Charleston, West Virginia, USA
1891 - FIFTEEN KILLED. IN THE AWFUL DISASTER ON THE KANAWHA AND MICHIGAN ROAD. NEAR CHARLESTON, THIS STATE.

TWO RAILROAD COACHES FILLED WITH MERRY PLEASURE SEEKERS.
PLUNGE THROUGH A TRESTLE.

ONLY FOUR ESCAPE WITHOUT INJURY - FIFTY-THREE ARE BADLY INJURED, SOME OF THEM FATALLY - HEARTRENDING SCENES AT THE WRECK - THE BODIES HORRIBLY MANGLED - SOME OF THE DEAD WELL KNOW CITIZENS - THE WORK OF RESCUE - CHARLESTON A CITY OF MOURNING.

Charleston, W. Va., July 5. - The worst wreck ever known in this part of the State, if not the worst that ever occurred in the State, occurred about 8 o'clock yesterday morning on the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad, eight miles west of here. The passenger train for Columbus pulled out from here with two car loads of excursionists, among them the United American Mechanics, who were going to Poca. The wreck occurred on a high trestle. The sleepers had caught fire during the night and burned so that the rails spread under the train. The engine and baggage and mail car passed over safely, but the two coaches were thrown from the track. After running some 40 feet on the rails, the forward car toppled to the left, the rear one to the right, the forward car turned completely over, landing right side up. The other fell some 20 feet, turning upside down and one set of tracks fell on top reducing the car to splinters. Under this place most of the dead were found.

The Plunge Down From A Trestle.
The train had just pulled out in the early morning and gone a few miles, when suddenly there came a crash. The coaches rocked and shook, women screamed and stout men turned pale with fear. A moment more and the fearful plunge was made that dealt out death and destruction to so many people.

In the terrible fall many persons were crushed and bruised, but to add to the horror the rear truck, which remained on the track, came crashing down upon the car, crushing everything under it, and killing nearly every person in that part of the car. One dead body after another was pulled out through the window, most of them horribly mangled. Nearly all of the dead were cut or bruised about the head.

A Head Severed At The Mouth.
JASPER DOUGHERTY, of New Martinsville was fearfully mangled. His head was cut off at the mouth, leaving only the lower jaw on the headless trunk. Two or three hours after the wreck his head was found among the broken seats and debris in the worst part of the wreck, lying in its own brains, which were scattered over the car floor.

Immediately after the wreck relief trains were sent out with physicians from St. Albens and Charleston, who did all in their power to relieve the sufferings of the injured and save the lives of as many as possible. The press correspondent arrived in the second train, and the scene which met his gaze was horrible beyond description. A dozen corpses lying in a row, many of them at the time not identified, was the first sight on leaving the train. A few steps further on a half dozen men were met carrying another corpse to add to the list across the creek where the wreck occurred.

Scores of injured and dying lay in groups in the open field, nursing their injuries. The moans of the wounded, mingled with the cries of those who had lost friends and the sickening sight of blood and carnage and the cries of the suffering ones, caused the stoutest heart to quail.

The Heroic Work Of Rescue.
The four uninjured men, Engineer O'Connor, Fireman Wyatt, Mail Agent Hays and Passenger Norvall, together with much of the wounded as were able, worked nobly to rescue their unfortunate companions, and with the help of the country people who flocked to their assistance and rendered noble aid, they were soon all extricated from the car. To get them out it was necessary to cut the car away, but all were gotten out in a short time.
The funeral train left the scene of the wreck about 1 o'clock, all the coaches from this place having gone out to bring in excursions. Box cars had to be used. One car contained nine cots, each with a corpse in it. The other cars were all full of injured on cots.

The news spread like wildfire and at every station a crowd of people turned out to learn of the fate of friends. Tonight merchants are draping their buildings in black, mingling the mourning with the red, white and blue bunting that had already decorated their places of business.

Lucky People Who Missed The Train.
John Norvale, of the Charleston National Bank, had just stepped out of the fated coach to the mail car to get a piece of string from the postal clerk when the wreck occurred. He also escaped unscathed. Conductor Brobeck, whose run it was, laid off for a holiday sending Conductor Robinson in his place. He usually sits, in passing the place where the wreck was in the part of the car where the killed were, to count his tickets. He regards this as a providential escape. Judge F. A. Guthrie expected to take the train, but overslept and was saved.

The burning of the ties, which caused the train to leave the track, is supposed to have been caused by the falling of the cinders from a freight train that crossed during the night. The track-walker, whose duty it was to inspect the track daily, had started on his trip as usual from the other end of the section, but had not reached this place. The engineer saw a slight smoke, but thought it an early morning fog rising from the creek until too late to save the train.

A Little Child's Fortitude.
The company has done everything in its power for the unfortunate victims of the wreck. WALTER WELCHER and wife were going with their infant child for a holiday with friends. Both were killed, and the little child of a year was bruised and its little fingers cut off. It never whimpered, and its great blue eyes did not shed a tear as the surgeons dressed its wounds. It was placed close to its dead mamma and pressed its little hand close to her cold, blood-stained cheek, and those who stood by could not repress their tears.

The following is a list of the dead and those who will certainly die, so far as is attainable at this time. Some few are missing, and a number of others may prove to be mortally wounded:

Killed
COL. W. E. FIFE, of Buffalo, W. Va.
T. N. WILSON, late city editor of the Bulletin, Gallipolis, Ohio.
CHARLES HUFFMAN, Blue Creek, W. Va.
JAMES DAUGHERTY, New Martinsville, W. Va.
WALTER WELCHEE, Elk City, W. Va.
MRS. WALTER WELCHEE, Elk City, W. Va.
MISS ELLA O'LEARY, Middleport, Ohio, but employed as cook in the family of Col. E. L. Butterick, of Charleston.
AMOS COULTER, Elk City, W. Va.
ORVILLE ROBINSON, Midway, W. Va.
THOMAS THORNTON, conductor of K. & M. Railroad, Middleport, Ohio.
POLLY SULLIVAN, Hampton, W. Va., nurse for Mrs. George Couch, of Charleston.
L. C. ROSE, Blue Creek, W. Va.
MRS. MARY WALL, Elk City, W. Va.
JED WHITE, Middleport, Ohio.

Fatally Injured
WILL FORD, Elk City, will die.
JAMES BLACKWOOD, Athens, Ohio, head crushed; will die.
MRS. R. E. TRUSLOW, Charleston, skull fractured; will die.

Full List Of Injured
LEON E. BLIGH, Red House, W. Va., spine hurt and internally injured.
J. D. JONES, Charleston, arm broken and internally injured.
MRS. J. D. JONES, Charleston, head slightly injured.
PETER SIMPSON, Charleston, head cut.
W. H. SAUNDERS, Charleston, head cut.
J. C. MARTIN, Leon, W. Va., back injured.
J. B. CORDEN, bridge foreman, Leon, W. Va., back and head cut.
MARY SHARKEY, twelve years old, Charleston, head cut and internally injured.
MISS MARY JACKSON, Charleston, head cut and internally bruised.
MISS CORA CARL, Charleston, face and neck bruised.
W. B. REED, Elk City.
SAM JOHNSON, colored, Charleston.
ALBERT KEARNS, Elk City.
JOHN CARRIE, Elk City.
MISS MAGGIE CARL, Charleston, shoulders injured.
WELCHER, the two-year-old child of WALTER WELCHER and wife, who were killed outright.
P. L. MULLINS, Clendennin, W. Va., leg and arm crushed.
G. A. GILLESPIE, Elk City, W. Va., breast and head cut.
JOHN STONE, Elk City, head and breast cut.
JOHN WHITTAKER, Elk City, head cut and bruised.
JAMES COFELEY, Elk City, head and arm bruised.
MOLLIE WINFREE, Elk City, hand and arm cut slightly.
POLLINA WHITTAKER, Elk City, back and side injured.
E. A. PRICE, proprietor of Price's floating opera, New Martinsville, W. Va., nervous shock and slight bruises.
WHITE CARTER, Mall Grove, N.C., hip, head and side slightly hurt.
MISS MINNIE DAVIS, Charleston, head and back hurt.
ANDY RAYBURN, Elk City, face and collar bone mashed.
MRS. SALLIE COULTER, Elk City, head and side hurt.
MISS EVA COULTER, seven years old, Elk City, back and head hurt.
R. J. SATTERTHWAIT, Charleston, concussion of head and other injuries.
JAMES H. GODDARD, JR., Charleston, face cut and body bruised.
CHARLES ROBINSON, conductor, Midway, W. Va., head cut and body bruised.
W. T. KIGER and small son, Charleston, bruised slightly about heads and bodies.
Postal Clerk HAYES, Athens, O., slightly bruised about body.
GEORGE W. STRIBBING, Pt. Pleasant, W. Va., but employed as a clerk in Kanawha Valley bank in this city, cut under the chin and body bruised.
SAM SHUE, Midway, W. Va., face and head cut.
MR. ROSS, Elk City, bruised.
GEORGE McKEE, Poca, internally injured.
ELIZA McKEE, Poca, injured about head and arms.
RABURN BLACKBURN, Elk City, legs hurt.
F. W. JENNINGS, Columbus, Ohio, side hurt.
GEORGE EISLE, Charleston, head injured.
CLARENCE EISLE, Charleston, arms bruised.
A. C. WALL, Elk City, side and legs bruised.
LUCINDA JONES, Elk City, head bruised.
ALLIE SPRADLING, Elk City, head cut.
C. C. LONG, Pt. Pleasant, W. Va., head cut.
CHARLES CONKER, Poca, slightly injured about the head.
A. ARCHIBALD, Poca, arms injured.
SAMUEL CARPENTER, Poca, feet hurt.
WM. JONES, Elk City, head injured.
ELLA HENSON, Elk City, head injured.

A special telegram from Columbus says: GEORGE L. HAYS, of this city, the postal clerk on the ill-fated train near Charleston, arrived in this city at 10:30 tonight, and gives a graphic description of the accident. He was in his car when the engine gave the danger signal and looked out. He noticed the far end of the burning trestle was giving away under the approaching weight of the train and before he could realize the trouble his car left the track, rolled over, but again righted itself and remained in that position. No one in his car was injured.

The car in which the passengers were killed and wounded was a day coach, and the rear one of the train. It left the rails, turned bottom side up, and was completely smashed, the trucks and timbers maiming and killing the passengers. The scene when he reached the last coach was one of horror. Piled on top of each other and pinioned beneath heavy timbers were the dead and dying; groans most heartrending could be heard, mingled with cries for help from the wounded.

The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
Wheeling, West Virginia
July 6, 1891

Visit Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.