26: “Atlanta, Ga., Dec 26.–The minimum temperature here today was 19, a fall of 37 degrees in the last twenty-four hours. An additional fall in temperature is forecasted for tonight, the cold wave reaching to the south Atlantic and gulf states.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Cold Wave at Atlanta.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Illinois

 

Dec 25: “Chicago, Dec. 25.–A severe snow storm, followed by a cold wave, visited Chicago to-day. The snow commenced to fall at 9 o’clock in the morning and continued into late in the afternoon, the entire fall being estimated by the weather office at three and one-half inches. The storm was at first unaccompanied by wind, but late in the afternoon a gale of forth miles an hour sprung up from the northwest and the mercury fell rapidly. The thermometers stood 15 above during the greater part of the day, and at 10 o’clock it had fallen to four below, with a promise of ten degrees below by daylight. The snow did not cause any trouble until the wind rose, when it commenced to drift badly, and many outlying street car lines were badly crippled. Cold is scheduled to continue through to-morrow, with a high wind to add to the discomfort.

 

“During the blinding storm this afternoon a Pan-Handle suburban train crashed into the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul train at Fifty-fourth street. James Dooley, a passenger, brakeman, was fatally and four other trainmen were slightly injured.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Death and Ruin On Icy Blasts.” 12-26-1903, p. 1.)

 

Dec 26: “Chicago, Dec. 26.–With a minimum of 8 degrees below zero, the crest of a cold wave moving eastward, struck Chicago today. Trains in many instances were unable to maintain schedule time. Temperatures close to zero were reported in the west and northwest. Northern Indiana reported 8 below, St. Paul 16 below and Winnipeg 30 below….” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Crest of Cold Wave.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Indiana

 

Dec 25-26: “Indianapolis, Ind., Dec. 26.–Indiana was in the grasp of the fiercest storm of the winter yesterday. At Washington, the storm broke suddenly, causing a loss of $25,000, which included the demolition of a large five-story factory. The storm was more or less general over the entire state, breaking with particular fury in several of the towns in the south-central part. The snow fall varied from flurries to a depth of six inches at Petersburg, Ind. In nearly every case th snow was accompanied by terrific gales that caused thousands of dollars of damage to buildings, trees, railroad, telegraph and telephone companies. Railway schedules were knocked out by the snow and sort and interurban lines especially suffered a disarrangement of their schedules. Telephone and telegraph wires are down in many parts of the state, and it is impossible to get complete information from the path of the storm. A decided drop in temperature followed in the wake of the storm and Christmas day, which dawned balmy, closed in the grip of frigid weather.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Hoosier State Blizzard-Swept.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Dec 25-26: “Lafayette, Ind., Dec. 26.–From 35 degrees above Friday afternoon the temperature dropped to eight degrees below at seven o’clock Saturday morning, the coldest in two years. The Wabash river was frozen over and there was much damage from the high wind.” (Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.)

 

Dec 25-26: “Muncie, Ind., Dec. 26.–Snow which began to fall yesterday turned into a blizzard last night–the severest in years. Pedestrians were scarcely able to see their way.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Blizzard at Muncie.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Iowa

 

Dec 26: “Burlington, IA., Dec. 26.–A fierce blizzard raged here, accompanied by a drop of thirty degrees in temperature.” (Le Mars Sentinel, IA. “Wind…Cold Weather.” 12-29-1903, p.2.)

 

Dec 26: “Des Moines, Ia., Dec. 26.–Two degrees below zero was recorded at the weather bureau today…The cold here was accompanied by a disagreeable, raw wind, which made it more intense during the night.” (Muscatine Journal, IA. “Cold Wave…Passing Away.” 12-26-1903, 1)

 

Dec 26: “At Dubuque, Iowa, the mercury went 14 below and at Davenport a mark of 12 was registered.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Crest of Cold Wave.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Kentucky

 

Dec 26: “Louisville, Dec. 26.–A gale blowing at the rate of fifty miles an hour struck Louisville at 5 o’clock and within two hours the mercury dropped over twenty degrees. The gale was accompanied by a brief but blinding snowstorm. The ferryboat City of Jeffersonville, plying between Louisville and Jeffersonville, became unmanageable and after an exciting trip, lasting two hours, was blown to the bank at the eastern end of the city. The passengers were gotten safely ashore and the boat made fast for the night with slight damage. The storm destroyed many chimneys, show windows, etc.” (Le Mars Sentinel, IA. “Wind…Cold Weather.” 12-29-1903, 2.)

 

Maine

 

Jan 2-3?: “Cundys Harbor. The severe cold wave which reached us last week seems loath to leave, the thermometer ranging from 4 to 14 degrees below zero. At no time for five days was it up to zero. More salt water ice has formed in the past few days than for 15 years. Monday from this harbor no water could be seen either in Quahaug [Quahog?] bay or the New Meadows river, the latter frozen to Wood island. Quahaug bay is frozen below Card’s cove. Tuesday people crossed the ice from Pinkham’s Point to Bethel Point. Three schooners, besides many smaller boats, are frozen in the ice. Sunday quite a number of our men who were obliged to brave the wind and storm to try and break ice to save them from damage, were quite badly frost bitten. C. W. Leavitt’s boat sunk at her mooring Saturday night [Jan 2?].[70]

 

“The high winds of Sunday [Jan 3] drifted snow so badly that there is hardly enough for sleighing, there being many places of bare ground.” (Bath Independent and Enterprise, ME. “Neighborhood News.” 1-9-1904, p. 6.)

 

Jan 3: “Burnham, Me., Jan. 3.–As the result of a collision between a snow plow with a freight train which was standing on the main line at the Maine Central station, early today, the engine which was driving the plow, and car attached to the latter were thrown from the track and badly damaged. Engineer Edward, Coburn, Conductor Charles Buck, Brakemen Goodale [unclear] and Stinson, of the snow plow train, were severely bruised and Fireman James Coyne sustained a deep scalp would and an injury to one knee. The crew of the freight train escaped without injury. It is believed the accident was caused by the blinding snow storm, which prevented the engineer of the special train from discovering his position in time to avoid the collision.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Five Maine Central Men Shaken Up at Burnham.” 1-4-1904, p. 1.)

 

Jan 3: “Dexter, Me., Jan. 3.–Saturday was the coldest of the season in central Maine, the mercury not being above zero at any time and dropping to 10 below at night, when a severe snow and wind set in. Reports from the northern part of the State say that thermometers there registered 35 below zero early in the day.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Away Below Zero at Dexter..” 1-4-1904, p. 1.)

 

Jan 4: “Brunswick, Me, Jan 4–All except five of the large number of Maine Central railroad and Western Union wires passing through here were snapped off during the night by the intense cold. The thermometer registered 28 below at Dawn. The Kennebec river at Bath was frozen completely over, so that the Maine Central ferryboat connecting Bath and Woolwich wass unable to run until the ice was broken up, suspending the through train service between Bath and Rockland an hour. It is an unusual occurrence for the Kennebec to freeze at that point. All the schools were closed because of the inability to heat the buildings. Work on the Androscoggin ice fields was suspended, five of the crew of 15 men having their faces badly frozen. The mercury registered 32 degrees below at Lisbon Falls.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Snapped Telegraph Wires.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Portland, Me, Jan 4–The most severe weather in Maine this winter was experienced today, causing much discomfort, but so far as reported at noon no fatalities. Morning trains were delayed nearly an hour. School sessions in many cities and towns were suspended for the day owing to the impossibility of sufficiently heating the buildings and the small attendance. The long continuous cold weather is unusual, even for this state. The lowest record, 32 below at dawn, was reported from Lisbon Falls, Pejepscot, Mechanic Falls and South Rumford. Eastport reported 14 below. Skowhegan 25 below, Canaan 25 below, Athens 27 below and Brighton 29 below….Much inconvenience was occasioned by the freezing of water pipes in all sections.

 

“In this city the upper harbor was completely frozen over, as were various sounds along the coast. The upper harbor has not been so thoroughly frozen for 25 years, it is said. The lowest reading of the thermometer was 21 below. A number of schooners frozen into their docks will have much difficulty in getting away until the wind shifts or warmer weather arrives….Merriconeag Sound was frozen solid for a distance of four miles.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Portland Harbor Freezes.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Rumford Falls, Me, Jan 4–Except two years ago when the mercury registered 36 below, the weather was said to be the coldest ever known in this section. It was 23 below in the business center, 30 below at South Rumford and 32 below at Mechanic Falls. All school sessions were suspended for the day.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Had to Close Schools.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Maryland

 

Dec 27: “Allegany County….Cumberland, Md., Dec 27….A heavy snow has fallen at Frostburg, which at many points has drifted over fence tops. The mercury continues to hover about zero.” (Baltimore Sun, MD. “Allegheny County.” 12-28-1903, p. 10.)

 

Jan 5-6: “Hagerstown, Md., Jan. 6.–Weather records for this vicinity for 20 years have been broken. Between midnight and six o’clock Tuesday morning [Jan 5] was the coldest weather since the winter of 1880, when the mercury reached 26 degrees below zero, was experienced. Sharpsburg was the coldest place heard from, the thermometer registering 20 below zero. At Hancock it was 16 below, and Williamsport and several other places reported 14 below. In this city thermometers ranged from ten to 15 below the zero mark.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont

 

Dec 26: “Boston, Dec. 26.–A heavy northeast snow storm began here today. The strong wind, driving in from the sea contributed to conditions resembling a blizzard.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Snow Falls on Boston.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Dec 26, Boston: “The weather bureau predicts that it will be much colder tonight, that a cold wave is coming, and that all day Sunday [27^th] the frost will have New England in its clutches, with high west and northwest winds.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Storm is Heavy. Will Be Short.” 12-26-1903, p. 9.)

 

Dec 26, Woods Hole: “Woods Hole, Dec 26–A blinding snowstorm and a brisk westerly gale struck these shores at noon today and have steadily increased in fury, compelling all shipping to seek refuge at the anchorage grounds in the sound. The schooners which were driven back to the harbor at Vineyard Haven when the gale struck them yesterday started out this morning, bound around the cape, and there are fears that some of them got so far along up over the shoals that they will have a hard time groping their way to an anchorage in the thick snowstorm. It has shut in so thick in the sound off here that it is impossible to see more than a few hundred yards from shore. When last seen the vessels at anchor off Nobska point were pulling and tugging at their anchors and pitching and plunging in the heavy sea which the gale kicked up….” (Boston Globe, MA. “Brisk Gale at Woods Hole.” 12-26-1903, p. 9.)

 

Jan 2-3, Boston: “Ten inches of snow, a north wind which blew at the rate of 34 miles an hour and one degree below zero is the official weather bureau report of the storm which raged in Boston and New England Saturday night [Jan 2] and Sunday morning up to 10:25, when the wind abated and shifted to the west and the snow ceased falling. Reports do not always tell the whole story. There may have been only 10 inches of snow, but it looked more like 10 feet to most people yesterday morning, especially to those whose houses stood in the way of the 34-mile-an-hour breeze which accompanied the snow. Then the snow was so fine that there was no crevice too small for it to get through and it felt as if the mercury was a good 20 below zero instead of one below when it struck you full in the face….

 

“The predictions for today are that it will be clear and cold; the thermometer will probably not rise above 15 above zero during the day; the wind will remain west; there will be no snow and Tuesday it will be much milder and the weather as far as can be determined will be fair. The wind will remain west or close to that point for the next two days.” (Boston Globe, MA. “City Digging Itself Out.” 1-4-1904, p. 1.)

 

Jan 3: “Attleboro, Jan 4–Attleboro was visited yesterday [Jan 3] by one of the coldest and severest storms it has experienced in recent years. The railroad and street railways suffered the most. The country roads were practically impassable in many places, the drifts being from two to six feet deep. The thermometers registered lat last evening from 15 to 25 degrees below zero, the coldest ever known in Attleboro.” (Boston Globe. “Coldest Ever In Attleboro.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Boston, Mass., Jan. 4.–Boston is today digging herself out from under the twelve inches of snow which, blown by a north wind at the rate of 34 miles an hour. In a zero temperature, was piled in drifts all Saturday night [Jan 2], and up to noon yesterday. The storm raged all over New England and was the worst since the blizzard of 1898 [1899?]. Railroad and trolley traffic is affected, trains being from one to ten hours late and trolley lines in many cases being completely tied up. The temperature this morning at 9 o’clock was 4 degrees below zero.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Intense Cold Over Country.” 1-4-1904, p. 4.)

 

Jan 4: “Hull, Jan 4–Hull is still snowbound. No trains are running, and there is no communication between here and the outside world except by telephone. All telegraph wires are down or out of order. No newspapers or mail have reached here since Saturday morning [Jan 2]. The weather is very cold, and the snow is drifted throughout the town. Only one train has run to the South shore this morning, and none whatever to Hull.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Hull Buried in Snow.” 1-4-19004, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Lowell, Jan 4–At 2 a.m. today the thermometer record at the pumping station on Pawtucket boulevard was 22 degrees below zero and at daylight 10 degrees below. At 12:30 p.m. today in the business center it was zero, the coldest for years….” (Boston Globe. “Lowell Thawing Out.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4-6: “Boston, Jan. 6.–Reports from all over New England indicated more intense cold than on Monday [Jan 4]. At Salem, Mass., the harbor was frozen over for the first time in 15 years. From New Hampshire, Keene reported 32 degrees below zero, the lowest in 15 years while at other places the mercury fell to 43 below. Woods River Junction, R.I., reported the lowest temperature ever known, 36 below zero. Trains everywhere were from two to six hours late Tuesday [Jan 4]….Thermometers in Orange, Mass., burst Monday night at 50 below zero. Athol and Tully, Mass., bulbs went down to 42 and 44 below. William Pattison was frozen to death in the snow at North Webster.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5: “Boston, Jan. 5.–Reports from all over New England indicated intense cold today. At Salem, Mass., the harbor was frozen over for the first time in fifteen years. From New Hampshire, Keen reported 32 degrees below zero, the lowest in fifteen years, while at other places the mercury fell to 45 below. Woods River Junction, R.I. reports the lowest temperature ever known, 36 below. Thermometers in Orange, Mass., burst last night at fifty below zero. At Tulley, Mass., bulbs went down to 44 below. William Pattison was frozen to death in the snow at North Webster last night. For the first time in ten years the eastern and western passages of Narragansett bay are closed by ice. The ice has choked up the wharves along the water front at Newport, R.I., and soldiers walked today from Fort Grable on Dutch island to the west ferry over the ice. Thermometers in different sections of Rutland, Vt., registered from 40 to 44 below zero today. The Rutland public schools were closed owing to the cold weather.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Thermometers Burst. Mercury at Orange, Mass., Reached 50 Below.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Michigan

 

Jan 4 report: “Detroit, Mich., Jan. 4.–With the mercury two below zero and the Detroit river frozen over solid so that pedestrians are walking to and from Canada, this city is experiencing a record breaking winter. The severe cold extends throughout the state. Three boys, fishermen’s sons, were frozen to death at Bayport while trying to find their father’s fish shanties on the bay during a blinding snow storm.”[71] (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Boys Frozen to Death.” 1-4-1904, p2.)

 

Minnesota

 

Dec 26: “St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 26.–Sixteen degrees below zero was the record at the local weather bureau Saturday….The cold here was accompanied by a stinging wind which made it more intense during the night.” (Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.)

Missouri

 

Dec 26: “Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 26.–The temperature in western Missouri Saturday [26^th] averaged five degrees above zero with a strong wind blowing. In Kansas and Oklahoma mild weather prevailed, the temperature ranging from five degrees above zero in eastern Kansas to 36 above at the Colorado state line.” (Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.)

 

Dec 26: “St. Louis, Dec 26.–Almost zero weather prevails in St. Louis and vicinity. The temperature fell thirty-one degrees in four hours. This fall in temperature was accompanied by a high wind, which gained a velocity of forty miles an hour, doing considerable damage in various parts of the city. During the height of the blow the east and north walls of the partially completed Buckingham hotel, at West Pine and King’s Highway were blown down, causing damage estimated at $75,000. On the World’s fair grounds nearby considerable damage resulted from the wind, which blew down some temporary structures.” (Le Mars Sentinel, IA. “Wind and Cold Weather.” 12-29-1903, p. 2.)

 

New England

 

Jan 3: “With the mercury hovering around the zero mark in Boston, Mass., and reaching an extreme of 35 degrees below in northern Maine; with a foot of snow piling up at exposed points in huge drifts that delayed railroad trains, caused the abandonment of street railway schedules, and, in many cases, interfered with the street lighting systems, New England slowly emerged Sunday [Jan 3] from the clutches of the wildest blizzard that has swept that part of the country since the memorable storm of November, 1898. The gale, accompanied by a blinding fall of snow, swept the coast from Newport, R.I., to Eastport, Me., until noon when it moved eastward and at night was raging with almost unprecedented fury over the maritime provinces. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia suffered the most.

 

“Double patrols of life savers watched the coast Sunday night. Only one shipwreck is known to have occurred, that of the schooner Belle J. Neal, on Allerto [?] bar; but later a woman’s body was washed ashore at Nantasket [Hull, MA] and it is feared that another vessel went down during the storm.

 

“Five deaths from exposure have occurred in Boston….” (Carroll Sentinel, IA. “Storm Sweeps East.” 1-5-1904, p. 6.)

New Hampshire

 

Jan 3: “Portsmouth, N.H., Jan. 3–Today was the coldest of the season, the thermometer in the city ranging from 12 to 15 below zero and in the neighboring towns from 15 to 20 below zero.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Portsmouth’s Coldest Day.” 1-4-1904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 4: “Concord, N.H., Jan 4–Thermometers in this city registered at 32 below zero early today. Center Barnstead and Sutton, nearby towns, reported 35 below.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Two N H Towns 35 Below.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Lancaster, N H, Jan 4–This locality has been in the grasp of one of the coldest waves of low temperature of which there is any record, during the past two days. The mercury held below zero all day Sunday [Jan 3], and at the approach of evening the mercury lowered rapidly, reaching as low as 33 degrees below zero at several points in the river valleys. After midnight there was a milder temperature by from 10 to 20 degrees, but today the thermometer still shows below zero, the record being 10 below at 10:30.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Cold Wave at Lancaster.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Manchester, N.H., Jan 4–The coldest weather recorded in this city and vicinity in 23 years is reported for the night and this morning. At the state industrial school, situated in the northern section of the city, and at Greggs Falls on the Piscataquog river, the mercury registered 33 degrees below zero. At Amoskeag Falls, where the temperature is hourly taken, it was 26 below, and at 9:15 this morning the temperature had fallen from 8 degrees below zero, at 6, to 10 below. Throughout the Merrimac and Piscataquog river valleys the temperature reached lower points than on higher ground.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Down to 33 Below.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

New Jersey

 

Jan 2, New Brunswick: “The heaviest snow of the season fell today and the storm this afternoon threatened to reach very large proportions. Trolley officials said today that the snow had not interfered with the running of the cars.” (Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ. “Heavy Snow Storm.” 1-2-1904, p. 1.)

 

Jan 2-4, New Brunswick: “The cold wave which the weather man predicted for yesterday arrived as per schedule and the coldest day of the Winter followed, the temperature being around the zero point all day. To-day the cold weather was still very much felt. The lowest point reached by the thermometer was three degrees above zero. With the cold wave was a fall of five inches of snow. The storm interfered with trolley traffic Saturday [Jan 2] and to-day. All of the Pennsylvania trains were delayed mostly to-day from and to New York owing to the engineers having difficulty with the pipes on the engine, some of which froze up. The cold weather will continue until to-morrow, when the temperature will commence to rise.” (Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ. “Bitter Cold Wave Arrives on Time.” 1-4-1904, p. 1.)

 

Jan 6: “In Atlantic City, N.J., a minimum temperature of 6 degrees below zero was recorded. At Cape May zero weather prevailed, and throughout Delaware the temperature fell to 6 and 8 degrees below zero.” (The News, Frederick, MD. “Cold Records Broken.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.)

 

New York

 

Dec 26: “New York, Dec. 26.–A heavy fall of snow, accompanied by high wind, began here today. So thick were the snow and the clouds that during the morning darkness almost like that of night prevailed in the downtown streets. The snow, wet and heavy, at first melted as fast as it fell, but later the temperature dropped and the storm took on the semblance of a blizzard. The darkness lasted nearly an hour, after which the storm lessened considerably in severity, although the snow continued to fall. A heavy snowstorm accompanied at many places prevailed throughout the state. During the dark period in this city many ferryboats went astray, their captains having lost their bearings, and the harbor resounded with the whistles of tugs and other steam craft that had become enveloped in the darkness and blinding snow. Several liners on their way from quarantine to their piers had to lay to until the darkness lifted. Later in the day the snow stopped, but the mercury dropped rapidly, going down 15 degrees, from 34 to 19, in three hours. A sharp wind intensified the cold which the weather bureau officials said would probably reach the lowest thus far for the winter.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Blizzard Hits New York.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Dec 27: “Auburn, Dec. 27.–The city has been in the grasp of a howling blizzard all day. The thermometer registered at zero early this morning and the mercury has not risen but a few degrees during the day. A fierce northwest wind has whirled the snow which fell at intervals into fantastic piles, which were pretty to look at, but disagreeable to tramp through. Street car traffic has been greatly impeded by the storm despite the fact that the snow plow has been run almost constantly over the tracks.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “In the Grasp of a Blizzard,” 12-28-1903, p. 10.)

 

Jan 2-3, New York City: “New York, Jan 3–Clear skies and biting cold succeeded the snow storm which raged all yesterday and last night, resulting in a total fall of from 8 to 10 inches, the heaviest of the season. While there was little interruption of street car traffic today, owing to the constant use of snowplows during the continuance of the storm, the service on railroads entering the city was badly crippled….

 

“At Albany the coldest weather of the season has followed last night’s storm, with its six inches of snow. The temperature there tonight reached 10 below zero….

 

“Buffalo reports…There was another snowstorm today, but it was insignificant compared with the blizzard of Saturday….

 

“The ice jam on the American side above Niagara Falls continues to pile up. Thousands of persons went there today to witness the unusual sight of a practically dry riverbed between the American shore and Goat island and also in the channel between the Three Sister islands. A tremendous volume of water is being forced over the Horseshoe falls. The jam is from 25 to 35 feet high and extends out into the river about 1000 feet.

 

“The Mohawk valley is suffering from one of the worst storms in years. A foot of snow fell yesterday, and the thermometer registered 15 below zero in Fonda tonight….

 

“Saratoga is experiencing one of the most severe winters it ha suffered for a quarter of a century. Cold weather made its appearance early in November and has continued unbroken ever since. Cold waves and snow storms have followed in rapid succession for the past seven weeks. Twelve inches of additional snow is the result of the blizzard that howled last night and early this morning, when the cold wave dipped to 8 below zero. The mercury recorded 6 below at 9 o’clock this morning and averaged from 4 to 6 below during the noon and early afternoon hours, since which time it has been gradually growing colder. The heavy drifts retarded the movement of trains.” (Boston Daily Globe, MA. “New York Feels Effect of the Storm.” 10401904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 3-4: “Glens Falls, N.Y., Jan 4.–Following the heavy snow storm the mercury fell 20 degrees last night and this morning is the coldest day of the winter, the thermometer registering 25 degrees below zero. In the Adirondacks there is much snow and bitter cold, thermometers registering as low as 40 degrees below zero.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Weather in New York.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 4: “Gloversville, N.Y., Jan 4.–The mercury has not been above the zero mark in Fulton county during the past three days. At 7 o’clock this morning the records at various points were: Gloversville, 26 below zero; Johnstown, 23 below; Northville, 23 below; Broadalbin, 22 below; Mayfield, 20 degrees below…” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Twenty-Six Below Zero.” 1-4-1904, 2.)

 

Jan 4: “Little Falls, N.Y., Jan. 4.–Last night was the coldest in many years in Herkimer county. The thermometer registered 25 to 30 degrees below zero.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Intense Cold Over Country.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5, Albany: “Albany, N.Y., Jan. 5.–Twenty-five degrees below zero, the lowest temperature in twenty-eight years, was recorded here today.” (Salt Lake Herald. “Mercury…” 1-6-1904, p.2.)

 

Jan 5, Amsterdam: “Amsterdam, N.Y., Jan. 5.–The average temperature in this city today was 25 and 29 degrees below zero.” (Salt Lake Herald. “Mercury Way Down.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5, Fishkill Landing: “Fishkill Landing, N.Y., Jan 5.–The thermometer here this morning registered 36 below zero.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Intensely Cold.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5, NYC: “New York, Jan. 5.–When the government thermometer reached four below zero at 5 o’clock this morning all local January cold records since 1875, when six below was registered, were beaten. Thermometers in various outlying districts went several degrees lower, and in the suburbs from eight to twelve degrees below zero was reached. At 9 o’clock the official thermometer had gone up to two below, and the absence of wind was some relief. The intense cold interfered considerably with all outdoor occupations and delayed all regular and suburban trains from a few minutes to several hours. The effects of the heavy snow had been overcome, but it was difficult to keep up steam, and many local trains had to be abandoned on account of disabled engines.

 

“Traffic on land and water was in serious trouble. Trans-Atlantic liners arrived looking like spectre ships. Both the East and North rivers were barely navigable, while the Harlem river, for the first time in eight years, was impassable above MacCombs’ dam bridge at 155^th street. Ferry boats and tugs were swept out of their courses by the drift ice, and every ounce of power in them required to reach their slips. The boats which land at the Battery had to turn battering rams to part the ice in their slips. Mails from the west and east were from six to ten hours late. Snow was not to blame for this so much as the inability of the locomotives to keep steam up under the great outside cold pressures. The severe weather was the cause of an unusual number of fires. Between 1:30 and 8:30 a.m. thirteen alarms were sent in. All were for small fires.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Mercury Seeks Bottom of Bulb.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5, Troy: “Troy, N.Y., Jan 5.–In exposed places in the city and suburbs it was 32 below, and in other places 2 below, the coldest in the history of Troy.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. 1-6-1904, 2.)

 

Jan 5-6: “New York, Jan. 6.–Dispatches from every section of the state tell of record breaking cold weather. At a number of points within 20 miles of this city the thermometers marked 20 to 30 degrees below zero at dawn Tuesday [Jan 5]. The coldest weather in many years was reported throughout the Adirondack region Monday night. At Saranac Lake it was 40 below and Lake Placid 41 below. For the past four nights the thermometer has registered not less than 12 below anywhere, and as low as 41 below at some points in northern New York. An average temperature of 30 degrees below zero prevailed throughout the central and western part of the state.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 6, Albany: “Albany, N.Y., Jan. 6.–Twenty-five degrees below zero, the lowest temperature in twenty-eight years was recorded here.” (Evening Journal, Washington, IA. “Polar Cold in East.” 1-6-1904, p. 8.)

 

Jan 6, NYC: “New York, Jan. 6.–When the government thermometer reached 4 below at 5 o’clock in the morning all local January cold records since 1875, when 6 below was registered, were beaten. Thermometers in various outlying parts of the city went several degrees lower, and in the suburbs from 8 to 12 below zero was reported. At 9 o’clock, the official thermometer had gone up to 2 below and the absence of wind was some relief. The intense cold interfered considerably with all out-door occupations and delayed all regular and suburban trains from a few minutes to several hours. The effects of the heavy snow had been overcome, but it was difficult to keep steam and many local trains had to be abandoned on account of disabled engines….” (Evening Journal, Washington, IA. “Polar Cold in East.” 1-6-1904, p. 8.)

 

Jan 6, NYC: “New York, Jan. 6.–The weather here has moderated somewhat. The distress disclosed by the cold snap has set city officials and charitable organizations at work extending relief. The courts have refused to consider disposess [dispossessed?] cases until the cold wave passes away. Five additional deaths, due directly to the cold occurred during the 24 hours ending at midnight last night. The harbor is almost ice bound for the first time in years. Navigation is attended with difficulty and only large and stoutly built boats are attempting it..” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Cold Wave Is Over.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.)

 

Ohio

 

Dec 25-26: “Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 26.–The first real blizzard of the winter is reported from various points in Ohio to have prevailed last night and today. In this city the wind reached a velocity of fifty-two miles an hour, while a heavy, blinding snow fell to the depth of several inches. During the past twenty-four hours the weather bureau thermometer has dropped 22 degrees and now registers near the zero mark. Railway traffic is delayed owing to the heavy storm. The weather bureau predicts a still lower temperature for tonight.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel. “Ohio Swept by Storm.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

 

Jan 4: “Zanesville, O., Jan. 4.–It is almost as cold here this morning as on the morning of February 10, 1899, when all records for cold weather in Ohio were shattered. Thermometers this morning show a reading of from 20 to 30 below zero. On very low ground it is even lower. It is believed that all fruit will be killed. Stock is reported to be suffering severely.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Touched Record In Ohio.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Pennsylvania

 

Dec 26: “Altoona, PA., Dec. 26.–This city is at present in the throes of a terrific blizzard and the mercury has dropped five degrees below zero. Snow fell heavily last night and this morning, covering this entire section to a depth of ten inches….

 

“Pottsville, PA., Dec. 26.–A howling blizzard prevailed here to-day, tying up trolley traffic for a time. Early this morning the wind was so high as to put out the street lights in the suburbs. The temperature to-night is close to the zero point.

 

“Scranton, Pa., Dec. 26.–Scranton has been enjoying excellent sleighing today, owing to the heavy fall of snow during the night.”

 

“Stroudsburg, Pa., Dec. 26.–A blizzard struck this county to-day. There was a heavy wind. On the Pocono Mountains about six inches of snow fell, and has drifted considerably. At Tobyhanna ten-inch ice is being harvested….” (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Blizzard Whirls in Poconos.” 12-27-1903, p. 2.)

 

Dec 26-27, Indiana [PA]: “The coldest day of the winter was Saturday [Dec 26] and during the night the mercury reached zero in Indiana. In Green township the lowest point recorded was 10 below, but Canoe [township] has not yet been heard from and the returns from this district are being anxiously awaited. Most of the local churches held but one service Sunday, although the weather moderated considerably during the day. The entire county was in the grasp of a fierce blizzard Saturday and Sunday and many of the country roads had to be dug out on account of the large drifts, the church attendance in rural districts being considerably diminished on this account….” (Indiana Weekly Messenger, PA. “Thermometer Touches Bottom.” 12-30-1903, p1.)

 

Jan 2: “Allentown, PA., Jan. 2.–A blizzard is raging here to-night. During the day fully 12 inches of snow fell, while the wind is blowing in all directions….

 

“Norristown, Pa., Jan. 2.–A blustering blizzard swept this city and surroundings to-day, depositing snow to the depth of eight inches. Suburban trolley traffic was greatly interfered with, and to-night scarcely a wheel is turning on the network of trolley lines centering here. The mercury lingers a few degrees from the zero mark. Business is at a standstill….

 

“Pottsville, Pa., Jan. 2.–A severe snow storm raged here all day and shows no indication of abating to-night. It has tied up railway traffic and hampered business. It is feared the heavy snow fall will make a general resumption of work at the collieries next Monday impossible….

 

“South Bethlehem, Pa., Jan. 2–A blizzard that bids fair to surpass the memorable snow storm of 1888 rages in the Lehigh Valley to-night. With it snowing and blowing, the mercury tonight dropped to zero. In Bethlehem, where the Easton and New Jersey and Bangor, Pan Argyl and Nazareth trolley roads connect with the Philadelphia, Slatington and Reading lines, through Allentown, scarcely a car is moving….

 

“Williamsport, Pa., Jan. 2.–A severe snow storm, accompanied by a high wind and very cold weather, has had this part of the State in its grasp all day. To-night trolleys are tied up and steam roads severely handicapped. Country roads are drifted and some impassable….” (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “With Blizzard Snow King Lashes State; Trolley Lines Tied Up; Steam Cars Struggle.” 1-3-1904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 3: “Allentown, Pa., Jan. 3.–As a result of yesterday’s blizzard, the roads in Lehigh county are badly drifted, some being entirely closed for miles. On some of the trolley lines traffic had not been resumed to-night….

 

“Corry, Pa., Jan. 3.–The blizzard has ceased, but th mercury still hovers below zero to-night. Early this morning the thermometer registered fifteen below zero….

 

“Pottsville, Pa., Jan. 3.–As the result of yesterday’s blizzard there are snow drifts at many points four and five feet deep. The railroad sidings into some of the collieries are badly blocked, which will greatly hamper the movement of coal trains…Four degrees below zero, the coldest of the year, was recorded to-day….

 

“Reading, Pa., Jan. 3.–This ahs been the coldest day of the winter. From midnight last night until 9 o’clock this morning the thermometers in sheltered places registered zero, while at exposed points the figures were from 2 to 6 below….

 

“Stroudsburg, Pa., Jan 3.–Yesterday’s blizzard, one of the worst experienced in this county for years, was followed to-day by extreme cold weather. At Mount Pocono, Tobyhanna and other points on the Pocono Mountains it was 10 degrees below zero….

 

“Susquehanna, Pa., Jan. 3.–Last night was the coldest of the season, the thermometer registering from 8 to 12 degrees below zero. Six inches of snow fell….

 

“York, Pa., Jan. 3.–Winter’s coldest wave has struck this city and all York is shivering. Just before daylight this morning the temperature was three degrees above zero….” (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “In Icy-Fingered Grip of Whirling Blizzard.” 1-4-1904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 5: “Philadelphia, Jan. 5.–Official figures show this to be the coldest January day this city has experienced since 1875. At 7 o’clock this morning the weather bureau thermometer registered two degrees below zero, while in the suburbs the mercury ranged from four to ten below. The Delaware river below this city is frozen over from shore to shore for the first time in years, interfering seriously with the movement of shipping. In the mountain districts and coal regions the thermometer ranged from six to twenty-five degrees below zero, and coal mining has been seriously interfered with, many mines being unable to operate.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Coldest Since 1875. Delaware River Frozen Over…” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Jan 5: “Philadelphia, Jan 6.–Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware experienced the coldest weather in years Tuesday [Jan 5]. In many places thermometers registering a lower temperature than at any time since 1875. In this city the temperature was minus two at seven a.m., after which it grew slowly warmer, and at eight p.m. 14 degrees above zero were registered at the weather bureau. Bitterly cold weather prevailed in the interior of Pennsylvania during the early hours of the day. At Scranton and Wilkesbarre, which lie in valleys, the official thermometers registered respectively 16 and 13 degrees below zero, while at Eaglesmere [Eagles Mere?], on the crest of the Allegheny mountains, the record was 17 below. At Harrisburg the minimum temperature was five below; Lancaster, one below; New York, 18 below; Williamsport, 17 below; Altoona, 19 below; Johnstown, 15 below; Bellefonte, 26 below; Mauch Chunk, 28 below. In some of the mountain regions temperature as low as 36 degrees below zero was recorded.

 

Frozen from Shore to Shore.

 

“The Delaware river below this city [Philadelphia] is frozen from shore to shore for the first time in years, interfering seriously with the movement of shipping. Railroads and industrial establishments all over the state were more or less hampered by the severity of the weather. In Philadelphia all through trains were as much as four hours late and the suburban schedules of the railroads were tangled all day. Mining operations, particularly throughout the anthracite regions, were also seriously affected, many collieries having to shut down because of the freezing up of pipes and machinery.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts…Severe.” 1-6-1904, 2.)

 

Jan 5, Wilkes-Barre: “Wilkesbarre, Pa., Jan. 5.–The temperature today is the severest in many years in this section of the state. At Glen Summit the thermometer was 28 below zero, at Mountain Top, 29, while in this city it registered as los as 14 below. Coal mining is seriously hampered and while the demand for coal is great, many companies have been unable for a week to make deliveries.” (Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Twenty-nine Below.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Rhode Island

 

Dec 26: “Newport, R.I., Dec. 26–A heavy northeast snow squall struck Newport at noon today. The barometer fell rapidly to a low point, indicating that the storm center was off here. The wind increased in velocity to 30 miles within half an hour. Heavy seas are running outside, and all shipping has been suspended.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Severe Gale at Scituate.” 12-26-1903, p. 9.)

 

Dec 26: “Providence, Dec. 26–A snowstorm of uncommon severity, accompanied by a strong gusty wind, visited this section today, and after an hour’s blinding squall, changed into a more gentle though steady downfall. The temperature was not very low, though it was cold enough to ensure quite a considerable depth of snow in the outlying districts.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Storm of Uncommon Severity.” 12-26-1903, p. 9.)

 

Dec 29: “Newport, R.I., Dec. 29.–Nearly every variety of weather was experienced here today, snow, hail and rain falling, while a thunderstorm, accompanied by blinding lightning, caused terror to many who recalled the disastrous storm of 1894. At 8 o’clock in the morning the mercury was 8° above zero. At 6 o’clock in the evening it registered 34°. (Baltimore Sun. “Thunderstorm at Newport.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.)

 

Jan 2-3: “Newport, R.I., Jan. 3–The storm which raged here last night and part of today was, according to Capt. Chauncey Kenyon of the Brenton Reef lifesaving station, the severest in his 28 years of experience. The velocity of the wind reached 75 miles an hour with a prevailing temperature of 5° above zero….The authorities today sent out snow plows drawn by oxen, accompanied by large numbers of men armed with shovels to open up the roads. Those in Bellevue Ave. district, where many costly villas are located, however, were practically impassable.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Worst in 28 Years.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Vermont

 

Jan 4: “Burlington, Vt., Jan 4–The lowest temperature recorded here today was 24 below zero….” (Boston Globe, MA. “Icy Touch At Burlington.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Montpelier, Vt., Jan 4–Arctic weather prevails in central Vermont. The temperature here this morning is 20 below zero, with the wind blowing from the northwest. At Barre it was 28 below. The wind and intense cold made last night the worst of the winter….” (Boston Globe, MA. “Where It’s 28 Below.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Providence, Jan 4–With the mercury ranging from 5° to 26° below zero in this state, there is great difficulty in keeping the land and waterways open for transportation. Many upcountry roads cannot be opened until the cold wave is broke. Narragansett bay has not in a dozen years been so hampered with ice fields, and the situation is now considered a serious one, for there are a number of vessels in the ice, and some have been carried ashore in the ice pack. Towboats went down the bay today and tonight, and they will make an effort to rescue some of the schooners in the vicinity of Dutch island, where there is one solid pack of ice from 10 inches to 4 feet thick.

 

“Several deaths have been due to the severe cold and exposure to the blizzard. There were four more today, Margaret Cronin, Lottie Harris, Robert Cross and a man supposed to be James McLaughlin of Scituate. Numerous cases of persons being partially frozen are being reported, but the most severe is that of William Herber, and it is said at the hospital that he cannot recover.

 

“Steamship Essex arrived this afternoon after a hard struggle with the gale at sea. She had decks washed and there were several tons of ice on her sides….At Block island it blew a 50-mile gale today. The steamer New Shoreham is stormbound there.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Four Deaths Due To Cold.” 1-5-1904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 6: “Rutland, Vt., Jan. 6.–Thermometers in different sections of the city registered from 40 to 44 degrees below zero Tuesday [Jan 5]. The public schools were closed owing to the cold weather.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.)

 

Virginia

 

Jan 4: “Newport News, Va., Jan 4–The coal barges New Jersey and Liberty, both heavily laden, and bound from Newport News to Providence [RI], broke away  from the towing steamer Navigator early Sunday morning [Jan 3] off Hogg island,[72] and no trace of either of the vessels has been found. It is believed both went to the bottom during the blizzard which swept this entire section, and that as a result nine lost their lives. The Navigator is still at sea searching for the missing barges…” (Boston Globe, MA. “Nine Probably Dead.” 1-5-1904, p. 3.)

 

Jan 4: “Norfolk, Va., Jan. 4.–The severest weather of the winter continues throughout Virginia and North Carolina, with Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds in Eastern Carolina frozen over and vessels tied up. There is much suffering on the coast.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Intense Cold Over Country.” 1-4-1904, p. 4.)

 

West Virginia

 

Jan 3: “The snow at Thomas, W.Va., on the West Virginia Central railroad, is from 8 to 10 inches deep. At Elk Garden the thermometer registered 3° below zero.” (Baltimore Sun, MD. “Snow Covered With Cards.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.)

 

Jan 4: “Wheeling, W.Va., Jan. 4.–To meet the conditions caused by the cold weather, the Fairmount Coal Co., and subsidiary concerns today cut the coal prices twenty-five cents a ton to private consumers, and 15 cents to retailers and jobbers. The company will sell coal to any private consumer now at the new rates. The cut will go far towards relieving the distress. At Roneys Point it was 20 degrees below zero last night.” (Fort Wayne News, IN. “Coal Barons Thaw Out.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.)

 

Wisconsin

 

Dec 26: “La Crosse, Wis., Dec. 26.–A drop in temperature of 30 degrees in 24 hours occurred here and Saturday morning [26^th] the government thermometer registered 15 below. A penetrating north wind made it the most disagreeable day of the winter and charitable organizations were besieged by pleas for fuel from poor people.” (Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.)

 

Sources

 

Altoona Mirror, PA. 1-5-1904, p. 4, column 2. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/altoona-mirror-jan-05-1904-p-4/

 

Atlanta Constitution, GA. “Negro Frozen Near Rome.” 12-29-1904, p. 12. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/atlanta-constitution-dec-29-1903-p-12/

 

Atlanta Constitution. “Two Men Frozen To Death.” 12-29-1904, p. 9. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/atlanta-constitution-dec-29-1903-p-9/

 

Baltimore Sun, MD. “Allegheny County.” 12-28-1903, p. 10. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-dec-28-1903-p-10/

 

Baltimore Sun, MD. “Snow Covered With Cards.” 1-4-1904, p. 7. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-jan-04-1904-p-7/

 

Baltimore Sun, MD. “Thunderstorm at Newport.” 12-30-1903, p. 7. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-dec-30-1903-p-7/

 

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Boston Globe, MA. “Portsmouth’s Coldest Day.” 1-4-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-04-1904-p-3/

 

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Boston Globe, MA. “Snapped Telegraph Wires.” 1-4-1904, p. 7. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-04-1904-p-21/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Snow Shovelers Killed.” 1-10-1904, p. 8. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-jan-10-1904-p-104/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Storm is Heavy. Will Be Short.” 12-26-1903, p. 9. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-dec-26-1903-p-22/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Storm of Uncommon Severity.” 12-26-1903, p. 9. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-dec-26-1903-p-22/

 

Boston Globe, MA. Three Men Lost. Dredger at Bottom. Went Down Suddenly.” 12-26-1903, p. 1. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-dec-26-1903-p-13/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Two N H Towns 35 Below.” 1-4-1904, p. 7. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-04-1904-p-21/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Where It’s 28 Below.” 1-4-1904, p. 7. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-04-1904-p-21/

 

Boston Globe, MA. “Worst in 28 Years.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Boston Post, MA. “Body of a Woman in Nantasket Surf.” 1-4-1904, p. 8. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-jan-04-1904-p-8/

 

Boston Sunday Post, MA. “5 Dead in Boston’s Raging Blizzard.” 1-3-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-jan-03-1904-p-2/

 

Boston Sunday Post, Ma. “Four Deaths in Boston Attributed to Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-jan-03-1904-p-4/

 

Boston Sunday Post, Ma. “Railroad Man Killed While Clearing Tracks.” 1-3-1904, p. 4. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-jan-03-1904-p-4/

 

Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Three Killed in Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4. Accessed 12-27-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-jan-03-1904-p-4/

 

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Death and Ruin On Icy Blasts.” 12-26-1903, p. 1. Accessed 12-24-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-dec-26-1903-p-1/

 

Burlington Hawk-Eye. “Found Frozen to Death.” 12-27-1903, p. 3. Accessed 12-24-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-dec-27-1903-p-3/

 

Carroll Sentinel, IA. “Storm Sweeps East.” 1-5-1904, p. 6. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/carroll-sentinel-jan-05-1904-p-6/

 

Catskill Mountain News, NY. “News Notes From All About.” 1-1-1904, p. 6. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/margaretville-catskill-mountain-news-jan-01-1904-p-6/

 

Chariton Democrat, IA. “Frozen to Death in Illinois.” 1-7-1904, p. 7. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chariton-democrat-jan-07-1904-p-7/

 

Cook County Herald, Arlington Heights, IL. “Two Men Frozen to Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/arlington-heights-cook-county-herald-jan-08-1904-p-3/

 

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Five Maine Central Men Shaken Up at Burnham.” 1-4-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-kennebec-journal-jan-04-1904-p-1/

 

Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Frozen in the Ice. 1-4-1904. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/marshall-daily-news-jan-04-1904-p-1/

 

Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ. “Bitter Cold Wave Arrives on Time.” 1-4-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-brunswick-daily-times-jan-04-1904-p-1/

 

Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ. “Heavy Snow Storm.” 1-2-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-brunswick-daily-times-jan-02-1904-p-17/

 

Defiance Crescent News, OH. “Frozen to Death.” 12-28-1903, p. 5. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-crescent-news-dec-28-1903-p-10/

 

Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, IA. “Cyclone in the South.” 12-27-1903, p. 1. Accessed 12-24-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/dubuque-telegraph-herald-dec-27-1903-p-1/

 

Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, IA. “Frozen to Death.” 12-28-1903, p. 8. Accessed 12-24-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/dubuque-telegraph-herald-dec-28-1903-p-8/

 

Evening Journal, Washington, IA. “Polar Cold in East.” 1-6-1904, p. 8. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-evening-journal-jan-06-1904-p-8/

 

Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Condensed News of Michigan.” 1-7-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/traverse-city-evening-record-jan-07-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Boys Frozen to Death.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Coal Barons Thaw Out.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Traffic is Impeded.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Weather in New York.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Intense Cold Over Country.” 1-4-1904, p. 4. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Touched Record In Ohio.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne News, IN. “Twenty-Six Below Zero.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-news-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Blizzard at Muncie.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Blizzard Hits New York.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Cold Wave at Atlanta.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Coldest of Winter.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Crest of Cold Wave.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Hoosier State Blizzard-Swept.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Man Struck by Train.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Ohio Swept by Storm.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Snow Falls on Boston.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Two Frozen To Death.” 12-30-1903, p. 11. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-weekly-sentinel-dec-30-1903-p-11/

 

Indiana Weekly Messenger, PA. “Thermometer Touches Bottom.” 12-30-1903, p. 1. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-weekly-messenger-dec-30-1903-p-1/

 

Jasper Herald, IN. “Three Boys Frozen to Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/jasper-herald-jan-08-1904-p-3/

 

Jeffersonville National Democrat, IN. “Frozen to Death.” 1-1-1904, p. 5. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/jeffersonville-national-democrat-jan-01-1904-p-5/

 

Kokomo Daily Tribune, IN. “Dead in a Snowdrift.” 12-30-1903, p. 6. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kokomo-daily-tribune-dec-30-1903-p-6/

 

Kokomo Daily Tribune, IN. “Man Overcome By Cold.” 12-31-1903, p. 6. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kokomo-daily-tribune-dec-31-1903-p-6/

 

Le Mars Sentinel, IA. “Wind and Cold Weather.” 12-29-1903, p. 2. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/le-mars-sentinel-dec-29-1903-p-2/

 

Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/logansport-daily-reporter-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Middletown Daily Argus, NY. “Frozen To Death.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middletown-daily-argus-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

Muscatine Journal, IA. “Cold Wave is Passing Away.” 12-26-1903, p. 1. Accessed 12-24-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/muscatine-journal-dec-26-1903-p-1/

 

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Ansonia Letter Carrier Dead.” 1-11-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/naugatuck-daily-news-jan-11-1904-p-1/

 

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Found Frozen to Death.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/naugatuck-daily-news-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Cold Wave Is Over.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/naugatuck-daily-news-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

New York Times. “Aftermath of Cold Snap.” 1-7-1904, p. 16. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-jan-07-1904-p-16/

 

Orange County Press, Middletown, NY. “Local.” 1-8-1904, p. 6. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middletown-orange-county-press-jan-08-1904-p-6/

 

Orange County Press, Middletown, NY. “Old Man Frozen To Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/middletown-orange-county-press-jan-08-1904-p-1/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Blizzard Whirls in Poconos.” 12-27-1903, p. 2. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-dec-27-1903-p-2/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Dead in his Dugout Where Wildcats Howl.” 1-4-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-jan-04-1904-p-3/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “In Icy-Fingered Grip of Whirling Blizzard.” 1-4-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-jan-04-1904-p-3/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Overcome By Cold, Perish By Wayside.” 1-5-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-jan-05-1904-p-3/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “With Blizzard Snow King Lashes State; Trolley Lines Tied Up; Steam Cars Struggle.” 1-3-1904, p. 3. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-jan-03-1904-p-3/

 

Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “In the Grasp of a Blizzard,” 12-28-1903, p. 10. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-post-standard-dec-28-1903-p-10/

 

Postville Review, IA. “News of the World…Domestic.” 1-8-1904, p. 6. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/postville-review-jan-08-1904-p-6/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Coldest Since 1875. Delaware River Frozen Over for the First Time in Many Years.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Factories Close Down.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Intensely Cold.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Mercury Seeks Bottom of Bulb.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald. “Mercury Way Down.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Thermometers Burst. Mercury at Orange, Mass., Reached 50 Below.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Traffic Delayed.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Twenty-nine Below.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-23-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-jan-06-1904-p-2/

 

Sandusky Evening Star, OH. “Around About.” 1-5-1904, p. 4. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-jan-05-1904-p-4/

 

Sedalia Sunday Sentinel, MO. “Fierce Blizzard in the East.” 1-8-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sedalia-weekly-sentinel-jan-08-1904-p-2/

 

Sunday Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Killed in Snowstorm.” 1-3-1904, p. 22. Accessed 12-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-sunday-herald-jan-03-1904-p-23/

 

The News, Frederick, MD. “Cold Records Broken.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/news-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

The News, Frederick, MD. “Four Dead In New York.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-26-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/news-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

The Register, Rake, IA. “A Week’s Record.” 1-1-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/rake-register-jan-01-1904-p-2/

 

Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Frank Friel Found Frozen at His Hovel.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Accessed 12-29-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/titusville-herald-jan-06-1904-p-1/

 

Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/algona-upper-des-moines-dec-30-1903-p-7/

 

Waterloo Daily Reporter, IA. “Found Body in Filth.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Accessed 12-25-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/waterloo-daily-reporter-jan-04-1904-p-2/

 

 

[1] Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Ansonia Letter Carrier Dead.” 1-11-1904, p. 1. Notes that he was able to get back home, but was stricken blind “and went into convulsions which ended in his death.”

[2] Boston Globe, MA. “Fatal Attempt to Get Warm.” 1-6-1904, p. 4. Writes that two-year-old Anthony Rangewitz scalded his lungs with steam and died within thirty minutes.

[3] Boston Globe, MA. “Body Found In Drift.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.

[4] Boston Globe, MA. “Body Found In Drift.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. Do not know which of two reports is correct.

[5] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Three Killed in Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4. Article notes that this was during a “blinding snowstorm,” and that the fang of about twenty men neither saw nor heard the oncoming train.

[6] Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, IA. “Cyclone in the South.” 12-27-1903, p. 1.

[7] Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, IA. “Cyclone in the South.” 12-27-1903, p. 1.

[8] Atlanta Constitution, GA. “Negro Frozen Near Rome.” 12-29-1904, p. 12.

[9] Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Death and Ruin On Icy Blasts.” 12-26-1903, p. 1.

[10] Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7. Notes he was 43.

[11] Upper Des Moines Republican, IA. “Death and Woe in Frigid Blast.” 12-30-1903, p. 7.

[12] Postville Review, IA. “News of the World…Domestic.” 1-8-1904, p. 6.

[13] Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel. “Two Frozen To Death.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.

[14] Chariton Democrat, IA. “Frozen to Death in Illinois.” 1-7-1904, p. 7.

[15] Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel. “Two Frozen To Death.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.

[16] “Slipping and staggering on the frozen streets during the fiercest part of the blizzard yesterday afternoon [25^th], Edward Week, fifty-eight years old…was run down by an interurban car…and killed.” (Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, IN. “Man Struck by Train.” 12-30-1903, p. 11.)

[17] Kokomo Daily Tribune, IN. “Man Overcome By Cold.” 12-31-1903, p. 6.

[18] Kokomo Daily Tribune, IN. “Dead in a Snowdrift.” 12-30-1903, p. 6. Victim identified as Gideon W. Harris.

[19] Waterloo Daily Reporter, IA. “Found Body in Filth.” 1-4-1904, p. 2. “In a room reeking with filth, situated on the third floor of an abandoned warehouse building at 216 East Front street, Constable Holliday yesterday [Jan 3] found the frozen body of George Shipper, aged 73 years, which had evidently been separated from life for thirty-six hours…a coroner’s jury…declared that the man had come to his death through exposure.”

[20] Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, IA. “Frozen to Death.” 12-28-1903, p. 8.

[21] Atlanta Constitution. “Two Men Frozen To Death.” 12-29-1904, p. 9.

[22] Atlanta Constitution. “Two Men Frozen To Death.” 12-29-1904, p. 9.

[23] Boston Globe, MA. Three Men Lost. Dredger at Bottom. Went Down Suddenly.” 12-26-1903, p. 1. Notes: “After being pounded for several hours by one of the heaviest seas ever known in Boston harbor, the dredger Gen Poe, the biggest dredging machine in Massachusetts bay, went to the bottom this morning, carrying down with her three men. The catastrophe occurred in Broad sound, midway between Deer Island light and Nix’ mate, at 10:45 a.m., and she now lies in 40 feet of water. The drowned are: George W. Coombs, a government inspector; William O’Neil, a blacksmith employed on the dredger; T. Jones, a deck hand….”

[24] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “5 Dead in Boston’s Raging Blizzard.” 1-3-1904, p. 2.

[25] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Four Deaths in Boston Attributed to Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4.

[26] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Four Deaths in Boston Attributed to Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4.

[27] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Four Deaths in Boston Attributed to Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4.

[28] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “Four Deaths in Boston Attributed to Storm.” 1-3-1904, p. 4.

[29] “One death was due to the low temperature. Harry Stillman, a seaman, was overcome by the cold while climbing around the rigging of the schooner Maggie Hurley…late yesterday afternoon. Being number with the cold, he lost his hold and fell into the water. As soon as he was taken from the water he was hurried to the relief hospital, but the physicians there said that he was dead…Stillman was about 45 years old….” (Boston Globe, MA. “Cold Nips Many. More Than 100 Go to the Hospitals.” 1-5-1904, p. 2.)

[30] Boston Sunday Post, MA. “5 Dead in Boston’s Raging Blizzard.” 1-3-1904, p. 2.

[31] Boston Sunday Post. “Railroad Man Killed While Clearing Tracks.” 1-3-1904, p. 4. Notes victim was hit in the Cambridge freight yards “just below East street…and, on account of the storm, did not hear the approaching train.”

[32] Boston Globe, MA. “Died Of Exposure.” 1-4-1904, p. 2.

[33] Boston Post, MA. “Body of a Woman in Nantasket Surf.” 1-4-1904, p. 8. Writes: “The…body of a woman was beaten against the rocks by the heavy combers near the foot of Atlantic Hill this morning, and the belief is entertained that another ship was wrecked in Saturday’s storm [Jan 2].

[34] Salt Lake Herald, UT. “Thermometers Burst. Mercury at Orange, Mass., Reached 50 Below.” 1-6-1904, p. 2.

[35] Boston Daily Globe, MA. “Frozen To Death.” 12-28-1903, p. 1.

[36] Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Found Frozen to Death.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.

[37] Jasper Herald, IN. “Three Boys Frozen to Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 3. Daily News, Marshall, MI, of 1-4-1904, notes “Two Loundsberg and one Dutcher boys were discovered Sunday frozen stiff upon the ice.” (“Frozen in the Ice.”

[38] Evening Record, Traverse City, MI. “Condensed News of Michigan.” 1-7-1904, p. 2.

[39] Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “January Frosts Are Very Severe.” 1-6-1904, p. 2. Victim identified as Edward Edmundson, from Greenfield, TN.

[40] Burlington Hawk-Eye. “Found Frozen to Death.” 12-27-1903, p. 3.

[41] Sunday Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Killed in Snowstorm.” 1-3-1904, p. 22.

[42] Boston Globe, MA. “More Deaths in New York.” 1-6-1904, p. 4.

[43] Sedalia Sunday Sentinel, MO. “Fierce Blizzard in the East.” 1-8-1904, p. 2.

[44] Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “The Cold Wave Is Over.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.

[45] New York Times. “Aftermath of Cold Snap.” 1-7-1904, p. 16. “…death being superinduced by the cold.”

[46] “New York, Jan 6-Deaths and injuries from gas during the recent cold snap have been numerous in the city. Gas froze in many flats and apartments. When Capt. Larsen of the freight barge Claremont opened to door of the cabin today he was met by a rush of coal gas that nearly stifled him. In the cabin he found his mate, Sigmund Goldgrandsen, dead, seated beside the stove. A surgeon from the Presbyterian hospital said the mate had been overcome by the gas fumes. Frederick C. Johnson, 18 years old, was asphyxiated today in his room at 31 Irving pl. Johnson was visiting his uncle, Henry P. Haven, a contractor. The gas pipes in the house had been frozen. Johnson had tried in vain to light his gas on retiring last night and had left the jet turned on. The gas thawed out and killed him. When Frank Coffey retired last night in his room at the New York hotel, 1541 Broadway, he left the gas burning. The gas froze during the night and the light went out. Early this morning the pipes in the building were thawed out and the gas flowed from the open jet in Coffey’s room Coffey was found dead. Two other lodgers were found unconscious. Two other deaths were also reported from the same cause.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Melting Gas Killed Four.” 1-7-1904, p. 8.) [Blanchard: Writes of four deaths; describes three, naming victims, then notes there were two other similar deaths. If so, the total would be five, not four.]

[47] Boston Globe, MA. “Melting Gas Killed Four.” 1-7-1904, p. 8.

[48] Boston Globe, MA. “Melting Gas Killed Four.” 1-7-1904, p. 8.

[49] New York Times. “Aftermath of Cold Snap.” 1-7-1904, p. 16. Victim was on the top floor of his home.

[50] New York Times. “Aftermath of Cold Snap.” 1-7-1904, p. 16. Writes: “The gas pipes had been frozen, and the gas fitters, pouring quantities of wood alcohol down the pipes, melted the frozen pipes so that the gas flowed as well as before. Young Johnson did not know it and paid no attention to the open gas jet in his room.”

[51] Boston Globe, MA. “New York Feels Effect of the Storm.” 1-4-1904, p. 3. Victim was the engine fireman.

[52] Boston Globe, MA. “Perished in New York.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.

[53] Boston Globe, MA. “Perished in New York.” 1-4-1904, p. 7.

[54] Orange County Press, Middletown, NY. “Local.” 1-8-1904, p. 6.

[55] Catskill Mountain News, NY. “News Notes From All About.” 1-1-1904, p. 6.

[56] Boston Globe, MA. “New York Feels Effect of the Storm. Staten Island Man Found Dead…” 1-4-1904, p. 3. On page 7 of evening edition the age is provided and it is noted he lived in Clifton and was found in Clifton park.

[57] Sandusky Evening Star, OH. “Around About.” 1-5-1904, p. 4.

[58] Cook County Herald, Arlington Heights, IL. “Two Men Frozen to Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 3. Writes that Helpen fall from a pole, spraining his hip and was thus unable to move to safety. “The temperature had ranged from 10 to 20 degrees below zero.”

[59] Defiance Crescent News, OH. “Frozen to Death.” 12-28-1903, p. 5.

[60] Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Overcome By Cold, Perish By Wayside.” 1-5-1904, p. 3.

[61] “Williamsport, Pa., Jan. 3.–Word has been received here of the finding of the body of August Swanson, a hermit, who was frozen to death in the intense cold of last week. Curled up before the hearth in a crude dugout in the wilds of Potter county, the body was found yesterday by two woodsmen. Every article of furniture had been burned by the old man in an effort to save himself. Outside the snow was covered with the tracks of catamounts and wild cats, which had tried to break into the hut. While one of he men stood guard with a gun the other summoned help from the nearest neighbor, seven miles away.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Dead in his Dugout Where Wildcats Howl.” 1-4-1904, p. 3.)

[62] Altoona Mirror, PA. 1-5-1904, p. 4, column 2.

[63] Middletown Daily Argus, NY. “Frozen To Death.” 1-6-1904, p. 1. Another source notes his home was between Glen Eyre and Kimbles. (Orange County Press, Middletown, NY. “Old Man Frozen To Death.” 1-8-1904, p. 1.)

[64] Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Overcome By Cold, Perish By Wayside.” 1-5-1904, p. 3. Notes: “This section is experiencing the coldest weather in years, the mercury going to 10 degrees below zero at times.”

[65] Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “Frank Friel Found Frozen at His Hovel.” 1-6-1904, p. 1.

[66] Philadelphia Inquirer, PA. “Overcome By Cold, Perish By Wayside.” 1-5-1904, p. 3. Notes: “Benjamin Gerhart, of Kleinfeltersville, drove ten miles in a blinding snow storm to Womelsdorf and then dropped dead of paralysis of the heart, superinduced by the severe cold.”

[67] Boston Globe, MA. “Four Deaths Due to Cold.” 1-5-1904, p. 3. “Providence, Jan 4….Several deaths  have been due to the severe cold and exposure to the blizzard. There were four more today…” For the purpose of contributing to a tally we translate several into three.

[68] “Providence, Jan 9–While clearing snow from the tracks at the Brayton Av crossing of the NY, NH & H railroad today, Daniel Shea, about 35 years of age, and James Shea, 24 years of age, were struck and instantly killed by the northbound New York express. The two men had stopped off one track to get out of the way of a local train, and had no sooner got on the other track when the express struck them.” (Boston Globe, MA. “Snow Shovelers Killed.” 1-10-1904, p. 8.)

[69] The Register, Rake, IA. “A Week’s Record.” 1-1-1904, p. 2.

[70] Jan 9 was a Saturday, thus it appears very unlikely that the reference to Saturday night was the 9^th. The previous Saturday was Jan 2.

[71] We have seen other reporting that appears to put the deaths on or about Jan 2.

[72] There is a Hog Island within the Virginia Barrier islands near Exmore in Northampton County. We presume this is the island in reference.

–40 Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd edition). 2000, p. 91.
–30 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”
–30 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Shipwrecks A-Z.” “D.”
–30 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1904, p. 6.
–30 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1905, p. 31.
–26+ AK Bur. Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.

Narrative Information

Alaska Bureau Ocean Energy Mgmt.: “Nov 1, 1903. Steamer Discovery. Foundered. Off Lituya Bay, Gulf of Alaska. 26+ (all hands).” (AK Bur. Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “1903…Discovery…SC [south central area]…90 Foot…Wood Steamer… 30 [lives lost.” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.”

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Discovery (1903). The 209 ton wood steamer Discovery is ‘supposed to have been lost during the night of November 1, 1903.’ The vessel departed Yakutat November 1, 1903 with about 14 passengers and about 16 crewmembers. She was never heard from again. The following are excerpts from the wreck report filed at Port Townsend, Washington by B Hasting, President of the Discovery Transportation Company who owned the Discovery:

Supposed to be between Yakutat and Cross Sound. Supposed to have foundered. Heavy gale from ENE with southeast & southwest cross sea running. Wind 60 mi.; dark night.

Revenue Cutter Rush was sent from Sitka after some weeks, but found no tidings. Since then report comes of Indians finding hull of vessel. This has not been confirmed. Parties coming from Cape Yakataga to Kayak, in November report finding doors, windows, and broken parts of steamers house on beach, also life preservers marked Str Discovery. This is same way the Discovery life preservers were marked.

We are convinced the Discovery is lost with all hands on board. The exact time and how the accident occurred will never be known.

“According to the wreck report, along with the Discovery an estimated 30 passengers and crew were lost including J W McGrath, Charles Mokler, Ed Nord, Guy Trolford, Ed Van Dice, R Price, Christ Judson, — Shady, A Dergin, William Dangerfield, Albert R Cassell, Robert Carlson, — Hans; Joe Birry and wife, Captain Seabery and George Powell. The Discovery was valued at $24,000 at the time of the loss and was insured for $12,000.

“Other reports of the fate of the Discovery state that all but one of the passengers who had started with the vessel at Nome, had quit the trip at Unga, Kodiak and Valdez claiming that the Discovery was not seaworthy. The remaining 26 persons aboard, mostly crew, were lost with the vessel somewhere between Middleton Island and Cross Sound. One questionable report from a claimed survivor has the vessel striking an iceberg at Cross Sound. The cabin of the Discovery was reported found in August of 1904, storm ravaged and buried in beach sand on Middleton Island.

“A second more credible report was published a year after the disappearance. Chief John of the Lituya Bay Native Tribe was said to have witnessed the loss of the Discovery the afternoon of November 2, 1903 outside of Lituya Bay. His story did not reach the south until late the following year. According to a credible source, the Chief watched as the Discovery attempted to enter the bay but the waterlogged vessel seemed out of control. After an hour or so the steamer was said to have gone down in the stormy seas with no chance for survivors. She was last seen attempting to round the point on the southern side of Lituya Bay.

“Mapping and Location: South Central Alaska 59 32 30 N 139 51 30 W Chart 16760.

“Additional Information: Tonnage 209 Gross 111 Net, Length 90, Built 1889, Registered Port Townsend Washington, ON 157263, Master M R Walters of Port Townsend, Last Port Yakutat November 1, 1903, Destination Port Townsend via Cross Sound.

“Sources: 1. U S Customs Wreck Report January 22, 1904, 2. Shipwrecks of the Alaskan Shelf and Shore (1992), 3. Daily Alaska Dispatch (August 5, 1904) “Discovery Wreck Found” Front Page, 4. Morning Olympian (October 6, 1904) “Saw Discovery Sink in Stream” Pgs 1&3.”

Gottehrer: “Nov. 1, 1903. The steamer Discovery disappeared between Yakutat and Cape Spencer. An estimated 40 people were on board. A newspaper report of the search period stated the full passenger list would never be known.” (Gottehrer. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised 2nd edition). 2000, p. 91.)

US SIS: “…the steamer Discovery [foundered] off the southeastern coast of Alaska about November 1, 1903, with a loss of 30 lives.” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1904, p. 6.)

US SIS: “November 1. – Steamer Discovery, 209 gross tons, Marshall R. Walters, master, was lost with all hands somewhere between Yakutat and Cross Sound, Alaska, about November 1, 1903. Wreckage found on different places along coast, but no trace of ship’s boats or hull. At the time of the supposed wreck there was a gale of southwest blowing and much ice reported coming out of Cross Sound. Thirty lives lost – 13 passengers and 17 crew….” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1905, p. 31.)

Sources

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses. Accessed 7-18-2011 at: http://www.alaska.boemre.gov/ref/ships/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1900-1925.” Accessed 11-16-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1900-1925/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A – Z.” Accessed 11-16-2021 at:

Alaska Shipwrecks (D)

Gottehrer, Dean M. The Associated Press Stylebook for Alaska (Revised and 2nd edition). Fairbanks, Alaska: Epicenter Press, 2000. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=O53zwdFYTGEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904. 332 pages. Google digitized and accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6lYpAAAAYAAJ

— 19 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report…1904, pp. 6, 20.
— 18 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR, 1984, pp. 27-28.
— >18 Oakland Tribune. “Steamer South Portland Wrecked…Thirty-Six…Lost.” 10-20-1903.
— >15 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903.” 1903. p. 243.

Narrative Information

Marshall: “….En route Portland-San Francisco under the command of part-owner Captain J. B. McIntyre, the vessel carried a wheat cargo, 14 passengers and a crew of 25. She struck Cape Blanco reef bow-on at seven knots and immediately began to fill; the first boat away contained the captain; two other boats capsized. Mate Charles Bruce remained aboard and tried to run the sinking vessel to shore. He later endeavored to protect the captain by testifying the he asked the captain to leave; 18 souls perished from drowning and exposure. The captain was found criminally negligent for leaving the ship….” (Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR, 1984, p. 28.)

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “…the steamer South Portland [stranded] on Cape Blanco, Oregon, on October 19, 1903, by which 19 lives were lost…” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1904, p. 6.)

“Steamer South Portland, 909 gross tons, struck on a rock near Cape Blanco, Oregon, in a thick fog, at 4:40 p.m., and sunk in 45 minutes afterwards. Eight passengers, 9 crew, and 2 stowaways lost their lives in this disaster, 5 of these dying from exposure on life rafts…This case was investigated and the license of Capt. James B. McIntyre, master, was revoked on November 23 for reason of his unskillfulness and negligence in the navigation of the steamer and in his duties as master after the steamer struck. Moreover, he did not have fire and boat drills on board during the time he had command of this steamer….” (US Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1904, pp. 6, 20.)

Newspaper

Oct 20: “Marshfield, Or., Oct 20. – The steamship South Portland, which sailed from Portland early Sunday [Oct 18] morning for San Francisco, was wrecked last evening [Oct 19] near Bandon, on the southwestern coast of Oregon, and it is feared that a large number of passengers and crew have been drowned. The vessel struck about 5 o’clock, just as it was growing dark, and sank in a few minutes. The vessel had 36 souls on board, 22 in the crew and 14 passengers.

“Two boats were manned but both capsized and several of the occupants were thrown into the sea and drowned. The captain, the cook and five passengers reached shore in safety, but it is feared that at least 18 people have been drowned.

“A life raft was seen in the breakers this morning with 12 people on it and the life-saving crew is now endeavoring to rescue them.

“In a blinding fog the steamer South Portland, bound for San Francisco from Portland with a cargo of wheat and carrying a crew of 22 men and 14 passengers, struck Cape Blanco reef while steaming at the rate of seven knots…..

“The South Portland struck bow on, which lifted her forward parts high out of the water and she settled aft and later slid off the rocks and immediately began to fill with water. The captain, seeing that all hopes of saving his ship were gone, gave orders to man the boats with all possible haste. Two boats and the life-raft were lowered.

“One boat containing the captain and seventeen souls capsized as they were getting away from the sinking steamer, and only seven of the eighteen were able to get into the boat again. The other boat also capsized and was seen drifting away in the thick fog without a person in sight.

“The survivors of the ill-fated steamer reached Port Orford last evening in a pitiable condition from exposure to the cold winds and waves. They have little hopes for the remainder of the passengers and crew….” (Oakland Tribune. “Steamer South Portland Wrecked…Thirty-Six… Lost.” 10-20-1903, p. 1.)

Sources

Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903,” p. 243. Chicago: Chicago Daily News Co., 1903. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=o20TAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1984.

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Steamer South Portland Wrecked and Thirty-Sic People are Lost.” 10-20-1903, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=44347759

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904. 332 pages. Google digitized and accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6lYpAAAAYAAJ

— 19 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. “Events of 1903.” 1903. p. 243.
— 12 Clinton Morning Age (IA). “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, 1.
— 12 Deseret News, Salt Lake. “Twelve…Drowned…Steamer J.H. Hackley…” 10-5-1903, 7.
— 11 Blanchard fatality estimate.*
— 11 Boyer. Ships and Men of the Great Lakes. 1977. (Excerpts by Jim & Alice LaPeer.)
— 11 Find A Grave. “Shipwreck – Erie L. Hackley.” Accessed 11-25-2020
— 11 Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay…Steamer Hackley.” 10-5-1903, 1
— 11 New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks…” 10-5-1903, p. 1.
— 11 Podgers. “Peninsula Connections…Green Bay…” Door County Magazine. Spring 2011.
— 11 Shelak. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, pp 29-30.
— 11 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 104.
— 11 U.S. Steamboat Inspection Svc. Annual Rpt.…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. 1904, 76.

* Blanchard fatality estimate. We have looked for and found obituaries for eleven people lost on the Hackley. We see thirteen names altogether in newspaper reports. One, Trunchley, noted as a cook, seems to be a mistaken identification of Carl Pelkey, whose obituary notes he was a cook on the Hackley, and we are skeptical there were two. The other name in early newspaper reports is that of a N. Fitzsimmons of Jacksonport. We have not been able to identify such a person and believe this to be mistaken. Thus, it appears to us there were eleven deaths, not twelve.

Narrative Information

Podgers: “The Erie L. Hackley was one of several ship lines that performed regular ‘runs’ between the various Door County [WI] ports and Menominee [MI]. Owned and operated by Four Fish Creek [WI] men, the Hackley provided a transportation service for the transport of passengers and freight. On the evening of October 3, 1903, the Hackley was returning from Menominee when a squall blew just as the ship rounded Green Island, five miles from the shoreline. Within minutes the storm entrapped the vessel and she plummeted 115 feet to the bottom of the bay. Of the 19 crew and passengers, 11 perished that night, all of them Fish Creek residents. The tragedy was shared by communities on both shores.” (Podgers, Patty. “Peninsula Connections, Opposite Sides of Green Bay Have Shared Prosperity and Tragedy.” Door County [WI] Magazine. Spring 2011.)

US Steamboat Inspection Service: “Local District of Milwaukee, Wis. 1903….

“October 16 [sic]. – Steamer Erie L. Hackley left Menominee bound for Egg Harbor, Wis. When about one hour out was struck by a heavy squall, thrown down on her beam end and sunk. Her master, cook, and deck hand, and eight passengers were lost. Valuation of steamer is estimated at $3,000.” (U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report of…for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. 1904, p. 76.)

Newspapers

Oct 4: “Marietta, Wis., Oct 4. – During a squall last night on Lake Michigan the steamer Erie L. Hackley capsized, and eleven persons, three of whom were women, were drowned. The Goodrich Line steamer Sheboygan rescued the other seven persons on board the Hackley, all men, after they had drifted all night in Green Bay, clinging to bits of wreckage, and brought them to Fish Creek to-day.

“The Hackley was struck by the squall when off Green Island, seven miles from this port. The upper works of the vessel were blown away, and the boat then turned over and went down in deep water.

“The drowned were Capt. Joseph Voreous of the Hackley, Cook Truchly, and the following passengers: Freeman Thorp, Edna Barringer and her brother Lawrence, Henry Rabitor, and Carl Kelky, all of Fish Creek, Wis.; Nels Nelson, Sturgeon Bay; Frances Vincent and her sister of Egg Harbor, Wis., and George Le Clair, Jr., and N. Fitzsimmons, both of Jackson Port, Wis. ….

“As the Hackley went to the bottom all except the Captain, who stuck to his vessel, seized on floating pieces of wreckage. The waves were rolling high, and several of those who at first saved themselves from immediate death lost strength and sank. It was not until 7 o’clock this morning that the steamer Sheboygan sighted the helpless survivors and effected their rescue.

“The officers of the Sheboygan feel sure that they took aboard every person afloat, but some of the persons who were rescued say that it is possible that one or more of the eleven persons missing may have escaped death. Not much credence is given this view by the sailors of the Sheboygan.

“The Sheboygan ran into Fish Creek when hope of rescuing other persons seemed improbable. The rescued persons were so exhausted from their struggle against drowning that they were unable for some time to tell anything about the wreck. The persons saved by the Sheboygan say that with the crashing away of the upper works all persons aboard the Hackley ran on deck. Hasty preparations for a plunge into the water were begun, but before any plans could be carried out the boat listed, turned over, and went down like a rock.

“Search is still making for any person who may have escaped death and for the bodies of those who were drowned.

“The Erie L. Hackley was a 54-ton screw steamer which was built at Muskegon, Mich., in 1882. The Hackley was owned in Fish Creek by Capt. Voreous and other residents of that village. The steamer made a trip every other day between Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island, going up one day and back the next.

“Sturgeon Bay, Wis., Oct; 4. – Purser Blakefield, one of the survivors of the Hackley, who was on the steamer Sheboygan when it reached here, gave a vivid description of the wreck. He said:

The squall struck us about 6 o’clock as we were just north of Green Island. It came suddenly, and with terrific fury. I was in the pilot house with the Captain, who had just said that the elements looked threatening, and that he would try to run to port. When the first fierce gust hit us the Captain tried to throw the boat up into the wind, but his efforts to do so were unavailing. Then I joined him at the wheel, but our combined efforts were not sufficient to make her mind the wheel.

Then of a sudden she lifted, and began to fill with water. Realizing that the passengers and crew were becoming panic-stricken I left the Captain in the pilothouse and ran aft to let down the lifeboat. By the time I got aft the Hackley was filling so rapidly that it was apparent it would be impossible to launch any boat. There came another fierce blast, and the upper works went by the board.

Then the steamer began to sink rapidly, and it was apparent her settling to the bottom would be a question of only a few moments. Eighteen of the nineteen people aboard were gathered on the deck, most of them in a state of panic.

The situation was made particularly heart-rending by the women, who shouted hysterically, imploring the men to save them, and accompanied their appeals for assistance with prayers.

As the boat sank it was clear that there was only one hope of any one being saved, and that was by clinging to the wreckage. I gave orders for the men to put the women on it first.

They did so, and behaved well, every man remaining on the sinking boat until the women had been placed on pieces of the cabin and other wreckage. It was then a wild scramble on the part of each man to get such pieces of planking as he could secure and cling to them.

Every man found something to float on except the Captain, who remained in the pilot house to the last, doing his best to right the boat. He finally went down with her.

We floated on different pieces and for a few minutes we were in sight of each other, but soon darkness came on and we separated.

The last persons that I saw, except for those with me, were the two Vincent girls from Egg Harbor, who were floating together. They seemed to have recovered entirely from their first fright, and were making a brave struggle for their lives, a struggle which now seems to have been in vain.

Those of us who were fortunate to escape clung to the wreckage all night, bitten by the cold wind and benumbed by the colder-water, and the surprise is that we did not all die of exposure. We drifted I know not where until picked up by the Sheboygan.

“Capt. J. B. Johnson of the Sheboygan, which picked up the survivors, said:

This morning, when near Strawberry Island, I saw wreckage which I knew was fresh, and began to search the surroundings in order to discover the survivors if there were any. Near Green Island I discovered five persons clinging to wreckage, and got them on board after considerable difficulty.

Soon I discovered two other men on different pieces of planking, and also succeeded in getting them on board. The men were in a state of great exhaustion, and the condition of some of them is still serious.

“The Hackley left Menominee, Mich., Saturday afternoon late, and was bound for Fish Creek and Green Bay.” (New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks…” 10-5-1903, p. 1.)

Oct 5: “Marinette, Wis., Oct. 5. — During a squall Saturday night on Lake Michigan the steamer Erie Hackley capsized and 12 persons were drowned. The Goodrich line steamer Sheboygan rescued the other nine persons on board the Hackley, after they had floated about all night on pieces of wreckage. The Hackley was struck by the squall when seven miles off Green island. The upper work was blown away before the men could reach a haven. The boat then turned over and went down in deep water. The drowned are:

Joseph Vorous, captain of the Hackley;
Trunchley, cook of the Hackley, and the following passengers:
Freeman Thorp, Fish Creek [WI];
Edna Barringer, Fish Creek;
Lawrence Barringer, brother of Edna Barringer, Fish Creek;
Frances [Ethel] Vincent, Egg Harbor [WI];
[Edna] Vincent, sister of Frances [Ethel], Egg Harbor;
George LeClair, Jr., Jacksonport, Wis.;
N. Fitzsimmons, Jacksonport; [We can find no obituary for N. Fitzsimmons.]
Henry Rabbitor [Robertoy], Fish Creek;
Carl Kelky [Pelkey], Fish Creek;
Nels Nelson, Sturgeon Bay.[?]
[Not listed: Hugh Miller, deck hand; body lost at sea, about 19 or 20.

“It was several hours after the Hackley sank before the Sheboygan have within hailing distance. The shouts of the floating men attracted the attention of the sailors on the Sheboygan, and every assistance was lent. The rescue was effected at 7 a.m. The officers of the Sheboygan feel sure that they took aboard every person afloat. Some of the persons who were rescued say that it is possible that one or more of the eleven persons missing may have escaped death. This view is not given much credence by the sailors of the Sheboygan. The Sheboygan made into Fish Creek when hope of rescuing other persons seemed improbable. The rescued persons were so exhausted from their struggle against drowning that they were unable for some time to tell anything about the wreck.” (Clinton Morning Age (IA). “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, p. 1.)

Oct 5: “Marinette, Wis., Oct. 5. – In the furious gale which swept over Green Bay last Saturday night the passenger steamer Erie L. Hackley foundered and eleven persons were drowned. Nine survivors of the shipwreck were rescued early Sunday morning by the steamer Sheboygan of the Goodrich line after they had floated for many hours on pieces of wreckage in a heavy sea that threatened to sweep them away from their frail rafts.

“The survivors were almost dead of exposure when they were picked up by the crew of the Sheboygan, and for a time they were unable to tell of the disaster. The pieces of wreckage on which they had floated nearly all night were small, and every sea washed completely over them. Several women who had managed to seize bits of wood when the Hackley went down were washed from their improvised life preservers and drowned….

“The storm which sent the Hackley to the bottom is the worst which has been recorded in this vicinity for years. The steamer was seven miles from Green Island when it broke, and warned by the threatening clouds, the captain was hastening to get his boat under the shelter of the island.

“A number of those lost were carried under by the suction of the sinking boat, and, it is believed, did not come to the surface again….The wind, which continued with almost the force of a hurricane, caused a heavy sea to spring up immediately. In the darkness and the pouring rain which accompanied the wind, it was almost impossible to see, and the strongest swimmers were unable to render aid to those who were struggling near them. The wind drove them farther apart, so that the cries of the drowning were lost….

“The steamer was owned by Ted Thorp, Henry Rabitoy and Capt. Vorus and father….It was purchased last year by Fish Creek people to take the place of the Cecilia Hill, which was transferred….” (Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay…Steamer Hackley.” 10-5-1903, p. 1.)

Sources

Chicago Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1904. Chicago: Chicago Daily News Co., 1903. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=o20TAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Clinton Morning Age, IA. “Lake Steamer is Wrecked…Erie Hackley…,” Oct 6, 1903, 1. At: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m-UyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8QAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4993,3698825&dq=steamer-erie&hl=en

Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT. “Twelve Persons Were Drowned. The Steamer J.H. Hackley Was Capsized During a Squall on Lake Michigan.” 10-5-1903, 7. Accessed 4-16-2011 at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C50wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2972,3370158&hl=en

Find A Grave. “Capt. Joseph L. Vorous.” Record created 3-7-2013. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106340473/joseph-l_-vorous

Find a Grave. “Carl Pelkey.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353258/carl-pelkey

Find A Grave. “Edna Barringer.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996332/edna-barringer

Find A Grave. “Edna Vincent.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353628/edna-vincent

Find A Grave. “Ethel Vincent.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106353532/ethel-vincent

Find A Grave. “F. Henry Robertoy.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1, and 10-31-1903, p. 1, col. 2; and The Advocate, 10-31-1903, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106354027/f.-henry-robertoy

Find A Grave. “Freeman Edwin Thorp.” Record created 2-16-2010. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48203311/freeman-edwin-thorp

Find A Grave. “George LeClair.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996716/george-leclair

Find A Grave. “Hugh Miller.” Cites Door County Democrat of 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1 and 11-14-1903, p. 12, c. 4. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106352961/hugh-miller

Find A Grave. “Lawrence Barringer.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49996333/lawrence-barringer

Find a Grave. “Nels Nelson.” Cites Door County Democrat, 10-10-1903, p. 9, col. 1; and The Advocate, 11-14-1903, p. 8, col. 3. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106354922/nels-nelson

Find A Grave. “Shipwreck – Erie L. Hackley.” Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/364695?page=1#sr-49996332

LaPeer, Jim and Alice. “Sinking of the Erie L. Hackley.” (Excerpts from Ships and Men of the Great Lakes, by Dwight Boyer, 1977.) Accessed 11-25-2020 at: http://www.jalhost.net/Family_History/Hackley_Story/Erie_L_Hackley-Boyer.html

Milwaukee Journal, WI. “Eleven Drown in Green Bay. The Steamer Hackley Goes Down During a Severe Storm.” 10-5-1903, p. 1. Accessed 4-16-2011 at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9jYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iyAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3628,3168280&hl=en

New York Times. “Wreck on Lake Michigan. Steamer Sinks [Erie L. Hackley]…” 10-5-1903, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52442754

Podgers, Patty. “Peninsula Connections, Opposite Sides of Green Bay Have Shared Prosperity and Tragedy.” Door County [WI] Magazine. Spring 2011. Accessed 1-17-2012 at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wipgs/PGS/PGSSteamerErieLHACKLEYsunk3Oct1903FreemanETHORP.htm

Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4CBCcye0n6IC

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

United States Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904. Washington: Gov. Printing Office, 1904. Accessed 11-25-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hb1k9h&view=1up&seq=7&size=125&q1=hackley%201903

–21 The Sun, Baltimore. “Summary of the News…Miscellaneous.” 9-16-1903, p. 1, col. 4.
–18 Blanchard estimate based on locality breakouts below.
–18 The Sentinel, South Haven, MI. “A Week’s Record.” 9-19-1903, p. 2.
–14 Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill and London: UNC Press, 1998, p.85.
–12 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition)/ 1964, p 316.
–10 The World, NYC. “Heavy Loss of Life in Hurricane.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 3.
— 7 Waterloo Daily Courier, IA. Sep 15, 1903, p. 6.

–1 Arcadia, 40M south of Tampa. Drowning; Hugh Morton at Wilder’s sawmill.
–9 Boynton. Steamer Inchulva. The World. “Heavy Loss of Life in Hurricane.” 9-15-1903, p. 3.
–9 Delray [SE coast north of Boca Raton]. British steamer Inchulva strands. Garriott. MWR, 407.
–9 Delray Beach. Steamer Inchulva strands and breaks-up. Wreck Site. “SS Inchulva…1903.”
–3 Gainesville area. Atlanta Constitution. “Oranges Badly Hurt By Storm.” Sep 16, 1903, p. 4.
–2 Lake Butler area (tornado). Lowell Sun, MA. “Children Killed.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 25.
–1 Tampa (drowning). The World, NYC. “Heavy Loss of Life in Hurricane.” 9-15-1903, p. 3.
–1 “ Electrocution; T.Y Hunnicut, motorman, near Cuesta Rey cigar factory.
–1 “ Falling debris; Louis Baron, cigar maker, struck by failing building cornice.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1903 Sept. 11-13 S and NH Fla. Minimal [intensity] 14 killed & heavy shipping losses.” (Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition)/ 1964, p 316.)

Garriott, Monthly Weather Review: “Forecasts and Warnings….The regular morning reports of the 19 indicated the presence of a disturbance over the eastern Bahamas. By the evening of the 10th the center of disturbance had advanced to the vicinity of Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas, where a minimum barometer reading of 29.20 inches was reported at 7 p.m. Between 6 and 7 p.m. the wind at Nassau increased from an easterly direction to 60 miles an hour, when the anemometer cups blew away. The wind then went to southerly and reached an estimated velocity of 90 miles an hour…..

“During the 11th the hurricane center approached the southern Florida coast. At Jupiter the barometer fell from 29.88, at 8 a.m., to 29.63, at 6 p.m., and the wind increased from the northeast to a velocity of 78 miles an hour at 6:45 p.m. For one minute the wind blew at a rate of 84 miles an hour. At 11 p.m. the direction of the wind changed to east and the velocity began to decrease. At 1 a.m. of the 12th the wind veered to southeast and increased to 60 miles an hour, and at 7 a.m. the gale ended. The center of the storm passed about 50 miles south of Jupiter, and the greatest amount of damage on the east Florida coast was caused in that region. The northern limit of destructive winds on the east coast was about 30 miles north of Jupiter. In the vicinity of Jupiter the losses were confined principally to pineapple sheds. From West Palm Beach to Miami the property loss amounted to about $100,000. Nine lives were lost in the stranding and breaking up of the British steamer Inchulva at Delray. The vessel and cargo are said to have been valued at $350,000. An oil barge was lost y a tug and blown on the beach at the lower end of Lake Worth; it was afterwards hauled off and the loss was estimated at $5000. The schooner Martha T. Thomas, loaded with lumber, was blown ashore near Jupiter, and if the efforts that were being made to save the cargo were successful the loss did not exceed $15,000.

“During the 12th the storm center moved northeastward over the southern part of the Florida Peninsula and passed into the Gulf of Mexico. At Tampa the barometer fell from 29.68 at 8 a.m. to 29.42 at 1 p.m., and from 10:15 a.m. until after 2 p.m. the average wind velocity was about 40 miles an hour, with squalls at a rate of 50 to 60 miles an hour. In Tampa, buildings were destroyed or damaged to the extent of about $200,000, and in the surrounding country great havoc was caused to orange groves.

“The center of disturbance crossed the extreme northeast part of the Gulf of Mexico during the 13th, and 8 p.m. was located east of Pensacola….During the 15th and 16th this storm practically dissipated over the east Gulf and South Atlantic States…”

Newspapers

Sep 14: “Jacksonville, Fla., September 14 – The fate of middle and southwest Florida is only a matter of conjecture. The storm was destructive enough in these sections to sweep down the wires and stop railroad communication. This of itself is sufficient to justify forebodings of unprecedented calamity. The middle Florida section from which not a word can be heard is the most populous part of the state. To that section every wire is down, every train is stopped and no one can tell what the news of the morrow will tell. Further details of the disaster came by mail and by passengers on incoming trains….

“Two lives were lost in Tampa due to the storm. Louis Baron, the cigar maker who was struck by a part of the cornice of the Diaz building died the day after receiving his injuries. His skull was fractured an eye knocked out and his body badly bruised.

“T. Y. Hunnicut, a motorman, met his death near the Cuesta Rey cigar factory in West Tampa. He attempted to remove a wire which lay across the track, but did not know that it was a live wire. He received a shock which proved fatal. The conductor who came to his assistance was also severely shocked….” (Atlanta Constitution. “Many Vessels Sunk by Florida Storm.” 9-15-1903, p.1.)

Sep 14: “Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 14. – It is now known that the loss of life occasioned by the hurricane which swept across the southern part of the State on Saturday was heavy. Nine of the crew…of the steamer Inchulva, which went ashore near Boynton, were drowned. One of her boats with five men on board was battered to pieces and all of its occupants were drowned. The ship’s steering gear broke and when she struck the beach she was broken into three parts.

“Five bodies washed ashore near Miami of the east coast. Louis Br. Boron was drowned at Tampa. Above Miami it is reported that seven or eight vessels are ashore. The property loss in the city of Tampa is about one million dollars….” (The World, NYC. “Heavy Loss of Life in Hurricane.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 3.)

Sep 15: “Jacksonville, Fla. September 15 – All communication with the west coast of Florida south of Tampa and Arcadia is still cut off and no report has been received from any of the towns of that section….Three negroes were killed by falling timbers at the camp of the Cummer Lumber Company near Gainesville and another seriously hurt, and he will probably die. A dwelling and several cottages were wrecked….” (Atlanta Constitution. “Oranges Badly Hurt By Storm.” Sep 16, 1903, p. 4.)

Sep 15: “Beginning Friday morning on the east, and Saturday in the west, and lasting twenty-four hours, southern Florida has been swept by the strongest hurricane ever known in that part of the state, says a special, dated Jacksonville. The wires went down at the beginning and railroad service was delayed. On that account no details were had until Sunday. Great damage has been done at many points. Many coasting vessels were wrecked and a number of lives have been lost. At Stuart fifteen acres of pineapple sheds were blown down. Other places on the west coast and in the interior have not been heard from, and it is feared that when reports come in the damage will be vastly increased. The orange und grape fruit crops have been greatly injured.” (Carroll Sentinel, IA. “Hurricane in Florida.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 2.)

Sep 15: “By Associated Press to The Sun.

“Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 15. – No reports have yet been received from middle Florida where it is now feared that the loss by the recent hurricane will be severe. Near Lake Butler two children were killed by the tornado. At Hale, a small village near Lake Butler, 20 houses were destroyed and crops and fruit trees ruined.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Children Killed.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 25.)

Sep 15: “A hurricane has swept over Florida doing great damage to all kinds of property. Seven deaths have occurred.” (Waterloo Daily Courier, IA. “New Facts in Outline.” 9-15-1903, p. 6.)

Sep 16: “….Further details of the Florida hurricane increase the death list to 21 and report grave damage to orange groves.” (The Sun, Baltimore. “Summary of the News…Miscellaneous.” 9-16-1903, p. 1, col. 4.)

Sources

Atlanta Constitution. “Many Vessels Sunk by Florida Storm” Sep 15, 1903, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=5195919

Atlanta Constitution, GA. “Oranges Badly Hurt By Storm.” Sep 16, 1903, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=5196132

Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill and London: UNC Press, 1998.

Boston Post. “Along The Water Front.” 9-16-1903, p. 6. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-sep-16-1903-p-6/

Carroll Sentinel, IA. “Hurricane in Florida.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=134201275

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages

Garriott, Prof. E. B. “Forecasts and Warnings.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 9, September 1903. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/[15200493%20-%20Monthly%20Weather%20Review]%20FORECASTS%20AND%20WARNINGS.pdf

Liberty Vindicator, TX. “Storm on Florida Coast.” 9-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/liberty-vindicator-sep-18-1903-p-1/

Lowell Sun, MA. “Children Killed.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 25. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com

The Sentinel, South Haven, MI. “A Week’s Record.” 9-19-1903, p. 2. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/south-haven-sentinel-sep-19-1903-p-2/

The Sun, Baltimore. “Loss of Life Increases. Slowly the Florida Hurricane’s Havoc in Revealed.” 9-16-1903, p. 2. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-sep-16-1903-p-2/

The Sun, Baltimore. “Summary of the News…Miscellaneous.” 9-16-1903, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-sep-16-1903-p-1/

The World, NYC. “Heavy Loss of Life in Hurricane.” Sep 15, 1903, p. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=160324038

Waterloo Daily Courier, IA. “New Facts in Outline.” 9-15-1903, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com

Wreck Site. “SS Inchulva (Delray Wreck) (+1903).” Accessed 9-5-2022 at: https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?137643

–26  Michigan Dept. of Transportation. Michigan’s Railroad History 1825-2014. 2014, p. 16.

–26  Railroad Stories. “August in Railroad History,” August 1935, pp. 63-64.

–26  Shiawassee County, MI History. “The Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster.”[1]

–24  Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Guilty of Negligence. Engineer…at Durand…” 8-15-1903, 1.

–23  Altoona Mirror, PA.  “1903 in Review. Notable Occurrences of the Year.” 12-31-1903, 9.

–23  Names identified and one unidentified in newspaper accounts below (Blanchard).[2]

–23  Shiawassee County, MI History. “The Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster.”

–22  Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “It Cost 22 Lives…Wreck…Wallace Bros.’…” 8-8-1903, 1

–22  Daily Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “22 People Killed 70 More Injured.” 8-7-1903, p. 1.

–22  Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. London:  Channel 4 Books. 2000, p. 123.

 

Narrative Information

 

Michigan Dept. of Transportation: “Air brake failure wrecked the Wallace Brothers Circus train at Durand, killing 26 people and several animals.”

 

Railway Stories: “August 7, 1903—Circus train wrecked on Grand. Trunk Ry, at Durand, Mich.; second section crashes into rear of first section; 26 killed, many injured.”  (Railway Stories, Aug 1935, 63-64)

 

Shiawassee County, MI History: “At 8:30 am [reference to photo not reproduced here] at the Grand Trunk railroad yards in Durand, MI, two separate trains of the Wallace Bros. Shows met in a rear end collision that resulted in the death of 23 people and twice as many were injured.

 

“Several animals were killed including a…horse, 3 camels, one great dane and an elephant named Maud. The accident occurred about 1,500 feet west of Oak St. crossing of the main line as the engine of the second train smashed into several cars of the first. The animals were buried at this location….

 

“In all, 22 men died that morning and four more died after being transported to a hospital in Detroit….

 

“Ten bodies were unclaimed. They were buried in Lovejoy Cemetery.”  (Shiawassee County, MI History. “The Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster.”)

 

Newspapers

 

Aug 7: “Durand, Aug. 7. — Two of Wallace Bros.’ circus trains were wrecked at Durand at 3:45 this morning by a rear-end collision.  Twenty-two people were killed, 70 injured and several are dying.  The first train pulled into Durand about 3:30 and was standing on the main line. A red light was placed out behind the train.  C. M. Probst, a Battle Creek engineer on the second train saw the danger signal but claims his air brakes would not work.  Engineer Ping and Fireman P. E. Colton of Battle Creek and Brakeman W. F. Benedict of Battle Creek, all jumped, receiving only slight injuries.

 

“All of Durand’s physicians and several from neighboring towns are making the wounded as comfortable as possible.  The Richelieu hotel is being used as a temporary hospital.  Dr. Ben. P. Brodie, chief surgeon of the Grand Trunk and a corps of Detroit surgeons left Detroit on the early morning train for the scene of the wreck.

 

“Seventeen people were instantly killed and five more since have died from their injuries.  Six of the unknown men were drivers of wagons.  No Michigan people are injured.

 

“Mr. Wallace says that most of the dead were laborers.  Mr. Foley, special officer of the Grand Trunk is in a serious condition.

 

“One elephant and two camels were killed and two other camels are badly injured. A bloodhound valued at $1,000 was killed.  The trumpeting of the elephants and shrieks of the other wild animals added to the horror of the situation. The circus was on its way from Charlotte to Lapeer.”  (Daily Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “22 People Killed 70 More Injured.” 8-7-1903, p. 1.)

 

“The Dead.

 

1. W. Large of Battle Creek, chief detective of the Grand Trunk lines;
2. McCarthy, Grand Trunk trainmaster;

Frank Thorpe, Wallace Bros.’ chief trainmaster, Dundee, Mich.;

John Purcell, Peru, Ind.;

Harry St. Clair;

1. Thomas,

Lafe Larson, Columbus, O.,

John Leary, Springfield, O.;

Andrew Haviland, New York;

Robert Rice [harness-maker, Sand Lake, Mich.],

George Saukh [unclear],

Charles Sands, Peru, Ind.’

Joseph Wilson, Pittsburg, Pa.;

1. J. McCoy, Columbus, O.;

Edward York, Terre Haute, Ind.;

James Toffelmire, Orient, Ind.’

Six men whose naves are not known.

[William Griffin. (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “His Brother Among Dead.” 8-10-1903, 1)]

[John Stillman.   (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “His Brother Among Dead.” 8-10-1903, 1.)]

[Allen Johnston. (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “His Brother Among Dead.” 8-10-1903, 1.)]

[Joe Keyes, Allegheny Co. PA. (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “His…” 8-10-1903, 1.)]

[Frank Kerns. (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Thought Son Dead.” 8-12-1903, 1.)]

[Frank Tilley. (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Thought Son Dead.” 8-12-1903, 1.)]

 

Aug 8: “Durand, Mich., Aug. 8. – By one of the most serious train wrecks in the history of the state, in the yards of the Grand Trunk Western between 3 and 4 o’clock Friday morning, at least twenty-two persons lost their lives, while the total number of injured will reach sixty, more than half of whom are under the care of surgeons here or at Detroit, where those who could be moved were taken….

 

“The circus train was made in two sections, the first of twenty-one and the second of seventeen cars.  These started from Charlotte at midnight, half an hour apart.  The first section contained the cars carrying the canvas and some of the animals and the coaches occupied by the drivers, canvas men and unskilled employes.  The owners and managers of the circus, with the performers, occupied sleepers on the second section, and none of them were injured.  The railroad officials who lost their lives had preferred to ride with the first section and occupied the caboose, which received the full force of the collision.

 

“Section No. 1, drawn by engine 1126, with Engineer Schlyberlet at the throttle and in charge of Conductor Welch, arrived at Durand about 3 o’clock and stopped at the west end of the yards, being flagged by a freight train.  A brakeman was sent back to guard the rear from the second section, all precautions being taken to avoid accident.

 

“The freight having got out of the way, the section was coupled up and about to move, when section No. 2, Conductor Hubbard, Engineer Propst and engine 1133, came around the curve, and although answering the signals, drove into the rear of the standing train at the rate of perhaps

fifteen miles an hour. The crew afterward explained that the airbrakes failed to work and it was impossible to do more than reverse the engine before the collision.

 

“The fireman and head brakeman jumped from their engine when they saw the danger, escaping with slight injuries, but the engineer stood by the throttle until almost upon the other train before be threw himself to the ground to escape almost certain death.  He was not seriously hurt, although considerably jarred by his jump.

 

“The engine of the second section plowed into the cars ahead, five of which were wrecked, one being that in which some of the animals were carried….Several cars in rear of the engine were derailed and broken by the force of the impact, and in these, too, were unskilled employes of the circus, many of whom were hurt….

 

“Wallace Bros. were in a wreck at Shelbyville, Ind. Less than a month ago, in which two employes were killed..”  (Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “It Cost 22 Lives…Wreck…Wallace Bros.’…” 8-8-1903, 1)

 

Aug 10: “Detroit, Mich., Aug. 10. — Frank Tilley, one of the victims of the disastrous railroad wreck at Durand early last Friday morning, and who was subsequently brought to Harper hospital was reported to be in a dying condition last evening at that institution.  The man sustained internal injuries from which he suffers terrible agony.  At first it was thought he had a chance for recovery, but as time wore on and he failed to take the expected turn for the better his condition was considered more grave. Last evening Dr. Ben Brodie said he apparently had little time to live.”  (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “His Brother Among Dead.” 8-10-1903, 1.)

 

Aug 11: “Durand, Mich., Aug. 11. – Business places here closed one hour this morning while the funeral services of the 10 remaining victim of the circus wreck were being held on the street.  The bodies were interred side by side in Lovejoy cemetery, two miles south of Durand.

 

“C. E. Baker and Frank Cone, two of the injured, have settled with the Grand Trunk for $250 and return transportation to their homes in Mt. Carmel, Pa.”  (Daily Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “Ten Funerals in One Day.” 8-11-1903, 1.)

 

Aug 12: “Detroit, Mich., Aug. 12. — Frank Tilley, one of the employes of Wallace Bros.’ circus, who was brought to Harper hospital after the accident at Durand suffering from internal injuries, died Tuesday afternoon. Tilley’s home was in Rising Sun, Ind.  All the other wreck victims at the hospital are reported as improving.”  (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Thought Son Dead.” 8-12-1903, 1.)

 

Aug 15: “Durand, Mich.. Aug. 15. — In the coroner’s inquest, started here Friday to ascertain the cause and attach the blame for last Friday’s wreck of the Wallace Bros’, two circus trains, in which twenty-four lives were lost and a score seriously hurt.  In the engineer’s testimony it was brought out that Charles Propst of Battle Creek, the engineer on the second section, which crashed into the first section of the main line of the Grand Trunk railway here, run his train a distance of sixty miles without looking at the valve that would show whether or not his air brake system was in working order.  He admitted this fact.  The jury will find that Propst was guilty of negligence, but whether or not it was criminal negligence is the question.”  (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Guilty of Negligence. Engineer…at Durand…” 8-15-1903, 1.)

 

“Durand, Mich, Aug. 28. — The coroners inquest in the matter of the wreck of the Wallace Brothers’ circus trains in the Grand Trunk railroad yards here on Aug. 7, was concluded Thursday.  The testimony throughout the inquest showed that the first circus train was standing on the main line here and had put out the necessary signals to stop the second section.  When the second section came into sight she was running at a high rate of speed. When the engineer applied the air brakes to stop the train he was confronted with the awful sensation of no air. He whistled for the hand brakes and used the reverse lever.  When he left the cab the train was within a few rods of the obstructing train and was then going at the rate of twenty miles an hour.

 

“The engineer of the engine on the second section was Charles M. Propst, of Battle Creek. His story was always a straight one and he admitted that he did not keep his eye on the air gauge in his cab.  If he had so done he would have known whether or not his train had air. The testimony of the train crews showed that the circus trains were not equipped with available handbrakes, and the brakemen on the train could do nothing to aid in avoiding the disaster. The jury after hours of deliberation, rendered a verdict that the wreck was caused by the failure of the air brakes system on the second section of the circus trains failing to operate, which might have been avoided if the engineer Charles M. Propst, had watched the air gauge before him and also if Wallace Brothers had had their cars properly equipped with handbrakes.”  (Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Engineer Blamed. Jury of Durand Wreck Inquest…” 8-28-1903, 1.)

 

Sources

 

Altoona Mirror, PA. “1903 in Review. Notable Occurrences of the Year.” 12-31-1903, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9599795

 

Daily Chronicle, Marshall, MI. “It Cost 22 Lives. The Wreck of Wallace Bros.’ Circus Train in Durand.” 8-8-1903, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/the-daily-chronicle/1903-08-08/page-1/

 

Daily Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “22 People Killed 70 More Injured.” 8-7-1903, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/traverse-city-record-eagle/1903-08-07/page-1/

 

Daily News, Marshall, MI. “Guilty of Negligence. Engineer of Wrecked Train at Durand Admits it.” 8-15-1903, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/daily-news/1903-08-15/page-1/

 

Faith, Nicholas. Derail: Why Trains Crash. London:  Channel 4 Books. 2000.

 

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

 

Railroad Stories. “August in Railroad History,” August 1935, pp. 63-67.

 

Shiawassee County, Michigan History. “The Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster.” Accessed 2-9-2012 at: http://www.shiawasseehistory.com/circus.html

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Twenty-two at the scene and four more after movement to hospital.

[2] This represents our attempts to identify names of fatalities. There were a number of un-identified. We accept Michigan Department of Transportation (and other sources) estimate of twenty-six deaths.

–400-500  Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p1.[1]

–350-500  Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned…Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, 1.[2]

—       324  History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 14, 1903. “Flash Flood…”[3]

—       300  Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned…Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, 1.[4]

—     ~300  New York Times. “Former Floods Have Cost Many Lives.”  June 5, 1921.

—       259  Sullivan, William L. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. 2008, p. 105.

–247-251  DenOuden. “Heppner flood of 1903.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, 9-14-2017 update.[5]

—       250  Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database.

—       247  Blanchard (we accept figure used by Heppner Chamber of Commerce, NWS & OSA).

—       247  Heppner Chamber of Commerce Heppner Flood of 1903. (taken from Donner, 1953).

—     <247  NWS Forecast Office, Portland, OR. Oregon’s Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s.

—       247  OR State Archives (OSA). OR Historical County Records Guide. Morrow Co. History

—       245  Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009, p. xvi.[6]

—       238  Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009, p. xv.[7]

—       236  Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 129.

—       225  Perry. Significant Floods in the United States During the 20^th Century. USGS, 2000.

—       220  Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 131.

–177-200  Bodies recovered as of June 23 (35 more missing). Eau Claire Leader. 6-24-1903, 1.[8]

—       167  Bodies recovered as of June 20. Anaconda Standard, MT. 6-21-1903, p. 1.

 

Narrative Information

 

Burt and Stroud: “The town of Heppner, located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in western Oregon, was virtually wiped out by a flash flood on the afternoon of June 14, 1913. A heavy rain and hailstorm caused the flood, but it was the exposed location of the village that caused its destruction. The town was overwhelmed by a wave of 10 to 15 feet of water that suddenly flowed down the normally tranquil Willow Creek.[9] Within 30 minutes, 220 of Heppner’s 1,400 residents were drowned.”  (Burt and Stroud.  Extreme Weather. 2004, 31.)

 

Byrd: “The Heppner Flood was a flash flood, a sudden, unstoppable cliff of water and debris that surges through canyons and down river channels, crushing whatever and whomever gets in the way. On the hot afternoon of June 14, 1903, the Flood took little more than an hour to claim the lives of 238 men, women, and children; then it rolled down-stream and poisoned the drinking water of two other communities. Heppner also lost 141 homes and 40 businesses. And of course, hundreds of horses and cows, pigs and chickens…In the countryside, farmers and ranchers mourned for acres and acres of topsoil, for orchards and pasture.” [p. xv.]

 

“The merciless floodwaters rampaged…through town, killing every person and devouring every thing in the way. Near the north end of Main Street, the Heppner Hotel became the scene of a singular tragedy. When the rotating wall of water reached Main and Baltimore, it lifted the Telephone Livery Stable roof — 120 feet wide and 275 feet long — and carried it off its moorings. Seconds later the furious water tore through the hotel’s walls and porches and roofing and scattered across the landscape sections of flooring, framing, stairs, and the nearly upright shell of one second-floor room — stripped of wallpaper, furnishings, and guests. The stable roof sank to the scoured ground and across other debris. When the water receded, some of the scattered steamer trunks left amid the hotel wreckage still contained the belongings of people who wouldn’t be coming back. The destruction was so complete that all twenty-five guests inside the hotel were presumed dead, whether or not their bodies were identified.”[10] [p. 26.]

 

“Even though dozens of bodies had been found out in the open, many others must have been caught inside…enormous tangles of debris. The longest drift…extended across the valley floor north of Heppner for half a mile. Many others were nearly that large. Bodies might be dumped in a swath a mile or more wide and as far as Ione, 16 miles north….getting those drifts torn apart required a lot more muscle than Heppner had left. And it wasn’t just a matter of the bodies; there was the putrid slime spread by floodwaters that had washed through hundreds of outhouse vaults, cellars and barnyards.” [p. 36.]

 

(Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009.)

 

History.com: “A flash flood in Oregon kills 324 people on this day in 1903. The sudden onslaught of water caused millions of dollars in damages to the central Oregon town of Heppner….Before the flood, extremely hard rain and hail came down in the Blue Mountains, which rise above Heppner. Reports say that the storm may have lasted only an hour, but it overwhelmed the small streams of the area and caused a 20-foot wave of water to thunder through the town with little warning. About 200 people were simply swept away from the community. A third of the town was absolutely destroyed. The flood also wreaked havoc on surrounding farms, killing another 125 people.”  (History.com. This Day in History,  June 14, 1903. Flash Flood Devastates Oregon Town.”)

 

Ludlum: June 14, 1903. “Heppner Disaster caused by cloudburst in hills that sent flood down Willow Creek in north Oregon; one-third of town swept away; 236 killed; $100 million damage.”  (Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 129.

 

NWSFO, Portland: “Deadly Flash Flood on June 14, 1903 at Heppner, Oregon.  This was surely the most deadly natural disaster in Oregon’s recorded history. A strong thunderstorm, accompanied by extremely heavy rain and hail, moved near Heppner, Oregon. The storm covered a very small area, probably no more than 50 square miles. Heavy rain fell in a very short time, creating severe flash flooding along Willow Creek, normally a peaceful stream flowing through the town center. The entire town was swept away in just a few short minutes, drowning nearly 247 people. Eyewitnesses say thunderstorm rains arrived as a 40-foot wall of water and the ensuing flood raged through town for over an hour. In all, one-third of the towns’ structures were wiped out. The massive runoff of water was a result of heavy rain falling on the barren rocky hills, then flowing into the Willow Creek watershed. Only fifteen minutes separated the first rainwater in Willow Creek at Heppner and the flood crest! There are no rainfall records available for this storm because the weather observing station was completely destroyed, drowning the observer and his entire family.

 

“A similar fate would have been in store for the citizens of Ione, just 20 miles downstream. However, telephoned warnings prompted an immediate evacuation and residents escaped to high ground. At least 150 homes were destroyed at Ione and bodies were washed more than 40 miles downstream to the Columbia River.” (NWSFO, Portland. OR Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s.)

 

Oregon State Archives: “…in 1903 Heppner was devastated by the most deadly natural disaster in the Oregon’s recorded history. A very strong thunderstorm precipitated a severe flash flood along Willow Creek, normally a quiet stream running through the town. The storm caused a 40 foot wall of water to sweep away much of the town in just a few minutes. The disaster left 247 people dead and one third of the town’s structures destroyed.

 

“Leslie Matlock, a Heppner resident who was able to escape the flood, heroically jumped on a horse and raced ahead of the rampaging waters to the neighboring town of Lexington, nine miles to the northwest. His warnings to the town’s 500 residents to “head for the hills” saved them. By the time the flood passed, only two houses in Lexington were still standing.”  (Oregon State Archives. OR Historical County Records Guide. Morrow County History.)

 

Newspapers

 

June 15: “Spokane, Wash., June 15.–Special telephone advices to the Chronicle from Arlington, Ore., state that the town of Heppner, Ore., was destroyed by a great flood of water which rushed down Willows Creek between 6 and 7 o’clock last evening. Later telephone advices from the Ione state that from 350-500 people are believed to have been drowned. At 5 a.m. it was reported that 105 bodies had been found. Wires are down and only meagre reports of the disaster have been brought out by messengers.

 

“Heppner is a town of about 1250 inhabitants, the county seat of Morrow county, Ore., at the terminus of a branch of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Farming and stock raising are its chief industries. Willows Creek, which is given as the cause of the disaster, is ordinarily a small stream and early reports indicate the flood was caused by either one or two cloud bursts….

 

“Heppner is situated in the narrow valley of Willows Creek. Advices to the Chronicle state that a great storm was raging yesterday. About 5:30 yesterday afternoon a cloud burst a short distance above Heppner and a wall of water, like the Columbia river, rushed down the valley. The roar of the storm deadened the roar of the water and the people had no warning of oncoming flood. Suddenly it rushed through the town, sweeping homes from their foundations and drowning the people in the wrecks of their own homes.

 

“Dead bodies and wreckage were borne down the valley. Scores are still unaccounted for. At last reports 105 bodies had been recovered and it is feared that three or four times that number perished. At Lexington, Ore., some houses were wrecked but no one was drowned. At Ione, Ore., one house was wrecked. The railway telegraph and telephone lines were badly damaged in the valley.

 

“The flood at Heppner subsided quickly. The resident district suffered most, though the business section was flooded…..Besides the dead, from 100 to 200 are reported injured….

 

“Bridges were swept away like so many matches…

 

“The fact that the accident occurred just before nightfall made it the more distressing, as little relief could be carried on during the cover of darkness…

 

“The Oregon and Navigation Company, on hearing of the disaster, at once prepared for a special relief train to leave The Dalles….

 

“A message to Arlington, Ore., direct from Heppner says three hundred were drowned in the cloudburst. The water ran one hour and a half. It came down in a mighty torrent, sweeping everything before it….” (Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned and Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 16: “The Dalles, Ore., June 16.–A telephone message from Ione states that the latest find in the ruins in Heppner indicates that the loss of life will be much greater than at first supposed. The casualty list will foot up 500 lives and many of the bodies may never be recovered….One hundred and fifty of the best residences were swept from the face of the earth….

 

“One hundred and ten bodies have been found in the frightful mass of ruins and debris which marks the spot of the once pretty town of Heppner, and 150 more are missing….

 

Bodies of Victims.

 

“Spokane, Wash., June 16.–Direct advices to the Chronicle from Heppner, Or., at 10 o’clock this morning, state that thus far the bodies of 200 victims of Sunday night’s disaster have been found. Two hundred more are supposed to be hidden in the ruins or to have been swept down the valley by the terrible flood. An estimate this morning places to total number of dead at 400. Nearly all of these were in Heppner, it being thought few perished in the valley below the town….

 

“A force of seventy-five men are digging graves on the hillside….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 17: “Heppner, Oregon, June 17.–Seven bodies of the flood victims were exhumed from a pile of debris one hundred feet thick this morning. Of the seven, one is a Chinaman and one a woman about 30 years old, unidentified….

 

“Spokane, Wash., June 17.–Just how many perished in Sunday’s flood at Heppner, Oregon, may never be known. It is believed many bodies have been buried in the mud deposited in the valley and may never be found….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies of Victims Found in the Debris.” 6-17-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 18: “Heppner, Oregon, June 18.–Two thousand men and hundreds of horses are at work this morning in the restoration of order out of chaos. The bodies of the two Stalter children have been found. The remains were found yesterday and preserved in hail-stone banks….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Pitiful Scenes at Heppner.” 6-18-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 19: “Heppner, Ore., June 19.–The developments of yesterday afternoon and this afternoon show the Heppner death list will pass estimates of the last two days. There are several large shifts of men at work and corpses are being found many miles away. At the rate bodies are coming in, the list will easily reach 200 actually found, identified and buried. Many bodies have undoubtedly been carried to the Columbia river, forty miles away, and will never be recovered.

 

“While the bodies yesterday and today ere in horrible condition, many were frozen stiff when brought into the hot sun, a phenomenon rendered possible by their covering of hail. Great banks of frozen hail still lie in the drifts with bodies….” (Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Death List Is Growing. Corpses Being Found Miles Away From The Town of Heppner.” 6-19-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 20: “Heppner, Or., June 20.–One more body was recovered from the debris this morning, making 162 recovered. Main street is practically clear of debris…” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “One More Body is Recovered.” 6-20-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 21: “Heppner, Ore., June 20.–The Oregon Railroad & Navigation company has resumed regular service to Heppner, the track having been repaired to-day, after an interruption of six days. Eight bodies were received at the morgue to-day, making a total of 167 recovered. Some were found below Douglas, a distance of about 30 miles. The situation at the morgue is becoming very trying, as the bodies are in a bad stage of decomposition….” (Anaconda Standard, MT. “More Bodies Are Found.” 6-21-1903, p. 1.)

 

June 22: “Heppner, Or., June 22.–The clearing away of the debris caused by the flooding is progressing rapidly….Only two of the buildings remain on Main street that were carried there by the waters, and the sediment that was deposited on the streets is being rapidly removed.

 

“The sanitary conditions of the town at present are far better than had been hoped for, but every precaution is being taken to guard against an epidemic. Dr. Smith, who represents the State Board of Health, ordered alkali from the hills to be placed upon the streets and that work is now being accomplished.

 

“The City Council has issued orders that no more dead bodies be brought into town without the consent of the Coroner, but today the bodies of Mrs. Robert Morgan and Andrew Peterson were so well preserved that they were brought to the morgue and prepared for burial. The missing bodies now number thirty-five.

 

“Eleven bodies were found today, only four of which were identified. They are: Mrs. Robert Morgan, Andrew Peterson, Iva Ashbaugh and Mrs. S. McBride….” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Clearing Away Debris.” 6-23-1903, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Anaconda Standard, MT. “More Bodies Are Found.” 6-21-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/anaconda-standard-jun-21-1903-p-1/

 

Burt, Christopher C. and Mark Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, 304 pages. Google preview accessed 1-1-2014 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NuP7ATq9nWgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009, 202 pages.

 

Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database. Louvain, Belgium:  Universite Catholique do Louvain. Accessed at: http://www.emdat.be/

 

Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Death List Is Growing. Corpses Being Found Miles Away From The Town of Heppner.” 6-19-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bakersfield-daily-californian-jun-19-1903-p-1/

 

Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned and Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-californian-jun-15-1903-p-1/

 

DenOuden, Bob. “Heppner flood of 1903.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, 9-14-2017 update. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/heppner_flood/#.WhylvTdrynJ

 

Eau Claire Leader, WI.  “More Bodies Recovered.” 6-24-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/eau-claire-leader-jun-24-1903-p-1/

 

Heppner Chamber of Commerce, OR. Heppner Flood of 1903. Taken from Harold C. Donner, The East Oregonian, 6-12-1953. Accessed 11-28-2017 at: http://www.heppnerchamber.com/flood1903

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 14, 1903. “Flash Flood Devastates Oregon Town.” Accessed 12-7-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=06/14&categoryId=disaster

 

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Portland, OR. Oregon’s Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s. Accessed 11-12-2009 at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/index.php

 

New York Times. “Former Floods Have Cost Many Lives.” 6-5-1921. Accessed 11-27-2017 at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D06EEDA1739E133A25756C0A9609C946095D6CF

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies of Victims Found in the Debris.” 6-17-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-17-1903-p-1/

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-16-1903-p-1/

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “One More Body is Recovered.” 6-20-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-20-1903-p-1/

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Pitiful Scenes at Heppner.” 6-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-18-1903-p-1/

 

Oregon State Archives. Oregon Historical County Records Guide. Morrow County History. Accessed 11-12-2009 at: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/county/cpmorrowhome.html

 

Perry, Charles A. Significant Floods in the United States During the 20^th Century – USGS Measures a Century of Floods (USGS Fact Sheet 024-00). USGS Kansas Water Science Center, March 2000, Accessed 8-21-2017 at: http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/fact-sheets/fs.024-00.html

 

Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Clearing Away Debris.” 6-23-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-jun-23-1903-p-3/

 

Sullivan, William L. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. Eugene, OR: Navillus Press, 2008.

 

Additional Reading

 

Highberger, Mark. Days of Sorrow: The Story of the Heppner Flood of 1903, Oregon’s Most Deadly Natural Disaster. Wallowa, OR: Bear Creek press, 2003.

 

 

[1] While the headline notes 400 deaths, the second sentence in the article notes “The casualty list will foot up 500 lives and many of the bodies may never be recovered.” Later, though, it is noted that 110 bodies were recovered and another 150 people were missing. Still later, in the next column, is a report from Spokane dated June 16 stating “that thus far the bodies of 200 victims…have been found. Two hundred more are supposed to be hidden in the ruins…”

[2] Not used in estimated fatality range in that this was a guestimate just after the flood and based on telephone calls.

[3] “About 200 people were simply swept away from the community….The flood also wreaked havoc on surrounding farms, killing another 125 people.” We do not use this number in our tally, however, in that we find no support for “another 125 people” killed on surrounding farms. It is true that Heppner residents were washed downstream and many were found miles away from Heppner. Sullivan writes that in the next town downstream from Heppner, Lexington, “No one had died” when the flash flood came through at about 7:00. [p.111] Similarly, no one reportedly died at Ione, about another eight miles down from Lexington.

[4] In the nest column over and down from note of 350 to 500 “believed to have been drowned.” Is a note of “A message to Arlington, Ore., direct from Heppner [which] says three hundred were drowned in the cloud burst.”

[5] “Eventually, 247 bodies were recovered, though many reports still list the casualty count at 251.”

[6] “The number of people who died in the Heppner Flood will never be know for certain. I hold the Heppner Floor responsible for about 245 deaths. ‘About’ is a necessary qualifier, because of the immediate after-flood chaos, the hurry to get bodies buried in the heat, the presence in town of maybe fifty visitors, the large number of children whom volunteers in the morgue couldn’t recognize, and the frightful condition of the bodies. My research counts 238 killed directly by the flood People I am sure were victims (including a woman who died two years later of her injuries), a handful I’m 99.9 percent certain about, the fourteen travelers who never came back for their luggage (and who, so far as we know, never showed up elsewhere), and twenty-seven whose bodies nobody could identify. I am adding seven more people who would not have did had there not been a Heppner Flood. They were living downstream from Heppner, in Lexington and Ione, and died of typhoid that autumn after their wells were contaminated in June.”

[7] These deaths, Byrd writes, were immediate deaths. As noted above, she believes there was a higher death toll.

[8] “One hundred and seventy-seven bodies have been recovered up to date [June 23] and thirty-five persons are missing.” Sub-headline of article reads “Death List at Heppner, Ore., Above Two Hundred.”

[9] A salesman staying in a room on the second floor of the Palace Hotel reported seeing “what appeared to be a great pyramid of rolling dirty wool. Projecting from this at every conceivable angle, writhing, twisting, and tumbling but ever moving onward with the speed of an express train, were trees houses, great rocks and tons of earth. The wall of water was fully 30 feet in height…” (Salesman Tooker in Byrd, p. 8.)

[10] Cites: Leslie M. Scott, in “A City of Death,” Oregonian, June 17, 1903. Notes that one man, Arthur Ducket, stayed in his room and survived.

–12-75  Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Looked Bad at First” [mine strike]. 6-18-1903, p. 6.[1]

–30-50  Hernandez, John. “Workers Struggle in a Mining town.” CopperArea.com, 3-25-2015.[2]

–13-50  McClintock. Arizona (Vol. 2). 1916, p. 423. (See Narrative Information section below.)

—   ~50  Park. “The 1903 ‘Mexican Affair’ at Clifton.” Journal of AZ History, V18, Sum. 1977.[3]

–17-30  Twelve bodies recovered, five children known drowned, not recovered; 13 speculated.[4]

–12-31  Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Many Persons Die in Arizona.” 6-13-1903, p. 1.

–12-30  Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Victims of the Flood.” 6-12-1903, p. 1.[5]

—  8-30  Arizona Silver Belt., Globe, Gila Co., AZ. “The Clifton Flood Disaster.” 6-11-1903, p.1.

—     20  Colfax Gazette, WA. “All Over The Union.” 6-12-1903, p. 1.[6]

–15-20  12 bodies. Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Delayed in Transmission.” 6-12-1903, p. 1.[7]

—  7-13  Blanchard estimate.[8]

—       7  Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Saved By The Flood.” 6-23-1903, p. 5.

 

Narrative Information

McClintock: “Clifton has been visited intermittently by destructive floods that have torn down the channels of the San Francisco River and of Chase Creek. About the worst was June 9, 1903, during the time of the great mining strike. The principal damage was in the Valley of Chase Creek, which had been thickly settled by the lower class of Mexicans. While only thirteen bodies were recovered, possibly fifty Mexicans died, carried down by the flood, which at first was of mud as thick as molasses, for concentrator retaining dams had burst in the cañons above. The damage done approximated $100,000. To the relief work the local mining companies and banks contributed a fund of $10,000, declining assistance offered by other towns in the Southwest.” (McClintock. Arizona (Vol. 2). 1916, p. 423.)

Park on Mine Strike and Flood: “….During the next few days [after a walk-out the morning of June 3], the fury of man and the elements merged to bring the Clifton strike to a spectacular climax. At the outbreak of the strike Governor Brodie ordered the Arizona Rangers to the scene. On June 9, they watched some 2000…workers conduct a one-hour parade through the streets of Morenci in defiance of the Rangers and a relentless downpour of rain….the rain continued and flooding was impelled by thunderstorms in the adjacent mountains. Suddenly, two torrents of water converged on the junction of Chase Creek and the San Francisco River, forming a crest that ripped through the length of Clifton, destroyed nearly $100,000 in property and took a death toll of nearly fifty persons, according to later estimates[9]….the narrow valley of Chase Creek which was thickly settled by Mexican laborers and their families….”

Hjalmarson, H. W. (USGS): “Clifton is one of the best examples of a community in the southwestern United States that frequently receives major damage by flooding. Many lives have been lost and many homes and businesses destroyed by floods in the San Francisco River and Chase Creek.” [p. 4.]

“The San Francisco River basin above Clifton is mountainous with steep rugged slopes and a high topographic relief. Most of the headwater area of the 2,766-square-mile basin is above 7,500 ft with a maximum altitude of nearly 11,000 ft above sea level… The channel of the San Francisco River at Clifton is about 3,450 ft above sea level. Most of the surrounding terrain in the Clifton area ranges in altitude from 4,000 to more than 7,000 ft…. Occasionally, persistent tropical surges of moist air from the south and southwest produce intense rainfall for a few hours, causing major floods.” [p. 10.]  (Hjalmarson, H. W. (USGS). Flood of October 1983 and History of Flooding Along the San Francisco River, Clifton, Arizona. 1990.)

[No mention, though, is made of 1903 flood. Within history section, discussion skips from 1891 flood to floods in 1905 and 1906.]

 

Newspapers at the Time

June 10, AZ Republican: “Delayed in Transmission. Clifton, Ariz., June 10. — (Special) — A cloudburst occurred on Chase creek yesterday afternoon which did a vast amount of damage to the town of Clifton. It is estimated that between fifteen and twenty people were drowned. So far twelve bodies have been recovered, but many others are known to be dead. The flood came down Chase creek with a breast of eight feet, giving the people no time to make their escape from their homes, and buildings on the north side of the avenue were mostly destroyed and the stores on the south side of the street were flooded with five or six feet of water. The Bessemer Café building, the Manila saloon, and the Susie Chinese store were swept away and two Chinamen were drowned.

“The Metcalf train from Clifton to Metcalf met the flood about three miles above the town. The engineer stopped the train and about sixty passengers made their escape before the worst of the flood struck the train, which was doubled up and rolled into the seething torrent of rushing waters. The track between Clifton and Metcalf for eight miles is probably ruined.

“The flood lasted for only an hour but many bridges were destroyed and the damage will amount to a large sum.

“Morenci was not damaged by the flood but the Morenci and Southwestern railroad trestle which spans the canyon was washed out. The flood came down the Morenci canyon with a breast of twenty feet. Several teams in the canyon were washed away but the drivers managed to escape. Had the flood occurred at night several hundred people would have been drowned. It will be many days before the wreckage can be cleared away and all the bodies recovered.

“The loss to the Arizona Copper company will be quite heavy and will cause the suspension of operations for some weeks to repair the railroad to Metcalf and the company’s plant. The strike situation remains about the same. Conflicts are expected any time and a company of troops will arrive tonight.” (Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Delayed in Transmission” [Clifton Flood]. 6-12-1903, p. 1.)

June 11, AZ Republican: “Clifton, Ariz., June 11.– (Special) — Even at this date it is impossible to state the exact number of those drowned by the flood of Tuesday. Twelve bodies only have been recovered but the loss generally is placed at about thirty. One man saw twelve people struggling in the water and perhaps all of them were lost. One Mexican woman lost five children. None of the bodies have been recovered. Hundreds of men are busy clearing up the wreckage and it is likely that many bodies will yet be recovered.

“The ‘Frisco river is now carrying a strong current, hence the bodies washed into it will probably never be recovered as they will be carried away or buried beneath the silt and tailings. It will be two or three weeks before the railroad can be opened to Metcalf. However this will give employment to all the idle men in Clifton and Metcalf which will keep the strikers busy. Troops have arrived at Morenci and the strikers though sullen are quiet and it is generally thought that serious trouble will now be averted.

“The list of the dead so far recovered are:

Juan Vega, Mexican, aged 53.

Louis F. Jacques, American, aged 37.

Sun Seven, Chinaman, aged 35.

James Nash, American, aged 35.

Juanita Cuarters, Mexican, aged 70.

Miss Gay Midlin, American, aged 16.

Alvina Rorte, American, aged 13.

“Parties from Solomonville report that two bodies passed there in the Gila river yesterday morning.” (Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Victims of the Flood.” 6-12-1903, p. 1.)

June 11, AZ Silver Belt: “Special to the Arizona Silver Belt: Clifton, Ariz., June 11. — Clifton, which has been the scene of so much turmoil during the past ten days on account of the strike of mine employes, suffered a misfortune of another kind on Tuesday afternoon [June 9]. About 4 o’clock on that day a cloudburst occurred about three miles above Clifton, and without any warning a great breast of water eight feet deep came down Chase creek with torrential fury, carrying almost every obstruction before it.

“Many people in houses directly in the path of the flood had no time to escape to places of safety, and consequently there was considerable loss of life. Thus far eight bodies have been recovered, three of them white adults and one child, the others being Mexicans and Chinamen….In addition to the bodies recovered, the fatalities are believed to number at least thirty, as that many persons are reported to be missing.

“Chase creek, which is lined on both sides by business houses and dwellings is quite narrow. Many of the buildings are frame and these were dislodged and swept to devastation on the crest of the flood, while the water surged into exposed brick and adobe buildings, dong much damage to interiors and contents.

“The Arizona Copper company’s two-story brick store building, situated below the mouth of Chase creek, was flooded in its lower story, and the damage sustained, principally to the stock of goods and fixtures, is estimated at $50,000. It is difficult, as yet, to compute the damage done to other property, but it will not fall short of $100,000. Strange to say, the plant of the Arizona Copper company suffered no material damage, except that considerable mud and debris was deposited in and about portions of the works. The concentrator caught fire from the slacking of lime at the lime kiln, but the flames were extinguished before serious damage was done.

“The portion of the town through which Chase creek runs and along the San Francisco river presents a scene of desolation, and at points where barriers interposed, piles of wreckage were deposited.

“The greatest amount of debris lodged against the railroad depot, and the mass is so great that it is estimated that it will take a force of fifty men three days to remove it.

“The destruction wrought by the flood is viewed as a greater calamity by the citizens of Clifton, at this time, when everybody is discouraged over the strike and consequent suspension by the mining companies….” (Arizona Silver Belt., Globe, Gila County, AZ. “The Clifton Flood Disaster…Many Lives Reported Lost.” 6-11-1903, p. 1.)

June 12, Burlington Hawk-Eye: “El Paso, Tex., June 12. — Twelve bodies of flood victims have been recovered at Clifton, Arizona, but the death list generally is placed at thirty-one. Many of the bodies never will be recovered, although hundreds of men, including many of the striking miners, are engaged in the search. The rush of waters bore most of the victims from Chase Creek into the San Francisco river. So strong is the current that the bodies will be carried far down the stream or will be covered with wreckage….

“Clifton had its hero on horseback, similar to the man who rode down the valley at Johnstown, Pa., and warned the people. The Clifton hero rode at breakneck speed five minutes ahead of the torrent and shouted to the settlers to flee to higher grounds. His warning saved hundreds of lives.”  (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Many Persons Die in Arizona.” 6-13-1903, p. 1.)

June 18, AZ Republican: “…Two hundred men will go to work to the Arizona Copper company to clear up Chase Creek canyon where the cloudburst of Tuesday wrecked fourteen miles of the Baby Gauge [unclear] railway….It has been raining for a week and the country is deep in mud. All wagon roads are practically gone. Reports from Clifton are that though a dozen bodies have been found it is believed that fully seventy-five Mexicans, mainly women and children have perished.” (Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Looked Bad at First” [mine strike]. 6-18-1903, p. 6.)

June 18, AZ Silver Belt: “John A. Church, who returned from Clifton last Saturday, informs us that the Chase creek flood was not so serious as at first reported. The marks left on the rocks at the sides of the channel indicated that the water was not more than four feet deep.

“People had ample warning but were incredulous and would not leave the houses along Chase creek until too late. One man jumped from a window of a house surrounded by water and was making his way through the flood when a stick of wood struck him on the head stunning him, and he was drowned. His body was found at the Arizona Copper company’s works, lying on a mattress with hands folded over the breast, as though he had been laid out for burial.

“People lost their lives by becoming bewildered. A young girl, a waitress in a restaurant, resisted all efforts to rescue her from the building, which was wrecked and she drowned.

“The Arizona Copper company’s store was not damaged, as reported, but only their warehouse, in which was stored heavy merchandise in barrels. This warehouse was partially flooded and tailings and slime deposited. The principal damage suffered by the company was to the Coronado railroad, which was washed out at several places. Until the railroad is repaired, which will take about two weeks, the Arizona and Shannon companies cannot resume smelting.
“The strike was over and everything quiet at Clifton when Mr. Church left there.” (Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, Gila County. “Returned From Clifton.” 6-18-1903, p. 1.)

June 23, AZ Republican: “….Mrs. Pearl Hill and two children have arrived in Mesa from Clifton. The flood, she said, was terrible and did much damage, as every store and business place on Chase creek was either carried away, demolished or stood several feet in water. The flood was not as high as they have had before, but the wash had been filled up by the tailings from the mill and the current was thrown down the road that divided the row of business houses, and came with such force that most of them were carried away. From her door which was well above the line of the flood, Mrs. Hill saw houses, cattle and people washed by, and the roar of the tempest and the cries of animals and screams of people were enough to almost drive one crazy….” (Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Mesa.” 6-23-1903, p. 6.)

June 23, AZ Republican: “Adjutant General Leavell, who returned on Sunday morning from Morenci, said yesterday that terrible as the flood there was it was perhaps a fortunate thing. But for it he believes, and it is the belief of the people of Clifton and Morenci, that there would have been a collision between the strikers and the authorities. The strikers were though paralyzed for the moment by the catastrophe and before they had recovered from their paralysis the troops had arrived and the danger was over. There were seven lives lost in the flood. Col. Leavell believes there would have been many more lost if a collision had occurred.” (Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Saved By The Flood.” 6-23-1903, p. 5.)

 

Sources

Arizona Republican (Weekly), Phoenix. “Delayed in Transmission” [Clifton Flood]. 6-12-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/phoenix/phoenix-arizona-republican/1903/06-12?tag

 Arizona Republican (Weekly), Phoenix. “Looked Bad at First” [mine strike]. 6-18-1903, p. 6. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/phoenix/phoenix-arizona-republican/1903/06-18/page-14?tag

Arizona Republican (Weekly), Phoenix. “Mesa.” 6-23-1903, p. 6. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/phoenix/phoenix-arizona-republican/1903/06-23/page-6?tag

Arizona Republican (Weekly), Phoenix. “Saved By The Flood.” 6-23-1903, p. 5. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/phoenix/phoenix-arizona-republican/1903/06-23/page-5?tag

 Arizona Republican (Weekly), Phoenix. “Victims of the Flood.” 6-12-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/phoenix/phoenix-arizona-republican/1903/06-12?tag

Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, Gila County. “Returned From Clifton.” 6-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/globe/globe-arizona-silver-belt/1903/06-18?tag

Arizona Silver Belt., Globe, Gila County, AZ. “The Clifton Flood Disaster. A Cloudburst Above the Town Transforms Chase Creek into a Torrent. Many Lives Reported Lost.” 6-11-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/arizona/globe/globe-arizona-silver-belt/1903/06-11?tag

Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Many Persons Die in Arizona.” 6-13-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/burlington/burlington-hawk-eye-2/1903/06-13?tag

Colfax Gazette, WA. “All Over The Union.” 6-12-1903, p. 1. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085460/1903-06-12/ed-1/seq-1.pdf

Hernandez, John. “Workers Struggle in a Mining town.” CopperArea.com, 3-25-2015. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: http://www.copperarea.com/pages/workers-struggle-in-a-mining-town/

Hjalmarson, H. W. (USGS). Flood of October 1983 and History of Flooding Along the San Francisco River, Clifton, Arizona. (Water-Resources Investigations Report 85-4225-B, prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation). Tucson, AZ: U.S. Geological Survey, January 1990. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1985/4225b/report.pdf

McClintock, James H. Arizona. Prehistoric, Aboriginal, Pioneer, Modern (Vol. II). Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=73kUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Park, Joseph F. “The 1903 ‘Mexican Affair’ at Clifton.” Journal of Arizona History, V18, Summer 1977, pp. 119-148. Accessed 2-21-2017 at: http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/bisbee/docs/jahpark.html

 

 

[1] “Reports from Clifton are that though a dozen bodies have been found it is believed that fully seventy-five Mexicans, mainly women and children have perished.”

[2] No citation is given, but the range of 30-50 reflects newspaper reporting at the time which speculated that 30-50 people died beyond the 7-12 bodies (depending on source) recovered.

[3] Park, however, appears to be drawing upon press reports which do indeed speculate on 15-75 fatalities beyond the 12 reported “recovered” bodies. We use quotation marks in that some newspaper reports indicate seven or eight recovered fatalities. Notable here is that in initial reports of the flood which notes 12 fatalities, the names of seven of them are provided. Park also cites “McClintock,” but it is not clear that he is not drawing on speculative reporting.

[4] Arizona Republican, Phoenix. “Victims of the Flood.” 6-12-1903, p. 1.

[5] The names of seven identified fatalities are given.

[6] “Tuesday, June 9….Twenty people were drowned by a cloudburst near Clifton, Arizona. A wall of water eight feet high rushed down Chase creek without giving the inhabitants any warning. Wires are all down to Clifton.”

[7] “It is estimated that between fifteen and twenty people were drowned….So far twelve bodies have been recovered, but many others are known to be dead.”

[8] Reports of bodies recovered, from the sources cited, starts with 12 but later varies on seven, eight, 12 and 13 (McClintock), with wide ranging speculations on persons believed to have perished, mostly Mexicans. It may very well be that more, perhaps many more, than 7-13 persons died, particularly in that these would most likely have been poor Mexican miner families, but there is no documentary record to support these speculative deaths.

[9] In footnote 53 Park writes: “McClintock, Arizona, Vol. 2, p. 424, quotes these figures [actually p. 423]. Early reports set the toll at thirty dead and about $50,000 in damage (Bisbee Daily Review, June 10, 1903. The flood broke through several concentrator retaining dams in the canyons above the town, releasing a tremendous quantity of mud and debris. Consequently only about dozen bodies were recovered.” [Blanchard: the reference to McClintock is to James H. McClintock, and his 3-volume set entitled Arizona: Prehistoric — Aboriginal, Pioneer — Modern, published in Chicago, by S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., in 1916.]