The Story of Johnstown ... Illustrated, etc

Front matter

The Story of Johnstown. 'T could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul ; freeze thy young btiod ; Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres. — Shakespear*. The Story of Johnstown ITS EARLY SETTLEMENT, RISE AND PROGRESS, INDUSTRIAL GROWTH, AND APPALLING FLOOD ON MAY 3 1ST, 1889 By J. J. McLAURIN Editor Harrisburg Teleg:ram Prefatory Note by REV. JOHN R. PAXTON, D. D., of New York Illustrated by Baron de Grimm, George Spiel, Coultaus, A. Heuche, Victor Perard G. E. Burr and August Bruno, from Original Designs, Sketches and Photographs HARRISBURG, PA. James M. Place, Publisher ♦ Copyrighted, JAMES M. PLACE, 1889.

Introduction

. A book on such a subject, written to give a plain statement of facts and do something for a good cause, could have no intro duction better than this letter from one of the eminent divines of the age : 57 West Forty-Sixth Street, New York, Nov. 4., 18S9. J. J. McLaurin, Esq., Harrisburg, Pa. My Dear Sir . I see by Governor Beaver's letter to the publisher that you propose to write a book on the Johnstown Flood. It should be done at once, while the scenes and incidents of those dreadful days are fresh and unfaded in our minds. Let the story of the awful calamity be put into enduring type for future gene rations. It ranks among the great calamities of the world and deserves a place in History. I know no one better qualified for the task than yourself. Having seen it with your own eyes, now let your graphic pen tell the story for unborn generations.

I sincerely trust the volume may soon ccme from the press and a copy of it lie on my table. Sincerely yours. John R. Paxton If the volume merit the approval of the public, and be the means of relieving distress, the author will be doubly rewarded for a labor which necessarily involved man)' painful experiences. "The Story of Johnstown" goes forth dedicated to every man, woman and child whose heart has felt for the sorrowing, whose mite has been given to alleviate distress, and to whom the claims of a stricken community can never appeal in vain. PUBLISHER'S

Preface

. Any commercial interest that may ordinarily attach itself to a publication issued from our press does not belong to this volume. The book was conceived in a spirit of profound sym pathy for a certain class of the survivors of the Johnstown flood, old and young, for whose benefit the profits will be sacredly applied. Over their future life on earth stretches a shadow darker than the leaden clouds which, on that fateful day, swept their domestic circles with a storm of bitter grief, and over whelmed their peaceful homes with disaster. To aid these sufferers any personal considerations must yield to the higher instincts of our humanity. 1 ' No radiant pearl which crested fortune wears, No gem that twinkling hangs in beauty's ears, Not the bright stars which night's blue arch adorn Nor rising sun that gilds the vernal morn Shines with such lustre as the tear that flows Down virtue's manly cheek for others' woes.

" This realistic and thrilling history is issued with confidence that the benevolent end sought will be fully attained through the generous response of the great English-speaking public. JAMES M. PLACE, Harrisburg, Pa. Publisher. FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Frontispiece Lake Conemaugh, With Views of the Dam 48 Drifting to Death 60 Wreck of the Day Express 72 Wreckage Along Stony Creek 94 Burning Debris at the Stone Bridge 106 Ruins of St. John's Convent 132 Scene Above the Railroad Bridge 147 Site of the Hulbert House i"o Scenes in the Morgues and Prospect Graveyard 187 Merchants and Doctors Who Perished 212 Portraits of the Fenn Family 230 Distributing Supplies at Relief Stations • • • ■ 248 Wrecking Car Clearing Away Debris 260 General Hastings and Military Headquarters 272 Wreckage on Lincoln Street 298 Portraits of the Flood Relief Commission 3I(5 Portraits of Twelve Ladies Who Lost Their Lives .•■ 340 View of Johnstown After the Flood Contents.

Page I. HOMES IN THE WILDERNESS 23 Beyond the Allegheny Mountains a Century Ago — Picturesque Features — Nature's Lavish Beauties — Where Indians Roamed and Wild Beasts Lurked — Early White Settlers —Ebensburg, Beulah, Loretto — Curious Advertise ment to Attract Immigration — Struggles and Privations — Father Gallitzin's Grand Work — His Extraordinary Career — Historic Meeting — A New Name on the Map of Pennsylvania — First Beginnings of Cambria County. II. EARLY SETTLEMENT 30 General Campbell's Application — Original Survey of the Site of the Coming Metropolis — Fac-Simile of the Return to the Land Office — Transfers and Changes of Property — Duplicate of the First Patent — Arrival of Joseph Johns — Points in the Life of the Founder of the Town — Removal to the Country — His Death and Burial — Laid to Rest in a Secluded Nook — Abo riginal Remains — Pioneers of Civilization — Hopes and Aspirations.

III. RISE AND PROGRESS 35 A Charter for the " Town of Conemaugh " — Primitive Enterprises — Serious Floods — Peter Levergood's Liberal Policy — The Pennsylvania Canal and the Old Portage Railroad — Prominent Personages — Notable Landmarks — Adopting the Name of Johnstown — Churches and Schools — Modern Improvements — Growth and Prosperity — From a Forest to a Community of Thirty Thousand Souls. IV. THE CAMBRIA IRON WORKS 41 Establishment of a Great Industry — Details of Its Organization — The Prime Mover in the Project — Difficulties and Failures — Changes of Management — Success and Steady Enlargement — Wonderful Output of Steel Rails — The Gautier Wire Mill — An Immense Store — Endowing a Hospital and Library — Brief Sketch of a Powerful Corporation which Gave Johnstown World wide Reputation as a Manufacturing Center.

V. THE SOUTH-FORK DAM 49 How an Artificial Lake was Created — A Feeder of the Pennsylvania Canal — Its Ruin and Restoration — The Fishing and Hunting Club — Charter and Subscribers — Their Wealth — A Beautiful Summer Resort — Imperfect Con struction and Faulty Material — Millions of Tons of Water Burst the Barrier and Overwhelm the Conemaugh Valley — The Fatal Break on the Last Day of May — Statements of Eye-Witnesses — A Visit to the Spot. THE STORY OF JOHNSTOWN. Page VI. MARCH OF THE DESTROYER 61 A Day of Funereal Gloom— Rush of Waters Down the Valley — John Baker's Heroic Ride— Ravages at South-Fork— First Victim of the Flood— Shafer's Fate — An Engineer's Escape — Railroaders Drowned — Sad Scenes Along the Route— The Viaduct Washed Away— Mineral Point Obliterated— The High Bridge Gone — A Perilous Journey — Terrible Loss of Life and Property at East Conemaugh — Franklin Borough Plunged into Mourning.

VII. WRECK OF THE DAY EXPRESS 73 A Thrilling Episode — The Fated Passenger Trains at East Conemaugh — Hours of Anxious Waiting — An Engineer's Shrill Warning — The Avalanche of Death — Hurrying to the Hills for Safety — Drowned and Carried Away by the Flood — Vestibuled Coaches Burned — Round-House Wiped Out — Locomotives Buried — How Two Fair Girls Perished — Statements of Awe- Struck Survivors — A Disaster Unparalleled in Railroad Annals. VIII. WOODVALE ANNIHILATED 83 A Pretty Town'Blotted Out of Existence — The Struggle for Life — Remark able Rescue of a Family — A Frail Bridge and Its Solitary Occupant — One Taken and Two Saved— The Woolen Mill Partially Wrecked — Total De struction of the Gautier Works — Three Hundred People Perish — Some of the Dead— An Aged Couple Go Down to Death Together — Happy Homes Desolated — Affecting Details — Not a House Left in the Borough Proper.

IX. THREE THOUSAND PERSONS PERISH 95 The Death-Dealing Wave Moving Onward — Its Accelerated Speed and Re sistless Power — Peculiarities of the Advancing Mass — Mowing Down En tire Streets and Drowning the Inmates of Hundreds of Houses — Devasta tion in Conemaugh Borough, Johnstown, Kernville, Millville and Cambria — No Warning and No Time to Fly — Miles of Wreckage — Appalling Loss of Life and Property — The Saddest Desolation Human Eyes Ever Beheld. X. ACCUMULATED HORRORS 107 The Dreadful Sights and Sounds of a Night of Unutterable Agony — Dying in the Rain and in the Darkness — Falling Buildings and Crashing Wreck age — Conflagration at the Railroad Bridge — Dead Bodies and Living Beings Consumed — Calcined Bones and Roasted Flesh — Dramatic Episodes — A Gruesome Spectacle Near Nineveh — Heads, Arms and Legs Sticking Out of the Sand and Muck — Recitals that Surpass the Wildest Flights of Fiction.

XI. GLIMPSES OF THE HAVOC 119 Awakening to the Full Reality and Extent of the Devastation — What the Dawn of a New Day Disclosed — Miles of Barren Waste and Heaping Wreck age — Walking Over and Crawling Under Squares and Streets of Chaos — Cellars Packed with Dirt and Stones and Corpses — Landmarks Wiped Out — A Survey of the Fragments that Buried Acres of Johnstown, Conemaugh Borough and Kernville Fathoms Deep. XII. FATE OF PASTORS AND CHURCHES 133 Abundant Provision in Spiritual Matters — Places of Worship and Ministers — Sanctuaries Wiped Off the Face of the Earth — Clergymen and their Fam ilies Drowned — Fire and Flood Combine to Destroy a Sacred Edifice — Pe- CONTENTS. Pago culiar Experience of the Sisters of Charity — A Rector and His Wife and Child Meet Death Locked in a Firm Embrace — Father Davin's Zealous Services and Lamented End — The Wonderful Image of the Virgin Mary.

XIII. ADVENTURES AND ESCAPES i4g No Scarcity of Mishaps and Wonderful Deliverances — All Night in Trees — Hurled Under the Stone Bridge — Six Days Pinned in the Debris — A Box- Car as an Ark of Safety — Landed on the Telegraph Wires — Praying in an Attic — Wedding Guests Wading — Floating Long Distances and Reaching Shore — People Alive whom Friends Supposed to be Lost — Wrested from the Very Jaws of the Destroyer — Tales of Survivors that Stagger Credibility. XIV. HEROISM IN VARIED FORMS 171 Imitators of Jim Bludso and Banty Tim not Unknown — Numerous Gallant Rescues — A Negro Saves a Child — Families and Friends Taken off Float ing Houses — He Stayed to Sound the Warning — Boy Heroes — Faithful Dogs — Tramps with Generous Souls — Men and Women Who Stuck to the Post of Duty — Telegraphers Whose Services Deserve Unstinted Honor — Redeeming Traits Exemplified by a Host of Nature's True Nobility.

XV. DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 189 Multitudes of Bodies to be Taken from the Debris and Interred — Improv ised Morgues and Their Ghastly Tenants — Agonizing Spectacles — Rough Boxes for Unshrouded Corpses— Over the Hill to a Temporary Burial- Place — Hundreds Unidentified — Nineveh's Dismal Cargoes — Crazed by Grief — Final Removal to Grand View — Coroner's Inquests— Where Sorrow Held Undisputed Sway — The Most Mournful Duty of the Survivors. XVI. SOME OF THE VICTIMS 213 The Frightful Roll of the Lost — A Garland for Those Who Have Gone Be fore — Well-Known People Cut Off — How Professional Men, Merchants and Private Citizens Met an Untimely Fate — Communities Fearfully Decimated — Cambria's Long List — Whole Families Blotted Out — Familiar Figures Missing From Their Accustomed Haunts — Terrible Gaps in Society and Business That Can Never Again be Filled.

XVII. SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 231 Lamentable Scarcity of Children After the Flood — Boys and Girls of Ten der Years Drowned by Hundreds — Doom of the Fenn Family — Prattlers whose Voices are Hushed Forever — The Light and Joy of Many House holds Extinguished by the Cruel Waters — Tiny Coffins — Buried with Her Doll — Little Folks who were Universal Favorites — The Saddest Feature of the Overwhelming Calamity — Why Loving Hearts Ached. XVIII. HELP FOR THE LIVING 249 Many Hungry People the Day After the Flood — Children Crying for Bread — The Good Farmer Who Came with a Supply of Milk — Extortionate Dealers Brought to Their Senses in Short Metre — Somerset Sends the First Car of Provisions on Sunday Morning — Wagon-Loads of Food from Altoona — Senator Quay's Welcome Draft — How Famine was Averted — A Troublesome Problem Solved Temporarily by Prompt Measures.

CONTENTS. Page. XIX. ORDER OUT OF CHAOS 261 The Lawless Element Rampant — Repressing Robbery and Riot — A Gang of Thieves — Organizing for the Protection of Life and Property — A Dicta tor Appointed — Loafers and Prowlers Shut Out — Workmen Engaged to Clear Off the Wreckage — Pittsburgh Contractors at the Helm — A Horde of "Tin-Tag " Officers — Amateur Photographers Shoveling Dirt — The Initial Steps Towards Repairing the Ravages of the Deluge. XX. UNDER MILITARY AUTHORITY 273 The Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania on the Ground — His Humble Meal and Tramp Protege — Consulting with the Sheriff and the Burgess — Troops Called Out — The Fourteenth Regiment Does Effective Service — Visit of Governor Beaver — Interesting Letters and Dispatches — The State Assumes Entire Charge — The Board of Health Actively Engaged — Vigorous Work in Clearing the Wreckage and Restoring the Ruined District.

XXI. MAGNIFICENT BENEVOLENCE 299 The World's Response to the Appeal for Aid — Civilized Nations Hasten to Succor the Distressed — Cities, Towns and Individuals Pour in Contribu tions — Many Notable Offerings — Associations, Societies and Churches Splendidly Represented — Generous Erin's Greeting — Food, Clothing and Shelter in Abundance — Noble Women Who Were Ministering Angels — A Stream of Charity Grand and Resistless as Niagara Itself. XXII. FLOOD RELIEF COMMISSION 317 Promipent Gentlemen Selected to Distribute Millions of Dollars — Their High Character and Ability — How the Funds Were Handled for the Bene fit of the Sufferers — A Board of Inquiry Established — Methods of Pro cedure — Death of Judge Cummin — Five Thousand Claimants Assisted — Difficulties to be Surmounted — Efficient Service of the Secretary — Closing the Accounts — Record of an Enterprise Unrivalled in the Annals of Time.

XXIII. EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS 331 Recitals of Different Survivors, Who Tell of What They Underwent and Witnessed — Trying Situation of a Family on Market Street, of Whose Home Not a Vestige Remained — In Water Up to the Neck — Homes Car ried Away and Neighbors Borne Down the Current — Ladies Whose Courage Did Not Falter irrTime of Trial — What Two Citizens Saw in Their Travels Over the District — Statements of What Many People Endured. XXIV. PATHETIC SCENES AND INCIDENTS 3+I Heart-Breaking Separations From Loved Ones — A Brother's Agony — How a Wife and Daughter Were Lost — A Drowning Wife's LastJKiss — A Faith ful Lover's Vigil — Affection that Death Could not Subdue — Relics of the Missing at Alma Hall — Weird Collection of Souvenirs of the Disaster Terrible Grief of a Sorrowing Maiden — Fate of a Young Bride — An Aged Citizen's Sore Misfortunes — Distressing Occurrences of Many Kinds.

XXV. SEEKING FOR LOVED ONES 347 Anxious Friends in Quest of Near and Dear Relatives Whom Death Had Claimed — Weeks and Months of Patient Search for Bodies — Haunting the Heaps of Debris and the Morgues — A Devoted Sister and a Faithful Page. THE STORY OF JOHNSTOWN. Brother — Coming Great Distances on Mournful Errands — How Some Were Rewarded and Others Disappointed — A Feature of the Flood Which Developed Painful Surprises — Hopes and Fears of Earnest Watchers. XXVI. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 355 Hosts of Bogus Sufferers Making Capital Out of Calamity — Impostors and Pretenders Unmasked — Two Rascals Receive Their Just Desert — Exag gerations Exploded — A Mean Specimen of Mankind — Three Sisters Cheat ed — Silver Lining to the Cloud — Noble Conduct — Aftermath of the Deluge — Bits of Driftwood that Reflect Various Qualities of Character — A Va riety of Odds and Ends Rescued from the Wreck for the Public Benefit.

XXVII. WHAT OF THE FUTURE ? 365 The Destruction by the Flood Does Not Mean Perpetual Ruin — The First Signs of Renovation — Starting the Ironworks and Steel Mills — Invincible Determination of the Citizens — Men of Resolute Will Who Would Not Desert the Old Home — Consolidating the Borough Into a City — An Electric Railwaj — Spreading Over the Hills — The New Johnstown Will Be Grander and Greater Than the One Blotted Out by the Deluge in 1889.