Allegheny County PA Archives- Obituaries: Rodgers, Edward (Edmund), 08 Oct 1877 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Martha Little, , Jun 2011 Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/ ________________________________________________ from The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette dated Wednesday, October 10, 1877 (page 4): A Pan Handle Collision Early yesterday morning two freight trains collided at Burgettstown siding, on the Pan Handle Railroad, one man only, a fireman being hurt, and he not fatally. The first section of No. 24 and the second section of No. 13 freight trains, going in opposite directions, were to pass at that siding. No. 24 owing to the dense fog ran two or three lengths beyond the switch and before it could get back and on the switch, No. 13 came up. The fog prevented the signals from being seen in time and the engines collided, disabling both of them. J Edmund ROGERS, fireman on No. 13 train, jumped from the engine and was severely hurt. He resides in this city, on Eighteenth street, and was brought home. It took about two hours to clear the track. from The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette dated Thursday, October 11, 1877 (page 4): Inquest on Mr Rogers The Coroner yesterday proceeded to No. 22 Eighteenth street, to hold an inquest on the remains of J Edmund ROGERS, the fireman on the Pan Handle Railroad, who was killed by the collision between two freight trains at Burgettstown on Tuesday last. Owing to the absence of witnesses, he simply empaneled a jury and adjourned the inquest until this morning. from The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette dated Friday, October 12, 1877 (page 4): The Rogers Inquest The Coroner yesterday afternoon concluded the inquest in the case of Edmund ROGERS, the fireman who was killed by the collision between two freight trains at Burgettstown, on the Pan Handle railroad. The whole affair was made perfectly clear by the straightforward testimony of Mr Samuel DAWSON of Denison, O., who was engineer of Train No. 24. He stated that the conductor of the train had his hand injured at making a coupling at Mansfield; that he (DAWSON) telegraphed the condition of the conductor, stating that he was disabled from duty; that he (the engineer) was ordered to take charge of the train himself and run to Midway where he would pass the first section of a freight train going east; that he obeyed that order and passed that section all right; that he was then ordered to run to Burgettstown, where he would pass the second section of the same train; that when he got to Burgettstown the signal to stop was out; that he went into the office to get instructions in regard to passenger trains; that when he got the instructions he made a calculation as to how far off he could run before meeting the passenger train and in his confusion forgot all about the second section of the freight that he was to pass at Burgettstown; that he pulled out from the station on the main track and had gone but a few rods when the other train came in sight and a collision was inevitable; that his fireman, Mr ROGERS, remained on the engine and was caught between the tender and the cab, and was crushed so that he died. This was the whole story. The fault was the engineer's but he claimed that he ought not to be censured under the circumstances as extra duties had been put upon him by the accident over which he had no control. He certainly gained the good opinion and sympathy of the jury for the frank and manly way in which he made known the facts. The jury found a verdict to the effect that the deceased came to his death by a collision between two trains, one of which (No. 24) was being run without a conductor. from the City of Pittsburgh Death Records: Edward RODGERS, aged 18 years, single, fireman, died on October 8 1877, killed on railroad; son of Thomas and Mary RODGERS; born in Pittsburgh; lived at 22 Eighteenth Street; burial in St Mary's Cemetery on October 12 1877. >From city directory and census listings, he is Edward ROGERS/RODGERS, son of Thomas and Mary ROGERS/RODGERS (both born Ireland), with siblings Thomas and James.