OBIT: James ANKENY, 1916, Somerset, Somerset County, PA

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Meyersdale Library.
Transcribed and proofread by: Keith Petenbrink.

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Ankeny, James

JAMES ANKENY MEETS DEATH

Somerset Man Killed in Railroad Wreck. Thawing of Ground Caused Rails to Spread 
Resulting in Accident. The combination freight and passenger train of the 
Pittsburg, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad Co., was wrecked about 10:30 
Thursday morning near Mechanicsburg, about four miles from Ligonier, and one 
man, James Ankeny, of Somerset was killed. Had the locomotive or passenger coach 
left the track, the loss of life might have been greater. Only two freight cars 
left the tracks, rolling over an embankment. Spreading of, the rails as a result 
of the thawing of the ground, is believed to have caused the accident. J. W. 
Baker, of Ligonier, Superintendent of the road, stated that the train was 
running at not more than 10 or 12 miles an hour at the time. He denied that the 
locomotive had gone through a bridge. The wreck occurred he said, at the post 
office known as Rector, where there is a fill in the road. Mr. Ankeny he said 
was jolted down between the freight cars. No one else was injured. James Ankeny 
was about 30 years old and a son of Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny of Somerset. Early 
reports in Somerset were to the effect that the entire train had gone through a 
bridge and that a score of people were killed and a number of others injured. 
The train was on its way from Ligonier to Somerset at the time of the accident.

Meyersdale Commercial, Mar. 30, 1916