Prosser Hollow, Pennsylvania

Mitchell House Fire

April 4, 1902

Father and Five Children Cremated.

PHILIP MITCHELL and his five children were burned to death Tuesday night in their home in Prosser Hollow, a secluded settlement about three miles from Johnstown. MRS. MITCHELL was carried to a neighbor's house seriously burned.

At the time the fire started the family was in bed asleep. When the mother was awakened she tried to save her children by taking them into a room above the kitchen. They were frightened and ran from the room into the fire and perished. The father lost his life in a frantic, but fruitless, effort to save the lives of his offspring.

Bedford Gazette Pennsylvania 1902-04-04

Submitted & transcribed by Stu Beitler  Thank you, Stu!

FAMILY
Perished in a Fire at Johnstown.

Inmates Were Asleep When the Fire Started.

Neighbors Were Summoned to the Scene But Could Do Nothing to Rescue the Helpless Victims.

Johnstown, Pa., April 2.—Six persons were burned to death in Prosser Hollow, a mile from the outskirts of the city, in a fire which destroyed their home. The dead: Philip P. Mitchell, 53; Jacob P. Mitchell, 14; Mary Martha Mitchell, 12; Charles Edward Mitchell, 11; Jesse M. Mitchell, 8; Alice Frances Mitchell, 6. The members of the family had retired with the exception of one son, who was away. In the house at the time were sleeping Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, the children who were burned, and three other children. Mrs. Mitchell and her daughter Sophia were the first to be awakened by the heat and smoke of the flames. They woke the father and ran outside and screamed for help. Neighbors were aroused, but they could do nothing but stand helplessly by and watch the house burn, and with it the bodies of the father and five children.

Lima Times Democrat, Lima, OH 2 Apr 1902

Transcribed by Dorcas Moseley. Thanks Dorcas!

Six Burned to Death

JOHNSTOWN, Pa., April 1.—A man named Philip Mitchell and his five children were burned to death tonight in their home in Prosser Hollow, a secluded settlement about three miles from here. Mrs. Mitchell was carried to a neighbor’s house very seriously burned.

The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE 2 Apr 1902

Transcribed by Dorcas Moseley. Thanks Dorcas!

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