Death on the Railroad Tracks, the Sequel

Nathan Cobb, date unknown

In two earlier posts [Death on the Railroad Tracks part 1 and part 2], I wrote about the death of Nathan Cobb on the Northwestern RR tracks in Oak Park, Illinois on 24 June 1892.  I focused on the fact that the train tracks were not elevated and right down the middle of the street -- very easy to be hit by a train.

Lake and Marion in 1903.
 One can only imagine how easy it was for accidents to occur.

At the time, I was amazed how many people had accidents involving either trains or "grip cars" in one day in one article in the Chicago Tribune, but I focused in the blog posts on Nathan Cobb.

I took the time to expand the blog posts into a full article about Nathan Cobb and about the other folks mentioned in the article -- some were in another accident or were helping out someone who had been injured.  I included information on grip cars.  I ended with an obituary that I wrote for Nathan Cobb -- his life deserved more acknowledgement beyond an elderly man suffering from dementia walking in front of a train.  I can only hope the people named in the article will help someone else who is searching for a "missing" relative that seems to have vanished without any death certificate.

The article is in the Illinois State Genealogy Society Quarterly, volume 47, number 3, Fall 2015, pages 133 - 139.

When the ISGS Journal arrived, I was surprised to see that the photo of South Blvd and Harlem Ave. from the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society was featured on the cover.
Such a nice surprise.

The link to this post is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2015/10/death-on-railroad-tracks-sequel.html
©2015, Erica Dakin Voolich

"Remember the women!"

"Remember the women!" is the famous quote of Abigail Adams to her husband John when he was off setting up the new government for the country.    I don't have any women ancestors who were writing the constitution (there weren't any), but it important for us to "remember the women" in our own family -- even if this is a different interpretation of her phrase!  So today's post is about my mother's grandmother, Martha Elnora Worthington Richardson, a.k.a. Nora, a.k.a. Mattie.  My mother had fond memories of living first upstairs from, and then next door to, her grandparents.

∞π∞π∞π∞π∞

Martha Elnora WORTHINGTON was born in Chicago, 17 November 1865, daughter of Robert Searing WORTHINGTON (1830-1903) and Elnora Esther COBB (1839-1923). Her father Robert Worthington had come to Chicago in 1855 from the family farm in Wisconsin and taken a job as a clerk.  Her mother Elnora Cobb had come from Madison, New York with her parents either late in 1851 or early in 1852.  They married 12 February 1861 and had one child, Mattie.

Her father kept a scrapbook starting in 1865 (see the young man and the President, for an example).  Here is the back cover of his first volume.  The top article is from 5 August 1870 and the ad below is dated "4 Aug 1870."  I suspect these events, which I have transcribed, are linked.

LOST AND FOUND.
LOST -- LAST EVENING, FROM MY BUGGY,
near Union Park Congregational Church, an envel-
ope containing papers and currency.  The finder will
be rewarded by leaving the same at 574 Washington-st,
or at the office of Gibson, Chase & Co., 88 Market-st.
R.S.WORTHINGTON.
[hand written date of Aug. 6 1870]

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1870,
  A little daughter of Robert S. Worth-
inton, Esq., had a providential escape
from death, on Wednesday evening. Mr.
W. was unhitching the horse before his
residence, No. 574 West Washington
street his daughter begin in the carriage,
when the animal ran away.  In turning a
corner the little girl was thrown out of the
vehicle upon a pile of stones, and but for a 
cushion falling under her, which was liter-
ally cut to pieces, she must have been
killed.  She received but a couple of
slight wounds on the head.


No seat-belts and child "car"seats in 1870!  It was fortuitous, our little Mattie survived her run-away-horse-wagon ride.

∞π∞π∞π∞π∞

After the Chicago Fire, Mattie's parents decided to build a home out in "the country" at the end of the train line in Oak Park.  There she met Harry Bogart Richardson who had come to Chicago from Belleville, Ontario with his family, after the Chicago Fire as part of the rebuilding effort.

Martha Elnora married Harry on 5 December 1889 in Oak Park, Illinois.  When they married, her  parents built a house next door for them to live, affectionally known as "Rotten Manor."  They had two sons, Robert (Bobbie) Worthington Richardson (1890-1951) and Harold Bogart Richardson (1894-1935) who grew up next door to their Worthington grandparents.  And when her mother's parents (Nathan and Elnora Esther Cobb) were elderly, they lived and died there too.  This extended to the next generation when my mother, Alice, and her sister Madelon & their parents moved into Rotten Manor when she was in grade school.  Her father was Bobbie Richardson and her mother was Adelaide Copeland Harvey (Grawa).

One can only imagine the usual ups and downs of childhood in the upstairs apartment in Rotten Manor with two girls and a bulldog named Mark that my mother had brought home from the schoolyard.  The vet cleaned it up and by it's license traced it back to it's original owner in Springfield, Iowa (the dog had jumped out of their car and run away when they were on a trip).  The old owners allowed the new family to keep the dog.

The envelop on the left is addressed:
For
Alice Jell Richardson, Girl Skoot.
From The Society Eddytor
of THE ROTTEN MANOR BULLYTIN.

Inside was the following news bulletin!

******JUST REVEELED ******

HORRABLE KRIME KOMMITTED ON WISKONSIN AVENOO

OAK PARK

A fearse Bull Dog lokated at 227 Wiskinsin Avenoo atacked a Pair

of Big Black Mules at that adres and litrly toad them to Shreds,

showing no Mersy.  After Komiting this Turrable Deed the Culprit

Slank away to a Nayboaring House where he lay on the Floor Lick-

ing his Pants-no- Panting his Chops-no-I shud say Licking his

Chops and Breething in Short Pants as if no thing Sinister had

O-curred.

When the Owner of the Big Black Mules diskovered the Holly Cost

and saw the Entrayls of her Butefull Big Black Mules strued on

the Ground she Uttered a Peersing Shreek and Dashed next Door

were her Muther was visitin.  Casting her Short Frales Little

Figger on the Divan she Wrung her Hands and Skreemed threw her

Tears and Nose "Muther, Mark has Etten my Butefull Big Black Mules".

Her Muther, in a low Modulated Voice as usual, sed "My darling

Dotter you shud be more cairfull with youre Properte and other Im-

pedymenta speshly Big Mules.  They shud have Lockedup in a Box

Stawl or something.  Upon herring these Wurds the Owner of the

Big Black Mules in a Frensy shouted ( as tho her Muther was Deef)

"I dont Cair", axsent on the Cair, "Those Mules are Runned".

The Culprit, foaming at the Mouth utherwise Chops, lept on the

Owner of the Big Black Mules, but when she Shouted in a Hi Shril

Voice "No, No, you Notty Dog" he turned Tale and Slank or Slunk, I
forget which, to a Sitting Posishun on top of a Radyater and looked
out of the Windo as if he had not shortly Purpetrated a Holly Cost.
The Grandfawther of the Owner of the Big Black Mules who waz wurkin
on a X wurd puzzel was shocked to heer of the Catsafterme ansd sed
"Dogonit I can't think of a Sinnynim for Hollycost in three letters
begining with A and ending with Z"
Granmuther, her feet on the Radyater, remarked in a Strong Di-ossy-
sen Suprana "This is Possytively Harrying, I dont supose you will be
abel to find as Large or as Butefull a teem of Mules in the Loup
or outside of it".
Meenwile the Owner of the Big Butefull Black Mules retreated to
her Home folowed by the Culprit at Heal.
Wen the Polees herd of this Turrible Kalamity they took no intrust
on lerning from an inosent bistander that the Owner of the Big
Black Mules was alsow a part Owner in the Culprit.  Thasall.

February 1929 [handwritten]

Only one press release survived.
This press release must have been special to the girl whose dog chewed up her beautiful black mules -- once she calmed down.  It was found in her personal papers after she died in 2001, seventy-two years later.


For those not in the Chicago area, "the Loop" is the downtown shopping area; and in this case, the grandfather who was told "This is Possytively Harrying" was named Harry.


©2013 Erica Dakin Voolich

The link to this post is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2013/03/remember-women.html

Death on the Railroad Tracks, the Rest of the Story, part 2

These are the articles that I found on my GGG'grandfather's death that I recently wrote about in Part 1 of Death on the Railroad Tracks:

I found this article years ago, then last  year, I saw the rest of the 2nd article which my GG'grandfather had neglected to glue into his scrapbook.  Like other articles of the day, the title only refers to the content of the first paragraph and the rest of the article might not be part of the same story.

Paragraph #2: "Robert Martin, 83  years old, and employed as a laborer at Garfield Park race track, was stabbed in the head ..."

Paragraph #3:

Paragraph #4:

Paragraph #5: "Fred Fihlicht and Cornelius Kearns, aged 13 and 9 ... were drowned..."

Paragraph #6:

Quite informative: Nathan wasn't only person who died on tracks in that day.  In five paragraphs, we have five different stories of tragedy.  Three people died from injuries that day received on train tracks!

• Frail, elderly Nathan Cobb suffering from dementia, wandered onto the Chicago Northwestern tracks [see part 1].
• The unfortunate Willis Wheeler, who came to town and, as a "colored man," was asked "to move on"-- he got scared and "accidentally" ran into a grip-car.  [The other peoples' race wasn't mentioned in their stories.  Was race an important part of why Wheeler's accident  happened?]
• Nicholas Rickard was killed driving his buggy across the train tracks and was struck by a train and killed instantly.  [Rickard seems to have misjudged how fast the train was coming.]

As a reminder of why so many people were easily injured in the 1890s by the trains and grip-cars, take a look at the corner of Lake and Marion in 1907.  The train tracks are right down the middle of the street.  Can you better understand why Nathan Cobb, Willis Wheeler and Nicholas Rickard all died on 24 June 1892?

1903 photo thanks to Oak Park River Forest Historical Society
Lake Street and Marion, Oak Park IL

Today there is an elevated train on Lake Street.  These tracks weren't elevated at all in 1892!

© Erica Dakin Voolich, 2012
The link for this page is http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2012/07/death-on-railroad-tracks-rest-of-story_05.html

Death on the Railroad Tracks, the Rest of the Story, part 1

When looking through my GG'grandfather Robert S Worthington's scrapbook, I found many family obituaries along with other articles and obits of interest to him.

Two of the articles/obituaries were the announcement of his father-in-law's death, Nathan Cobb on 24 June 1892.

So sad, an elderly gentleman, aged 85, walking with two canes and probably suffering from dementia is killed by a train.  The family clearly was caring for him at home and he slipped out of the house unnoticed.

How did he end up on the train tracks?  It wasn't far.  Looking at an earlier map of Oak Park from the 1870s (available at the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society), I noticed he lived a block and a half away.

Ironically, looking at the map close up

There is a picture of a Chicago Northwestern train right where Nathan was hit about 20 years later!

As someone who grew up in towns with trains running through them, the crossings all had signals, the tracks were a bit elevated and would be difficult to easily wander up to if walking with a couple of canes. BUT....

That is not how it was in 1892 in Oak Park.  Frank Lipo at the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society pointed out to me that the trains ran right down the middle of the road, no elevation at all.

Here is a picture of the Chicago Northwestern tracks at Harlem Ave (a few blocks away from where Nathan was hit):

photo thanks to Oak Park River Forest Historical Society
The corner of Harlem Ave and South Blvd

There is no challenge for someone walking with two canes to get onto these tracks!

Today those same tracks are up a full flight of stairs with North Blvd on one side and South Blvd on the other!

©Erica Dakin Voolich, 2012.

The link to this post is: http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com/2012/07/death-on-railroad-tracks-rest-of-story.html

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Esther DeLoss, from a family trying to be "Lost"?

The fifth week challenge:  Life experiences:  Sometimes the challenges in life provide the best learning experiences.  Can you find an example of this in your own family tree?  Which brick wall ancestor are you most thankful for, and how did that person shape your family history experience?

For years I've been stuck on Esther DeLoss, my GGG'grandmother.  I knew she was married to Nathan COBB.  The COBBs are one of those families who many folks have researched back to Henry COBB who came to Plymouth Colony in 1632.  

I had this nagging question, who was Esther?  Family trees online have incorrect information for her.  I have looked for obituaries and a death certificate for years.  In her son-in-law's scrapbook was a news clipping:  "COBB--At Oak Park, January 25, Mrs Nathan Cobb, aged 83 years.  Mother of Mrs. R. S. Worthington. 

Funeral services at 8 a.m. at residence.  Burial at Rosehill"  Handwritten on it is "1889."

Years later I found:

"Mrs Nathan Cobb, the venerable mother of Mrs R. S. Worthington, died last Friday, and was buried in Forest Home Cemetery on Sunday."

Oak Park Reporter, 1 February 1889.

For starters, was she buried in Rosehill or Forest Home Cemetery?  I found her at Rosehill along with her husband and his brothers' families even though the newspaper coverage of his death said he was buried in Oakhill.

The State of Illinois has no death certificate for her and her daughter said they came from Rome NY to Chicago after she was born.  Luckily the cemetery had birth and death information for her:

born 31 August 1805, died 26 January 1889.  Finding her, and visiting the cemetery was a breakthrough as to dates.  Her daughter's death certificate gives her mother's name as Esther DeLoss born in an unknown city in New York.

I continued looking in NY state for a DeLOSS family without much luck.  Then I decided that maybe I should see what I could find out about a Louis Homri DeLoss whose obituary was also in Esther's son-in-law's scrapbook.  Maybe, just maybe they were related, afterall, DeLoss didn't seem to be a very common name in my searches.  

I transcribed the obituary for this beloved preacher who died in Iowa in 1865, twenty-four years before Esther.  Louis was born four years before Esther (at least in that obituary), so maybe they were siblings.  I learned that "In his preparation for the ministry, Mr DeLoss was subjected to the obstacles and hindrances known only to the poor, but his energy and perserverance  he was successful."

I contacted historical societies in NY state in the neighborhood of Rome NY where she was supposedly from.  No hits.  Then I contacted Hamilton College's archive -- according to  his obituary, Louis graduated from their seminary.  Maybe there were some records.  The wonderful archivist said he didn't have any record of anyone by that name graduating from Hamilton, BUT [drumroll ...] there was a Louis Homri LOSS who graduated!  Same first and middle name, slight addition to last name!

Once I searched for him, I found an obituary in a Presbyterian Almanac which said:  "LOSS, LEWIS HOMRI -- The son of Samuel and Esther Loss was born in Augusta, Oneida County, New York, July 1, 1803."  This gives a different year of birth, but also gives us parents and place!

Now I started searching for LOSS, instead of DeLOSS.  There are a few folks named LOSS and as a result I have connected with another researcher looking for the LOSS family in NY state -- I answered her post on Rootsweb many years after she originally posted it and I am the only person who responded directed to her post!  

It looks like they are siblings (not proved, but working on it), and it seems that their father was called Samuel Loss sometimes and other times was Samuel DeLoss, while none of his siblings changed their names -- their were always called Loss.  

I telephoned the elder widow of one of Louis Homri DeLoss's great grandchildren and she said she has traced her side of the family, but after no success on her husband's they decided that "they wanted to be lost!"  

What I have learned is the probable actual birth name of Elnora Esther DeLoss, and that there are wonderful folks out there who patiently answer questions by researchers like me and are willing to join in the hunt.  I now have found a co-conspirator to share questions, finds, and hopefully some clue as to why LOSS became DeLOSS in an effort to become LOST!