OBIT: John and Mary BALSBAUGH [BALSBACH], 1895, Swatara Station, Dauphin County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Nancy Lorz Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/dauphin/ _________________________________________ MR. AND MRS. JOHN BALSBAUGH Asphyxiated by Coal Gas at Swatara Station. Mr. and Mrs. John Balsbaugh, aged 70 years, were asphyxiated by coal gas on Tuesday night at their home, at Swatara Station, Dauphin county. The aged couple retired on Christmas eve at their usual hour after bidding good-night to their son, who had come from New York to spend the holidays with them. Mr. Balsbaugh and his wife did not respond to the calls for breakfast and going to his parents room to investigate the son found his mother dead and his father dangerously ill. Medical aid was hurriedly summoned but the old gentleman died before a physician arrived. The coal gas escaped from the stove because of a defect in the pipe. Mr. Balsbaugh owned considerable land and was considered one of the most successful farmers in Dauphin county. He was engaged for a number of years in the grain business and at the time of his death, he was interested in the Swatara lime and stone company. Mr. Balsbaugh was a director of the Hummelstown national bank since it's organization twenty-seven years ago, and attended a meeting of the board on Tuesday. The couple are survived by one son, Hiram Balsbaugh, a trusted employee of the Equitable life insurance company. Lebanon Daily News, December 26, 1895 Note: Balsbach in the 1870 Derry Township, Dauphin County, census. Wife's first name from same source.