Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
Train Wreck
April
7, 1886
A
Passenger Train in Massachusetts Plunges 200
Feet Down an Embankment.
The Cars Take Fire and a Passenger is Roasted
Alive Without the Chance of Succor.
Probably a Hundred Passengers on Board, and only
Three Found Uninjured—The Rails Spread.
A Dozen Dead Bodies Recovered and the Work Not
Yet Finished—Many Killed While Falling.
GREENFIELD, Mass., April 8.—A terrible
disaster occurred on the Fitchburg railroad last
night midway between Bardwell's ferry and West
Deerfield Station, the east-bound passenger
train, due at Greenfield at 6:05 p. m., going
over an embankment 200 feet high. Six bodies
have already been taken out of the ruins, and it
is not known how many others were killed. The
train was the Eastern express, and consisted of
a baggage-car, a smoker, a sleeping-car,
mail-car and two ordinary passenger-cars. The
train was in charge of
Conductor Foster, with
Herbert Littlejohn
as engineer. The point where the accident
occurred is the most dangerous on the road. The
train runs on the edge of an embankment two
hundred feet above Deerfield river. The bank is
steep and covered with huge bowlders [sic] and
masses of rock. When the train arrived at this
point the track commenced to settle under it for
a distance covering its entire length. The
coaches broke from their trucks [sic] and rolled
over and over down the precipice. The engine
broke from the tender, tearing up the track for
twenty feet. Below rolled the Deerfield river,
on the very edge of which the cars were thrown.
As soon as they struck they caught fire from the
stoves.
The sleeping-car was an entire wreck. It was
occupied by several passengers, not one of whom,
at this hour, is known to have escaped injury.
One man, whose name is unknown, is imprisoned in
the wreck of the sleeper, where he is being
burned alive. One little girl was picked up
dead.
As soon as the news reached Greenfield a special
train was made up and sent to the scene of the
disaster, having on board several physicians,
section men and a few citizens. On arriving at
the scene of the wreck a horrible sight was
witnessed. Darkness had settled over the spot.
Far down on the river bank could be seen the
smouldering [sic] embers of the holocaust. It
was impossible to tell who was hurt and who was
killed. Stout-hearted trackmen were lowered
cautiously down the treacherous height and the
work of rescue began.
Merritt Seely,
superintendent of the National Express Company
of Boston, was found in the wreck and taken into
the relief car. He had a would four inches long
and half an inch wide over his left temple. His
left thigh was broken and also his left leg at
the knee, beside which he sustained internal
injuries from which he will die.
W. D. Crandall,
postal clerk, was plunged into the river and got
ashore with difficulty. He was wounded about the
head and his arm was fractured.
The Fitchburg coach was the only one that
escaped the conflagration.
Deputy Sheriff Bryant, of
Greenfield, who was in this car,
RESCUED TWO CHILDREN FROM THE FLAMES,
but one was dead and the other dying. Their
parents were on board but cannot be found. Some
of the injured and dead were taken to Shelburne
Falls and some of the wounded to Greenfield.
C. P. Bell,
of Nashua, N. H., was cut slightly on the head
and leg, but not seriously hurt. He was thrown
head-foremost into the river and went to the
bottom, barely escaping drowning.
Conductor Foster
is reported safe and [b]ut slightly
injured.
D. C. Wells,
of Andover, had his shoulder hurt and his head
cut. The car in which he was riding was broken
in two and stood on end within a few feet of the
river bank.
Nicholas Dorgan,
of Greenfield, had his left arm and ankle broken
and was seriously injured internally. A little
girl, who was a passenger on the train, died in
his arms from injuries received.
J. E. Priest,
of Littleton, N. H., had his face and head cut.
Engineer Littlejohn,
of North Adams, was badly scalded, it is
believed fatally.
A. K. Warner,
chairman of the Greenfield board of
selectmen, was badly hurt, but his injuries are
not fatal. Great excitement prevails all along
the road between here and North Adams. Being
interviewed by wire last night at Shelburne
Falls, Conductor Foster said: "I am unable to
state how many were on the train. Only three men
have thus far been found who escaped injury, and
they set the number of passengers all the way
from twenty-five to one hundred."
No doubt half a dozen were
KILLED OUTRIGHT WHILE FALLING
and as many more were fatally injured. The
west-bound express was delayed at Greenfield and
West Deerfield two hours, while a relief train
with surgeons and their assistants was sent out
on its time. The locomotive is a complete wreck,
but remains on the track, while its tender is
down the bank.
The following persons were taken to Shelburne
Falls, more or less injured:
H. G. Littlejohn,
brother of the engineer, with wife and
two children, both of whom have since died;
A. D. Cornen, Allen
Lewis, E. B. Stowe, A. C. Harvey, of
Boston, badly hurt; J.
P. Fowler, A. R. Warner, of
Greenfield; H. C.
Couillard, of Charlemont;
E. W. Dunnells, of Waltham;
Miss Darby and May Gowing. A
Miss Cornell is badly hurt, as is
Mail Agent Putney. A. W. Watterhouse,
is missing.
It was reported in Shelburne Falls that thirteen
were killed outright, but this was not verified.
Fears are entertained that the list of deaths
and casualties will be greatly increased as the
work of recovery progresses. A portion of the
mail is reported lost in the river. It is
learned that the number of injured at Shelburne
Falls is nineteen.
LATER.—Engineer
Littlejohn is dead.
Henry Couillard
will die before morning. Three more dead bodies
have been found in the wreck.
The train at the time of the accident was
running at the rate of about twenty miles an
hour. Frank Lane,
of Boston, salesman for a New York
firm, jumped from the train, and is believed to
be the only person who saw the train go down the
embankment. He says there were three passengers
in the drawing-room car.
FOUR MORE DEAD.
At midnight it was reported that four more dead
bodies were removed from the wreck, and it was
believed that others had been swept down the
river. Of the four bodies one was recognized as
that of Brakeman
Spicer. It is impossible to give a
complete list of the killed and wounded at
present.
Decatur Daily Republican, Decatur, IL 8
Apr 1886
All of the 46 passengers on the train are now
accounted for as follows:
THE TEN DEAD.
Engineer Herbert P.
Littlejohn, 32, North Adams.
Brakeman Mark F. Spencer, Waltham.
Merrit Seely, 47, Great Barrington,
superintentent [sic] of the New England division
of the National express company.
Edward E. Hayden, 31, traveling
salesman of the Fisk manufacturing company of
Springfield, Blanford.
E. F. Whitehouse, 40, traveling agent
of the Atlanta and Chicago railroad, Boston.
Charles A. Temple, 41, New England
agent of Sylvester Hilton & Co., of New York,
Wakefield.
Charles H. Durgin, 42, traveling
salesman for Fiedler, Moeldner & Co., Boston.
J. R. Gould, 60, Millbury, Mass.
Viola G. Littlejohn, 3 years and 5
months, Shelburne Falls.
Otis H. Littlejohn, 1 year and 7
months, Shelburne Falls.
THE THIRTY-ONE WOUNDED.
Conductor John Foster,
Waltham, bruised.
Baggage Master J. B. Sturtevant,
Waltham, badly bruised.
Fireman Charles Richardson, North
Adams, lost a finger and bruised.
Brakeman Walter Parks, Cambridge, N.
Y., badly hurt.
Express Messenger A. L. Streeter, Troy, N. Y.,
cuts on the head and legs, bruised.
Mail Agent Pitney, Eagle Bridge, N.
Y., badly bruised.
Postal Clerk D. L. Crandal, Athol,
slight.
Fred G. Streeter, railroad employe
[sic], Adams, considerably bruised.
Aaron Lewis, colored porter, slight.
A. G. Littlejohn, Shelburne Falls,
slight.
Mrs. Littlejohn, bruised about the
head.
Miss Ada Carnell, Shelburne Falls,
seriously hurt.
Miss Mary Gowing, Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., slight.
Henry C. Couillard, Charlemont, back
hurt.
Anson K. Warner, chairman Greenfield
selectmen, serious.
J. F. Fowler, drover, Eagle Bridge,
N. Y., badly hurt about the head.
Henry A. Scribner, mail agent,
Waltham.
A. C. Harvey, Boston, bruised.
E. W. Dunnells, Waltham, slight.
John Crowley, North Adams, cut and
bruised.
J. E. Priest, Littleton, N. H., face
and head cut.
J. M. Watkins, Oswego, N. Y., hurt
slightly in the back.
C. B. Bell, Nashua, N. H., slight.
D. C. Wells, Andover,
head cut and shoulder jammed.
Nicholas Dorgan, Greenfield, shoulder
broken.
H. A. Holmes, Zylonite, slight.
F. S. Hagar, Greenfield, slight.
E. H. Arnold, North Adams, slight.
Chauncey Abbey, Fredonia, N. Y.
W. A. Ford, Boston, cut about the
head.
One name refused.
THE FIVE UNINJURED.
Deputy Sheriff Chauncey
Bryant, Greenfield.
Frank Lane, Boston.
W. H. Wilcox, Syracuse, N. Y.
G. H. Haulenbeck, Thompson's
advertising agency, New York city.
One name refused.
The Fitchburg Sentinel, Fitchburg, MA 9
Apr 1886
Transcribed by
Ken. Thank you, Ken!
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