Whitesboro, NY Train Wreck

May 12, 1858

Dreadful Railroad Accident!

Morning Herald Office.

UTICA, May 12. -- A frightful Railroad accident occurred this morning at 6 ½ o,clock, on the Central Railroad, by the crushing of a bridge over the Saquoit Creek, some 3 ½ miles west of this city, near Whitesboro.

Seven or eight persons are already dead. Five or six others are barely alive, and the injured number forty or more. The killed are, A. MOORE of Rising Sun, Ind, head crushed, since died; two children of ABRAHAM MACK, of Cincinnati; an unknown man lying in the baggage room at Utica; an Irishman aged apparently 60 years, name unknown – his head entirely smashed, and he seems to have died instantly; a negro whose legs are cut off; an infant child of CARL HOVER, St. Louis. The wounded are JAS. WARD, Schenectady, Conductor of the train, badly bruised, but it is believed not dangerously; W. H. PERKINS, grocer, Rochester, N. Y., badly hurt about the head and chest; he probably will not recover; WALTER H. SHUBE, of Rome, Ohio, injured about the spine, but it is thought not dangerously; M. BELTMAN, Cincinnati, injured very seriously about the head and chest, arm also fractured; it is feared he will not recover.

S. P. TUCKER, Dry Ridge, Grant C., Ky., slightly injured about the shoulder and side; GEO. COIT, Columbus, Ohio, wounded in the leg but not seriously.

The three following are from Lousville [sic] Ky. --- C. F. DUSHEE, a lad 15 or 16 years old, injured about the head slightly; MRS. SCHENCK, arm and head badly hurt; MISS ALDRICH, slightly bruised.

A. COBB, Yorkshire, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y., slightly cut on the head, and shoulders severely bruised; MR. And MRS. SPHOVEN, residence not ascertained, MRS. S. has about three inches of the scalp torn off, a tooth knocked out, and otherwise seriously injured. Faint hopes are entertained of her recovery. CARL HOOVER of St. Louis, bound for Germany, was pretty severely bruised. He was accompanied by his wife and little child; the former is somewhat bruised and burned --- the latter an infant son two years old, was badly burned by the upsetting of the stove in the car, and probably will not recover. MR. RILEY of Albany, brakesman [sic] on the train, has a broken leg. MR. HALLY of Schenectady, another brakesman [sic], is severely bruised.

J. F. TRACY, Superintendent of the Chicago & R. I. R. R., badly cut over the eye but not dangerously; JOHN CLEMENS, of Erie, Pa, badly bruised and sprained, but left in the next train; MISS COOK of Sunbury, Delaware Co., N.Y., slightly bruised about the head; S. S. HORTON, Binghampton, slightly bruised; WM. HART, Cleveland, O., bad contusion on the head and arm, bruised but not dangerously; A. A. LANGWORTHY, St. Clairville, Chat. Co., N. Y., slightly injured; S. M. ALLEN, President of the Niagara Falls Co., slightly hurt; R. W. BUCKLEY and sister MARY of New York, both slightly bruised; MRS. L. W. ANDREWS, Tempster, N. H., bruised slightly; MR. BICKNELL, of Rome, father of CASHIER BICKNELL, pretty badly hurt; a lady from Kentucky name unknown is padly [sic] wounded and probably will not recover; ABRAM MACK, wife and six children, all were more or less injured, two of the children were dead, the parents will recover; JOSEPHENE HOUBLER, a young lady accompanying MR. And MRS. MACK, is badly hurt on the head; DAVID LEVI (unsure), of Cincinnati, had a bad compression of the ribs, but will brobably [sic] recover; RAPHAEL BOWMAN, of Strasburg, Germany, has a fractured leg and a wound on the head; JOHN McDONALD, of Morris, Otsgo [sic] Co., badly hurt about the head and right arm, but will recover.

JOHN WALLACE, of Eagle Harbor, Lake Superior, neck hurt; JOHN MUNROE, Greenhouse, hurt internally of left side; HUGH LISLAY, of Minnesota, bound for Dover, head cut open badly, the scalp torn off the forehead, and eyelid cut loose; MR. YATES, of Fulton, scalp loosened, but not seriously injured; G. E. KNOWLES, of Samboraton Bridge, N. H., terribly bruised about the head, is now deranged, and can hardly recover; the wife of MICHAEL BRODERICK, of Boston, had her scalp completely but around, her husband and child on adjoining seats were not injured; MRS. MARY BACHELDOR, mother-in-law of DR. L. W. FASQUELLE, of St. Johns, Mich., was hurt across the neck and shoulder, and internally. Many others were more or less bruised, but none so seriously as those mentioned. The accident occurred to the Cincinnati Express, due here at 6:20 A. M. It was somewhat behind time at Whitesboro, and was coming at a high rate of speed when it met on the bridge over the Sauquoit Creek, the Utica Accommodation for the west, each on its own track. The engines crossed the bridge, but as the passenger cars of the Express and the freight cars of the Accommodation came upon it, the north side gave way, precipitating the freight carts into the creek, and piling the passenger cars one above the other, splintering platforms and seats to atoms, as the cars struck the abutment.

The persons injured were all on the express. The passenger car on the accommodation did not reach the bridge.

Different stories are told as to the cause of the accident. One is that an axle of the express baggage car broke as it reached the bridge, and thus threw the trains together. The other attributes the casualty to the rottenness of the timbers of the bridge.

Major PRIEST, Local Superintendent of the Road, happened to be on the accommodation train. He at once dispatched a sufficient number of men to the relief of the sufferers.

A large number of wounded were immediately brought to this city and taken to BAGG'S HOTEL, the McGREGOR HOUSE, the NORTHERN HOTEL, and the RAILROAD HOUSE. Others were cared for at Whitesboro. Physicians were summoned, and everything was done that could be to relieve their sufferings.

The Erie Observer Pennsylvania 1858-05-15

Submitted & transcribed by Stu Beitler  Thank you, Stu!

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