The Anonymous Dead

I spent another day lost in the images of old newspapers at Old Fulton NY Postcards, skimming through news reports of slate quarry accidents for mention of a mystery Pereksta cousin reportedly killed in a mining accident in Vermont in the early 1900s.

While fatalities in the slate quarries of New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania weren't reported daily, there were dozens and dozens of reports. My first two search requests yielded over 500 hits each. I got a manageable list of 154 articles on my fourth try. It was very dangerous work. The demented genealogist in me perked up, thinking that there would be ample occasion to find my Pereksta mentioned.

Wrong. Lots of fatalities. Lots of news reports. But almost all the Eastern European immigrant fatalities were reported as unnamed Hungarians.

CAUGHT BY A CAVE IN

Five Workmen Probably Killed in an Accident in a Slate Quarry

Allentown, Pa., March 1 - While seven quarrymen were at work this morning in the slate quarry... the top caved in, burying Joseph Reamley, Samuel Kreitz, Griffith O. Pritchard, William R. Jones and three Hungarians....

(The Brooklyn [NY] Daily Eagle, 1 March 1894, p. 1, col. 4)

This next report adds the insult of scant vocabulary to fatal injury when compared to the adjective laden report of Mr. Williams' death.

Fatalities at Granville 

Rowland Williams, a native of Wales, while at work in Norton Brothers' slate quarry at Granville on Wednesday afternoon, was instantly killed by a huge stone which fell from the ledge and crushed him. His body was terribly mangled. He leaves a wife and four children.

A Hungarian working in Hughes quarry at Granville was struck on the head by a falling stone and killed on Tuesday afternoon. 

(Glen Falls [NY], The Morning Star, 30 July 1897, p. 8, col. 2)

There was a widely reported collapse in 1905 that killed several men - though reports of the numbers range from eight to 14. I read thirteen accounts of the accident. Most read like this one.

Cave-In Fatal to 14

Awful Accident in a Vermont Slate Quarry This Morning

Troy, N.Y., Oct. 6 - Sixteen men were buried this morning in a cave-in of the Vermont Slate company's quarry, about two and a half miles from Granville, N.Y.  

David Cadwallader and Fraser Queen, foremen of the quarry, were rescued. The latter is expected to die. The 14 dead include J. B. Williams, president of the company, and Hungarian laborers. 

Four bodies had been removed by 11 o'clock.

(The Auburn [NY] Citizen, 6 October 1905, p. 5, col. 8)

Only two papers, The Syracuse Journal and The Binghamton Press, named the immigrant laborers, Stephen Banois, John Illnetakie, Joseph Illnetakie, Netro Demsic, John Toronco and Joseph Wasick. The next spring there was another accident nearby.

Two Men Killed in a Quarry

Troy, N.Y., June 22 - John Hasoyd Roberts of Warren's Switch, and an unknown Hungarian were killed by a cave-in in the slate quarry of Beecher & Company.... Robert Jones of Granville and two Hungarians were injured, the former probably fatally....

(New York, The Evening Post, 22 June 1906, p. 1, col. 2)

I suspect this accident warranted a full paragraph because young Norton was injured. 

Slate Quarry Accident

Hungarian Killed and Granville Resident Seriously Injured. 

A falling rock in one of the Norton Brothers' slate quarries at Granville Tuesday afternoon killed a Hungarian and seriously injured Hiram Norton, son of James Norton, village president of Granville, and senior member of the firm of Norton Brothers. The block was being lifted when it slipped from the chain, and falling struck a rock in the side of the quarry, breaking into two parts. One struck the Hungarian on the top of the head, killing him instantly; the other struck Mr. Norton on the side of the head and shoulder, bruising the head and cutting open his shoulder badly. His injuries, while serious, are not thought to be dangerous. 

(Glen Falls [NY], The Morning Star, 13 February 1908, p. 8, col. 5)

This article names the Welsh miner who could not rescue the victim, but neither the victim nor his friend.

A Fatal Dive

A young Hungarian was drowned in the Mettowee river while swimming Friday near the Sheldon slate quarry in Granville.... [He] was accompanied by another Hungarian, who called for help. His cries were heard by Myrddin Jones, at work in a quarry. Jones dived in....

(Glen Falls [NY], The Morning Star, 4 August 1908, p. 8, col. 4)

This article actually named two Hungarian men, though not the two or three others who were still missing.

BURIED BY CAVE-IN MAN STILL LIVES

Was Covered by Tons of Slate Rock and Earth

... A remarkable escape from death was that of Phabbeus Drewseitch, who, with four or five other Hungarians, was buried in a cave-in of rock and earth at Owen Brothers slate quarry near Granville on Tuesday morning....

The dead body of Steve Sautjes, another victim, was recovered....

(Glen Falls [NY], The Morning Star, 15 April 1909, p. 8, col. 6)

There were more, but I'd seen enough. I'll have to find another avenue of investigation to see if I can locate documentation supporting or disproving the family story of a mystery cousin's death.


Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [ LC-USF34- 045884-D [P&P] LOT 1246 ]

Day is Done - Memorial Day

In honor of all our family who have served in the military, but especially in memory of those who died during that service.

James Conway, born about 1751 in Prince William County, Virginia and died 28 December 1776 near Trenton, New Jersey. 

Matthew Judson McAdams, born 15 August 1835 in Washington County, Tennessee and died 19 June 1863 at Nashville, Tennessee.

Elisha T. McComas, born about 1840 in Sangamon County, Illinois and died 6 January 1863 at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Ralph Eugene Williams, born 10 October 1895 in Comers Rock, Grayson County, Virginia and died 9 October 1918 in the Argonne Forest, Meuse, France.

My Carpatho-Rusyn FAN Club ~ Hamzik, Rudik and Havtur

This is another of the FAN Club photographs belonging to my grandparents Stephen Popp (Stefan Papp) and Anna Pereksta of Binghamton, NY. 

On the back of the photograph is written Anna Hamzik, Mrs. Rudik, Mrs. Havtur.

Two Anna Hamziks appear in the Binghamton, NY City Directories available on Ancestry.com. Anna Macko (1890-1961) was married to Michael Hamzik. They did not move to Binghamton until sometime before the 1930 census. In 1920 they were living in Montana. Anna Macko Hamzik is reported to have to come to the United States as a child. Anna Bancansky (1894-1966) was married to Joseph Hamzik. They moved to Binghamton sometime after 1930. According to the 1930 census she was born in Czechoslovakia and emigrated to the United States in 1911. 

In addition to the two Anna Hamziks, there is also an Anna Hemzik living nearby in Johnson City in the 1930 census. She was born about 1899 in Pennsylvania to Czechoslovakian born parents and was married to Andrew Hemzik. 

Mary Vaszko Rudik (1895-1964) is the only Mrs. Rudik found in Binghamton, NY census or city directory records. She was born in Ruské, a village near my grandmother's village in today's Slovakia and emigrated to the United States in 1911. She married Frank Rudik in 1915 at St. Michael's Church in Binghamton.

There are two potential Mrs. Havturs, sisters-in-law who were each named Helen. Helen Wasko Havtur Selanich (1894-1972) was also born in Ruské. (She and Mary Vaszko Rudik may have been related, but they were not siblings. Each named different parents on their marriage records.) Helen Wasko married Frank Havtur. Helen Bundga married Frank's brother John in 1916. She was born in Starina, the village where my grandmother's mother was born. Based on the descriptions in their immigration records the picture above is most likely Helen Bundga Havtur.

This is a challenging photograph to date or place. I have a similar photograph of my grandmother that I have assumed was taken shortly after she arrived in the United States in 1913. But if either of the Anna Hamziks are the woman pictured they do not appear to have been in Binghamton until after 1920. There are newspaper reports in the Binghamton (NY) Press referring to folk dancers led by Mrs. Helen Havtur and it may be the woman all participated with her.

I would be delighted to share high resolution scans of these images and source information with anyone researching these families. Please leave a comment or email me (there is a link in the righthand column).

Mary Pereksta Kontir - Wordless Wednesday

My first cousin once removed, Mary Pereksta Kontir, daughter of John and Mary Pereksta of Clifton, NJ. 1928.

My Carpatho-Rusyn FAN Club ~ Helena Basos

This is another of the FAN Club photographs belonging to my grandparents Stephen Popp (Stefan Papp) and Anna Pereksta of Binghamton, NY. 

The photograph is identified as Helena Basos in ink on the front. The only Helen Basos found in the Binghamton, NY City Directories available on Ancestry.com is the wife of William Basos. She first appears in the 1923 directory, living with William, a grocer, at 51 Dickinson Street. He appears living alone or with a brother from 1911 through 1922. They both appear in the directories through 1959. 

She and William are enumerated together in the 1920 census. She is listed as born about 1894 in Czechoslovakia, emigrating to the United States in 1911 and working as a sorter at a tannery. The 1930 Census information is similar, though she is no longer working, but adds that she was married for the first time at age 20 (about 1913).

A death notice for Helen Basos was published on Saturday, 21 May 1960 in the Binghamton Press. It reads

Mrs. Helen Basos, 20 Holland St., Binghamton, died Friday at 9:35 p.m. at Wilson Memorial Hospital. She is survived by her husband, William Basos, Binghamton; one sister, Mrs. Theresa Pirich, Johnson City; one brother, Andrew Wacendak, Binghamton; several nieces and nephews. The family operates a grocery store on Clinton St. The body was removed to the Greskovic Funeral Home, 161 Clinton St., where the funeral will be held Monday at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in Riverhurst Cemetery, Endicott. Friends may call at the funeral home this evening from 7 to 9 and Sunday afternoon and evening.

I found no immigration records for Helen Basos or her husband, but his World War I Draft registration card indicates he was born in Dara, a village near my grandmother Anna Pereksta's birthplace in today's Slovakia.

I would be delighted to share high resolution scans of these images and source information with anyone researching these families. Please leave a comment or email me (there is a link in the righthand column).