OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 41 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 05 : Issue 41 Today's Topics: #1 Wood County OH - UPDEGRAFF 1924 ["Debbie Beach" ] Administrivia: To unsubscribe from OH-FOOTSTEPS-D, send a message to OH-FOOTSTEPS-D-request@rootsweb.com that contains in the body of the message the command unsubscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:52:23 -0500 From: "Debbie Beach" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <009501c53ec1$9e76c040$318dfb40@Debbie> Subject: Wood County OH - UPDEGRAFF 1924 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" THE DAILY SENTINEL-TRIBUNE SEVEN KILLED AT PERRYSBURG Bowling Green Ohio Friday August 29 1924 B&O CROSSING IS DEATH SCENE UPDEGRAPH FAMILY OF SIX POINTS, VICTIMS AS TRAIN CRASHES INTO AUTO CHILD IS SURVIVOR; INJURED SERIOUSLY Were Returning from Reunion-Work of Miss Erma Kepp Was Heroic BULLETIN Cyrus Updegraph, nine-year old son of Mr and Mrs Jesse Updegraph, who were killed in the accident, is reported to be in very fair condition and is resting much easier, according to East Side Hospital attendants, at one-thirty today. Seven persons, three generations of one family, were instantly killed at about six oclock Thursday evening, and another, a boy of nine, was perhaps fatally injured when the machine in which they were riding, was struck by a fast Toledo Bound Baltimore and Ohio passenger train at a crossing a half mile south of Perrysburg. They had been attending the Baird and Pelton family reunion held at Walbridge Park during the day and were returning to their homes at Six Points, a small village about ten miles southeast of Bowling Green. The dead are: CYRUS UPDEGRAFF, 74 MRS CYRUS UPDEGRAPH, 67 his wife JESSE UPDEGRAPH, 40, their son MRS BERTHA UPDEGRAPH, 33, wife of Jesse HELEN UPDEGRAPH, 13 ALFRED UPDEGRAPH, 3 FERN UPDEGRAPH, four months, all children of Mr and Mrs Jesse Updegraph. The injured: CYRUS UPDEGRAPH, 9, another son, critically injured. Possible fractured skull and a broken leg. The family was in a Ford touring car driven by Jesse and took the short cut through on the dirt road from Maumee to the Dixie highway. The crossing to the west is said to be entirely open to view for a long distance and is not considered to be a dangerous one, according to witnesses. There was no testimony presented at the inquest held by Acting Coroner M.B. Cook, of Perrysburg, in the absence of Dr. C. J. Wetheril, of Weston, which showed that the train had sounded a warning at the crossing and eye witnesses believed that there was no warning, it is said. Miss Erma Kepp, of Bloomdale, who was driving a machine just behind the Updegraph car, and her father and mother and sister and a friend, Ellis Baker, declared that they saw the train for a quarter of a mile down the track and tried to warn the Updegraphs of their impending danger but the latter people did not hear their crys and drove onto the track in front of the rushing train. Jesse Updegraph, driving at a rate of fifteen miles per hour, had just driven upon the track when the crash came. It is said that the train started to whistle a fraction of a second before com- (Continued on Page Four) SEVEN KILLED AT (Continued from page One) ing to the crossing and that the engineer set the emergency brakes immediately after. He was unable to stop the passenger in less than seventy rods, however. The machine was thrown for several feet and was utterly demolished. Bodies were strewn for rods down the track and the body of the grandmother, Mrs. Hattie Updegraph, was taken off the tender of the engine. Miss Kepp jumped out of the machine that she was driving and ran down the track, stopping at each of the bodies. All but two of the people had been killed instantly and died within a few minutes. Cyrus, the young nine-year old boy was also unconscious. Miss Kepp grabbed him up in her arms, loosened his apparel and fanned him until an automobile arrived to take him to the doctors office in Perrysburg where it was seen that he needed expert aid. A deep scar on his forehead had all the earmarks of a fractured skull. He was taken to the East Side Hospital in Toledo at once in company of Dr. D. R. Canfield and Dr. Chamberlain. Little hope is held for his recovery. Miss Kepp rushed back to the others as soon as the boy was taken care of and with superhuman efforts helped to remove the bodies to the Witzler morgue in Perrysburg. Those who observed the untiring efforts of the Bloomdale girl, marveled at her heroic work. She was probably instrumental in saving the life of the boy and deserves unlimited praise for the way that she stood up under the strain of the shock. The Acting Coroner, M.B. Cook, of Perrysburg, gave a judgment of "accidental death" following an inquest which was held until late Thursday night. It was brought out, according to the testimony at the inquest that the track was visible for a quarter of a mile at the crossing and that the train was also plainly visible. The Updegraph machine was going at a rate of fifteen miles per hour. No testimony revealed that a warning had been sounded, according to those present at the hearing. None of the bodies are in a mangled condition and all were easily identified. The morgue is a pitiful sight. All but one member of the two families are laid on slabs there. First are to be seen the aged grandparents and next are the father and mother. Then the children, the three of them laid out side by side with their father and mother, all taken from this earth of joys and sorrows with one sweeping cut of the scythe of the grim reaper. In some unknown manner, probably from the match of some interested investigator, the tank of the demolished auto caught fire and the machine was consumed shortly after the accident. The Updegraph family is one of the most prominent in the community around Six Points. They were widely known throughout that section of the county. Both the elder Updegraph and his son owned large farms and were considered very successful at their work of raising crops. Whether in civic, social or religious work they and their wives were considered leaders and were active in anything that was for the uplifting of the community in which they lived. Some how it didn't seem possible to the people of that small village when they received word of the tragedy last night. It all came with such a shock that it seemed unreal. To think that there remained but one survivor of the two families and that person a boy who is near to death's door. To the many relatives and close friends of the Baird and Pelton families, with whom the victims had spent the day, it was still a worse shock as they received the word late last night and this morning. All day the gaity of the reunion had brought great joy to all of the families present and especially to the Updegraphs who, as usual were leaders in all activities during the day. Somehow or other it seemed uncanny to think that the people who had just left them a few hours before with happy goodbyes and good wishes for the future success and happiness, should be dead! Just three months ago the small village of Six Points was closed. It was the 23rd of May. Everyone had looked forward to the day with great anticipation because it was the event of the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Cyrus and his wife. What a celebration there was on the 23rd of May for the two happily wedded pair who on that day, fifty years before, had taken the oath to "Love, Honor and Obey until death do us part." But fate did not decree that they were to be parted to death and they answered the call together. The had just completed plans to move to Cygnet where they would live while their granddaughter, Helen, would be able to live at home while attending high school. School would soon open and Helen was all ready. So were Grandma and Grandpa Updegraph. Helen was a star pupil at school and was far advanced for her age. Few students ever entering Junior Hi before their fourteenth birthday. She was also very prominent in all social functions and was a leader just like her predecessors. The engineer of the train was Kent North, of Cincinnati, and the fireman was a Mr. Otto, of the same city. The crossing is the one on the dirt road which is used by so many autoists as the short cut through Maumee, instead of going around through Perrysburg. Thursday night was to have been a gala one for Perrysburg, the annual Community Song Fest being arranged. The news of the tragedy shocked the entire town and not more than half of the crowd attended the event at Main and Second streets, where an orchestra accompanied the townspeople in singing the songs of long ago. But the spirit was lacking. A gloom of sadness prevailed. Residents of Perrysburg recalled the tragedy on the Main street crossing three years ago when four autoists were killed and that of eight years ago at the crossing of last night's accident when Walter Humm, now a resident of Perrysburg, narrowly escaped death when a train plowed into a wagon he was driving. Although Mr. Humm escaped with minor injuries, the two horses he was driving were killed instantly. The arrangements of funeral services will be held in abeyance until the only surviving son, Orren Updegraph, arrives from Fort Wayne. Friends of the family declared last night, however, that the bodies would probably be taken to the Updegraff home either today or tomorrow and that burial would be in the village cemetery. Additional Information: 9 yr old Cyrus Updegraff never regained consciousness. He was buried on 2 September 1924 in the family plot next to his siblings, parents and grandparents. (newspaper clipping dated 3 September 1924, Wood County Daily Sentinel Tribune) Family plot located in Portage Township, Mt Zion Cemetery, Wood County Ohio. Debbie Beach Waynesville Missouri -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V05 Issue #41 ******************************************