If it is a consolation to know the last words of the dying, certainly
the scenes attending the death of those who perished in this disaster
must have a melancholy, a tragic interest.
We give below an account of the passengers in the different cars in
succession, beginning at the front and going through, with as much
accuracy as possible, to the last one in the train.
From the first car, more persons escaped than from any other. There
were at least sixteen of these. Mr. C. E. Jones of Beloit, Wis., was
sitting in the front seat; Mr. and Mrs. Martin and two children, of
Lenox, Ohio, who were a third of the way back from the front; J. M.
Mowry of Hartford, Conn., and Dr. C. A. Griswold of Fulton, Ill.,
were sitting together in the middle of the car; Thomas Jackson of
Waterbury, Conn., and Mr. A. H. Parslow of Chicago; Victor Nusbaum,
from Cleveland, and Charles Patterson of the same city, were toward the
rear. This constitutes all the survivors on the right side.
On the opposite side, toward the front, were Edward Trueworthy and
Joseph Thompson, of Oakland, Cal., with Alfred Gillett of Cranberry
Isle, Me., sitting in two seats, facing each other. Mr. Thompson is
described as having a smoking cap on, while Mr. Trueworthy had a shawl
across his shoulders. Mr. Gillett was the only one out of this group
who was killed. In front of them were a Mr. Walter Hayes of Lexington,
Ky., with Miss Sarah Mann, who was also killed. Thomas Jackson of
Waterbury, Conn., Robert Monroe of Rutland, Mass., Mr. Alex. Monroe of
Somerville, Mass., Wm. B. Sanderson, Alex’r Hitchcock, of Port Clinton,
Ohio, and Charles E. Rickard of Biddeford, Me., were upon the same side
of the car.
Mr. F. Shattuck of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, is known to have been in this car
and to have been killed. Mrs. Fonda and her nephew, D. Campbell, of
Milledgeville, Ill., have already been described as among the dead.
There was a lady sitting at the right hand near the front who was
“slight built and had a child with her about two years old.” The child
was described as being “quite forward, for his age, talking well, and
was very bright and interesting.” Just behind them was a lady who was
described as “large, full formed, dressed in a plaid trimmed with
black.” A younger lady sat behind her who was “tall, well formed,
dressed in dark clothes and spent most of her time in reading a book.”
These were all killed. It is probable that the trucks of the car above
struck down just above where they were, as all in this part of the car
seem to have perished. Their bodies lay near where they sat, but were
too much crushed and burned to be recognized by their friends.
The author could have identified them had he received descriptions in
time.
About the middle of the car upon the left side, were two ladies sitting
together, both of them dressed in black. The one was older than the
other and had been to the East to bury a daughter who had died of
consumption. Both of these were killed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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