Buchanan County, Missouri - Chapter 24: Some of the Casulties That Have Occurred in Buchanan County and St. Joseph. - the Platte River Bridge Disasters. - Collapse, 1900

Some Of The Casulties That Have Occurred In Of The Most Important Fires

SOME OF THE CASULTIES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH. - THE PLATTE RIVER BRIDGE DISASTERS. - COLLAPSE OP NAVE & McCORD'S BUILDING AND DEATH OF NINE PERSONS. - THE DROWNING OF FIVE GIRLS AT LAKE CONTRARY. - EXPLOSION OF DANFORTH'S FLUID AND THE KILLING OF THREE NEGROES. - THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1867 AND SEVERAL DESTRUCTIVE STORMS SINCE THEN. - A LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRES.

A complete list of casualties that have occurred since the settlement of Buchanan County would alone make a book of considerable size. In this chapter only a few of the more notable mishaps will be briefly mentioned.

The Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad bridge over Platte River, east of the city, was the scene of several disasters. On September 21, 1859, the bridge went down under the weight of a train. Several were killed. On September 3, 1861, occurred what is generally known as the Platte River bridge disaster. The bridge had been burned, presumably bv bushwhackers, who were expecting a regiment of soldiers whom they hoped to destroy by wrecking the train. Instead, however, a passenger train dashed at full speed into the chasm. Stephen Cutler, the conductor; Frank Clark, the engineer; Charles W. Moore, the fireman, two brakemen and twelve passengers were killed. Early in the following November, while a regiment was crossing the swollen stream on a pontoon bridge, a heavy log dashed against the structure, causing destruction and loss of life. Seven were drowned, among them the wives of two soldiers.

Another notable accident of the early days was the collapse of Nave & McCord's store building and the loss of life. This building, a three-story brick, stood upon the site of the building on the west side of Third street, north of Felix, occupied by C. D. Smith's wholesale grocery, and afterward by McCord & Collins' wholesale grocery. Directly north, and below the grade of the street, was a frame double tenement, one side of which was occupied by the family of Samuel Harburger, a merchant, related to the Binswanger family of this cityr and the other side by a family whose names could not be learned. On the morning of July 5, 1860, fire broke out in the upper floor of the Nave & McCord building, then occupied by that firm. There was no fire department in those days, nor were there many police, and the walls collapsed before the general alarm was given. 1 he debris completely covered the tenement and Mr. Harburger, his wife, two children and servant girl perished, as did also four members of the other family. Two of Nave & McCord's clerks - W illiam Hudnut and Ilenry Mitchem - who slept in the second story, had a narrow escape. I11 the collapse the timbers had so fallen as to protect these men instead of crushing them, and they were rescued from their perilous position by volunteers. Mr. Hudnut is still a resident of the city. The insurance companies refused to pay the loss on the building upon the ground that the collapse had occurred before the fire. The case was tried at St. Louis, and after eight years of litigation resulted favorably to Nave & McCord. It was proved by a traveling man, representing a flour mill at Beloit, Wis., that the building was on fire for some time before the collapse. He was a guest at the Patee House, and had been unable to sleep owing to the hot weather. Seated at his window, he noticed the flames and watched the progress of the fire for some time before he heard the crash.

About 3 o'clock on the evening of May 13, 1864, a powder magazine, situated on the northern extremity of Prospect Hill, exploded. Near a hole in the ground, where the magazine had stood, the bleeding, bruised and burning body of a boy was found. Another body was found some distance away. The bodies were those of James McEnery and James Morrison. There had been several other boys in the crowd, who were more or less seriously injured. The boys had lighted a match and thrown it into a crevice in the magazine.

St. Joseph was violently shaken by an earthquake on April 24, 1867. The shock occurred at 2:35 o'clock in the afternoon. At first there was an ominous rumbling sound, then a rocking movement from east to west and west to east, which continued for twentv seconds. The alarmed populace sought the streets and there was intense excitement. The public school buildings shook, the plastering cracked, huge seams being observed in the walls ; the children screamed and the teachers, being bewildered and perplexed, dismissed the frightened pupils and hastened to their homes. Never before was there such consternation in the city. In a few seconds the air was as calm, the earth as tranquil, the face of nature as placid and as harmonious as though nothing unusual had occurred. No damage was done to property. A second shock was felt in September of 1871, when there were fears that the old court house would collapse. A third shock was felt in the autumn of 1896.

Early on the morning of February 23, 1868, fire destroyed the Allen House stables on South Fourth street, owned by Brooks & Maupin. It was necessary to use water from an immense cistern, which was located south of the city hall. While walking around the engine, George Slocumb, engineer at Hauck's mill, fell into the cistern and drowned before assistance could reach him.

On Sunday morning, January 23, 1870, at about 4 o'clock, fire destroyed a brick row of buildings on the west side of Second street, near a bridge which then spanned Blacksnake creek. All the inmates, with the exception of one young man, who was in an inebriated condition, in a room of a resort known as the "Rosebud," made their escape, and his body was afterwards recovered, burned to a cinder. When the firemen had finished their work, and were preparing to leave, they were called back by the discovery of the remains of this victim. While engaged in removing debris, a wall fell, covering Frank Y. Heill, Arthur Colburn, Julius Sidekum, Blass Argus, Julius Gishe, all firemen, and John W. Clifford, a colored man. All were rescued, after heroic work, except Clifford, who was killed bv the falling wall. Blass Argus, a member of the Hook and Ladder Company, was so severely injured that he soon expired.

Perhaps the most disastrous storm in the history of St. Joseph occurred on the night of July 13, 1871. The weather had been sultry and threatening all day, but the storm did not burst until at about 9 o'clock at night. Francis Street Methodist church was struck by lightning and badly damaged. The Pacific House roof was removed, the Everett, the Neeley, the Webster and the Fourth Street Colored schools were unroofed. The convent of the Sacred Heart lost a portion of its roof, as also did St. Patrick's school on South 1 welfth street. The estimated damages to property were over $150,000. No lives were lost in the city, though lumber and debris of all descriptions were flying about and the people panic-stricken. A sad affair occurred in the country. At the residence of James Keiger, five miles east of the city, were a number of people, among the guests being Mrs. Lucy Lovell and her two little children. \\ hen the storm was at its height Mrs. Lovell, who was with her babes in an upper story, brought them down and paced them in the bed of Mr. and Mrs. Keiger. While kneeling in prayer for their safety a bolt of lightning laid the loving mother low. Penetrating into the hallway the same bolt struck and killed Harry R. Blakemore of St. Joseph, who was also a guest at Mr. Keiger's.

On the night of September 3, 1873, a tornado destroyed the exposition buildings that were in the course of construction near the present site of the K. C., St. J. & C. B. shops. Other serious damage was also done.

On Sunday, July 23, 1876, a boat containing a party of pleasureseekers, capsized in Lake Contrary and five girls were drowned. The party was in charge of Otto Gross. Beside himself, seated in the boat were Misses Clara Kratt, Rosa Muench, Sophia Seitz, Mathilde Zimmer and Mathilde Gross, the daughter of Mr. Gross. A distance of about three miles had been traversed, and when returning, and when within less than a hundred yards from the shore which they had left, little Clara Kratt and Cora Muench, who occupied the seat in the rear of the frail craft, began to reach out and gather water lilies, causing the skiff to dip to one side. This was continued until the boat capsized, and in an instant the six unfortunate persons were struggling in twelve feet of water. Mr. Gross succeeded in reaching each of the girls and placed their hands on the boat, but in their desperate efforts to regain a position in the boat it was again overturned and once more they were plunged under the treacher- ous waves. Mr. Gross again seized his child and attempted to save her, at least. With his burden he was making good progress, when another one of the girls seized him about the neck. This action placed him in such a position that all hope was gone, and he was compelled to free himself from both in order to save his own life. He made for the shore, but ere he reached it he was taken with cramps, and but for the timely arrival of a man in a skiff, he, too, would have drowned. The bodies were all recovered. The body of Miss Zimmer was buried from the residence of her father on the following afternoon. The funeral of the others was an impressive affair. The fire department's hook and ladder truck was improvised into a hearse, which was draped in white and black crape, and beautifully ornamented with flowers and evergreens. The procession was formed in front of Mr. Kratt's residence on Messanie street, where the first coffin was placed in position. Each house of mourning was visited in turn, and the four coffins placed side by side. The hearse was drawn by four white horses. The cortege then took its line of march to Ashland cemetery, preceded by Rosenblatt's brass band. Then came the hearse, and following this was the band wagon in which were seated a number of the girls who comprised the lake party when their companions lost their lives, each bearing in her hands a wreath of flowers. There were over 150 carriages and buggies containing sorrowing relatives and friends.

The Odd Fellow building at Fifth and Felix and the furniture store of Fouis Hax, which joined it on the south, were burned on the night of January 29, 1879* The Odd Fellow building was occupied b\ J. YV. Bailey & Co., with an extensive dry goods store. The entire loss was about $200,000. The site of these buildings is now covered by the block occupied by Townsend & Wyatt, Jones, Townsend & Shireman and the Fouis Hax Furniture Company. The burned buildings faced Fifth street.

A grewsome accident occurred on the night of May 23, 1881. A* negro resort was kept by George Cunnigan on the south side of Edmond street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, in a building owned by Dr. Wm. Reach. The basement of this building was divided into two parts, one part being used in connection with the resort and the other for the storage of an illuminant known as Dan- forth 's fluid. On the night mentioned there were about twenty-five negroes in the saloon, playing cards and enjoying themselves. There was to be rehearsal of a prospective minstrel troop in the basement, and at about 8:30 John Hicks, one of the artists, went below stairs to light up the basement room. Forty barrels of fluid had been stored in the adjoining basement room that day, and both rooms were filled with the fumes of the highly inflammable fluid. When Hicks struck a match an explosion occurred which was heard throughout the city and the shock of which was felt for quite a distance. The building was wrecked. Hicks, Billy Williams and the bartender, Charles Dunlap, who weighed 320 pounds, were killed. Fourteen negroes, congregated about the place, were more or less seriously injured, and considerable damage was done to neighboring property by the force of the explosion.

On the night of April 3. 1885, during a severe thunder storm, lightning struck the magazine of the Hazard Powder Company, located on Prospect Hill. The explosion that followed shattered many windows in the business district, the loss on plate glass having footed up over $2,000.

The following are the dates of some of the famous fires since 1880: Hannibal & St. Joseph elevator, Sixth and Lafayette streets. January 13, 1883; tank of Standard Oil Company, September 10, 1883 ; court house, March 28, 1885 ; C. D. Smith's wholesale grocery house, October 20, 1885; New Era Exposition, September 15, 1889; James Casey's sale stables, Fourth and Messanie streets. November 10. 1889; Hax furniture factory, Seventh and Angelique streets, December 13, 1890; Kennard Grocer Company, Fourth and Angelique streets, March 1, 1891 ; Gregg's elevator, September 23, 1891 ; Wyeth's hardware house, Third street, near Felix street, November 2, 1891 ; Union street car barns, November 30, 1891 ; J. P». Brady & Co., carpets, January 13, 1892; R. I\. Allen's planing mill. Second and Francis streets, April 6, 1892.

Center block and Commercial block, at Sixth and Edmund streets, burned September 25, 1893. Center block was totally destroyed. It was occupied by the Townsend, Wyatt & Emery Dry Goods Company. North of it stood the Hoagland building, occupied by the Regnier & Shoup Crockery Company. This building and contents were also destroyed. The Commercial block, opposite

Center block was partially destroyed. The Carbry block, on the east was also damaged. The total loss was over half a million dollars. The fire started on the top floor of the Townsend, Wyatt & Emery Company's store, at about 9 o'clock in the morning, and spread rapidly. There was a strong breeze and the entire business portion of the city was in danger. The department could make no headway with the fire and it was far in the afternoon before they got it under control. The burned buildings have been replaced, though the present Center block (Hotel Donovan) is not so high by one story as was the original.

The Bennett Lumber Company's stock, on Middleton street and Lincoln school, burned July 24, 1894. Meierhoffer's cooper shop, South Fifth street, was totally destroyed August 27, 1894. There was a fire at Joseph Tullar's livery stable in which eight horses perished November 24, 1894. The Union Depot burned on the night of February 9, 1895. The St. Joseph pump factory, on Lake boulevard, burned May 13, 1895.

The old freight house of the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, located at Seventh and Olive streets, used by the Missouri Pacific road, was destroyed on Saturday morning, November 24, 1895. The office was the only portion of the building saved. This building was one of the landmarks of St. Joseph, having been built by the Hannibal & St. Joseph road in i860.

Saturday night, February 22, 1896, the extensive feed stables and livery barn of Ducate & Grantham, on Edmond street, between Seventh and Eighth, were destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of nearly $50,000. Sixty horses and many fine carriages were burned..