Obituaries (October 14)

Wreck on the D.&H.
Charles Craig & Morris Keglar
Bainbridge Republican & Express, June 20, 1907

A back wreck occurred on the D.&H. Tuesday morning about fifteen minutes past seven o'clock, one mile and a half above this village [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY], in which two men were killed.  The scene of the wreck was just back of the Alvin Hayes farm residence above the Beatty crossing.  A fast freight going east overtook another train going in the same direction, causing a rear end collision, the engine of the second train crashing into the caboose of the first train.  The impact was so great that the engine was thrown from the track down a fifteen foot embankment and rolled over once and a half. The engineer and firemen were crushed beneath the engine and instantly killed.  It is believed that just before the collision the engineer jumped and the engine rolled onto him, and that the fireman was caught while at work near the tender and went down with the engine. The caboose of the first train was smashed into splinters and a steel coal car was rendered shapeless. A coal car next to the derailed engine was thrown across the west bound track and together with the wreckage of the caboose, burned. The remained of both trains were left on the track.

It was a terrible accident considering the fact that from the spot where it occurred extended a straight and clear stretch of track for some distance. The train ahead could have been seen by the engineer of the approaching train and it almost seems that the collision could have been averted.  It was stated at the scene of the wreck that the crew of the engine which caused the collision had been on duty continuously for twenty-five hours and that the engineer had fallen asleep only awaking in time to jump.  It was also said that the air brakes on the train failed to work which was the cause of failure to check the speed of the train.  That the engine struck the caboose with great force was seen by its position afterward, some distance from the track.  Two members of the first train crew who were in the caboose saved their lives by jumping.

The engineer who was killed was Charles Craig, age 25 years, and lived at Carbondale [Lackawanna Co. PA].  He was married and had one child.  His wife and child are in the west on a visit.  The fireman was Morris Keglar, aged 21, who was unmarried and also lived at Carbondale.

The news of the wreck reached this station soon after its occurrence and many people hastened to the scene.  Both tracks were blocked for some time.  The Oneonta wrecking crew arrived and the tracks were cleared at 11 a.m. so as to resume the running of trains.  Coroner Johnson, of Oxford, was sent for and viewed the bodies of the dead engineer and fireman. They were placed in charge of Undertaker Hastings and brought to this village and shipped to their homes in Carbondale on the evening train.

Emma A. (Waldron) Harrington

January 27, 1840 - November 1907

At the family residence yesterday occurred the death of Emma A. Waldron, wife of A.D. Harrington.  She was born January 27, 1840 at Pharsalia [Chenango Co., NY], the daughter of Mirtalu N. and Calesta (Bourne) Waldron, and was united in marriage Sept. 30, 1862, to Mr. Harrington in the town of her birth.  The union was one of happiness unbroken until the shadow of illness fell upon the home.  In 1872 they came to Oxford [Chenango Co., NY] to reside.  Mrs. Harrington had been seriously ill during only the last ten weeks, five of which was spent at Faxton Hospital, Utica, returning home last week Tuesday and had made no complaint of pain or suffering since her return.  The immediate cause of death was from a shock sustained at 2 o'clock Sunday morning.  Everything possible had been done that science could suggest and loving hands accomplish, but she gradually grew unconscious until Monday noon and passed away at 12:30 p.m. yesterday.  Mrs. Harrington was a member of the Congregational church and took an active part in its work.  For many years she was a standard teacher in the Sunday school.  She was also an active member of the Round Robin -?- until illness compelled her to resign from the work she so well enjoyed.  Besides her husband, Mrs. Harrington is survived by a son J. Waldron Harrington of this village and one sister, Dr. M.M. Waldron, resident physician of Hampton Normal Institute, Hampton, Va.  The funeral will be held from her late home Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Rev. Theo. W. Harris officiating.  It is expected that Rev. Dr. Sutherland of Wellsville, a former pastor of the Congregational church, will be present and assist in the services.  [Buried Riverview cemetery, Oxford, NY]

Joseph Dwight VanValkenburgh, Jr.

16 September 1842 - 4 November 1907

The death of J.D. VanValkenburgh occurred at his home about two miles east of this village on Monday morning at 9 o'clock, from acute Bright's disease, a disease from which he had been a sufferer for nearly a year, aged 58 years.  Mr. VanValkenburgh was a man of a pronounced character and followed out his own ideas and what he thought was right with a determination to win, which at times gained more disapproval than praise from his friends.  Withall he was a good citizen, one who was always looking to the advancement of his home town and its people and by his death we lose a man the community can ill-afford to spare.  He was for many years one of the most prominent fire insurance men in the state, holding a high position with the American Central company with offices in New York.  Upon retiring from that company he bought the VanValkenburgh homestead farm and for a number of years has made farming his principal vocation, but still had offices in this village doing a general insurance business.  He was at the head of the Brookside water works company, which until the municipal system was laid was the principal water company of this village.  He is survived by a wife, five sons, Ralph D., of Chicago, Ill., Dr. Raymond H., of Schenectady, and Richard, Edward and Dwight of this town, and three daughters, Mrs. Raymond Elliott and Emma and Gertrude VanValkenburgh, of this town.  His funeral will be held Thursday afternoon from his late home, Rev. J. A. Hansen of the Central Baptist church officiating.  [Buried Sylvan Lawn Cemetery, Greene, Chenango Co., NY]

Charles Snyder

October 1907

Charles Snyder, who lives in the town of Coventry [Chenango Co., NY], a few miles from Page Brook, was shot Friday afternoon about 3 o'clock by having the contents of a shot gun discharged in his stomach, while in a fight with Frank Allen in Snyder's house.  Physicians from both Greene and Harpursville were called but Snyder died in about three hours, previously making an ante-mortem statement relieving Allen from all blame in the shooting.  Allen, who is a carpenter, and Snyder, who was a helper, worked for Edgar Watrous of South Coventry.  During the afternoon they started for Snyder's house, where hard cider was imbibed. The latter's wife, who was Lucy Kruger, being the innocent cause of the quarrel, the two men making an agreement outside the house concerning her, which she would not consent to, and which Snyder denied when she upbraided him for it.  This gave Allen the lie, and in the heart of the war of words Snyder punched him. Then he went to another room and bringing out the gun began to club Allen. As he struck at Allen, the gun was discharged with the muzzle against Snyder's stomach, and he received the full charge. The woman was the only witness to the quarrel and fight, but Snyder bore out her statements, and Allen threw additional light on the events leading up to the Tragedy.  Coroner George D. Johnson of this village visited the scene Saturday and declared there is no doubt that the gun accidentally discharged.  Snyder was a young man between 25 and 30 years of age and of foreign birth.  He had no relatives in this part of the country and so far as could be learned, he is alone in the world.  He had lived in the vicinity of Greene or Coventry for about three years, working out by the day.