This post was contributed to the Crawford County Chapter of OGS by Kristina Stearley as part of the Florence Siefert Scrapbook in 2010.
The scrapbook is compiled from undated, unidentified newspaper clippings involving events in the lives of Crawford County citizens living in or having connections to New Washington, Tiro, Shelby, Sulphur Springs, Chatfield, Bucyrus, Ashland, Mansfield, and other areas. Only minimal spelling or punctuation corrections were made. Unreadable areas are shown by underlines, dots &/or question marks. This collection has been scanned, “optical character recognized” (OCR’d), proofed, then coded for HTML by volunteers of the Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Since the copies are not of the best quality errors may have been made. Please contact us if you find corrections needing to be made or can verify any missing dates which could be added.
FATAL ACCIDENT.
Two Men Struck by Train 4 Last Saturday. One Instantly Killed, the Other Lingered a few Hours. The Neighborhood in Sorrow.
Death at all times, and under nearly all circumstances, carries with it a feeling of terror. Those who watch over the bedside of their dying friends, and minister to their every want are seldom prepared for the grim messenger, but when it comes to those in perfect health, without a moment’s warning, it is truly appalling and fills all hearts with gloom and terror. Our own community has suffered a terrible calamity, which has carried sorrow to many families and has caused neighbor to ask neighbor, can these things be?
Last Saturday morning George Moherman and Tully Shearer left their homes in excellent health and spirits, their hearts buoyant with hope, and went to near Mansfield, where they went on business to see John Shearer, the uncle of Tully. After attending to their business, they started for home, and as they crossed the N. Y. P. & 0. near the Woodhouse farm in Milton township they were struck by No. 4, the fast train going east, Moherman being killed instantly and Shearer being so severely injured that he died on the day following. The day was cold and no doubt the men were both muffled closely to protect them from the weather; they had the curtains on the sides of the buggy and were possibly unable to hear the approach of the train. On this day, the train was thirty minutes late and this also would make them less cautious as they no doubt supposed the train had gone, but anyhow as they reached the crossing, and no one can ever forget the supreme moment, the train came with a crash and did its bloody work in an instant. Mr. John Eby was just in front of them having met them at Windsor on their way home, and had looked out to see them when at the bridge west of the crossing. His horse barely passed over the crossing and as the train went whizzing by, be loooked out and saw that their buggy had been hit. He quickly hitched his horse and went back and there saw Moherman lying in a ditch, doubled up, a bleeding mass of flesh. He lay him out quickly, but a few gasps and all that was mortal of poor George Moherman had passed away.
When the train struck the buggy Shearer became entangled somewhat in robes and in pieces of the buggy, and was carried on the platform of the engine about one-third of a mile. The train was stopped and he was placed in the car. During this time some other men had walked back to the crossing and as there were several Ashland parties on the train, they were not long in recognizing that the dead man was none other than George Moherman and the wounded man Tully A. Shearer. They were brought to Ashland, and the first intimation that any one here had of the horror was when the train pulled up and the train men and others told the terrible news.
The body of the dead man was laid in the depot and a cot was hastily improved for young Shearer, where medical attention was at once given him. Like wildfire the report was spread through the streets and for a while a dense mass of people stood awe stricken around the depot, and discussing, as people do, the appalling tragedy and its causes. There was universal gloom in heart and face, and there was universal sympathy for the bereaved families. An undertaker took charge of Mr. Moherman’s body, and in the evening it was sent to his home, three miles south of town. Mr Shearer was taken to his father’s residence on Center street, where every thing that was possible to be done was done, but the injuries were fatal and he passed away at six o’clock on Sunday evening.
A postmortem examination of the body of Mr. Moherman revealed the fact that his head was literally broken to pieces, and that two of the vertebrae of the spine were broken. Death was instantaneous and painless. Shearer is said to have had his back broken and to have been otherwise terribly bruised.
There is a story afloat, with some semblance of truth, that the horse they were driving was running off, as a little boy named Remy saw them and both were holding on the reins and standing up in the buggy, as straight as it would be possible. It may be that the buggy that Mr. Eby was riding in was close to them, and may account for Shearer’s talk of “Drive faster” in his delirium. We learn also that the engineer, Jack Pinckney, said that he would not have hit them if the horse had not started to go angling across the track.
Coroner Ambrose came to town with the intention of holding an inquest on the case of the unfortunate men who met their death in so sad a manner, but it was decided not to do so.
George Moherman was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Austin Moherman, and at the time of his death was in his 39th year. He was married 17 years ago to Miss Mattie Gibson, who survives him. Their only child, Arthur, died several years ago, and Mrs. Moherman is now a childless widow. It were useless for us to speak of the good qualities of Mr. Moherman, for where he was best known he was most loved. Genial, frank, open hearted, liberal, honest and faithful, he was admired and respected by every one with whom he was acquainted, or with whom he had dealings. About twenty years ago we became acquainted with him at the Savannah academy, and the friendship formed at that time, steadily grew and reached its climax at the time of death. In all those years we never knew him to be dishonest, deceitful or to perpetrate a mean trick. He was faithful to his friends and on any question he had views of his own, which he did not fear or hesitate to express. There was no trickery in his nature; he walked upright before men and cared not to gain a point by questionable means. He was a good business man and had the confidence of the business public. Born a farmer he engaged for a few years in a business which interested the farmer and he built up an enviable trade, and a reputation for honesty that will be lasting as time. He was elected for two or three years trustee of this township, always running far ahead of his ticket, for he had warm friends outside the bounds of the organization to which he belonged. During this fall he was superintendent of the Ashland Fair Co., and those associated with him know with what fidelity he fulfilled his trust. As a business man he will be missed; as a neighbor he will be mourned, but in the home, Oh! what tongue or pen can tell the anguish that dwells there, for the dutiful son and the faithful husband is gone forever. The fond wife will feel the imprint of the loving kiss he gave her as he left home on Saturday morning, even to her dying day. Time may heal the wounded hearts, but ??ng as we live, the memory of poor George will be with us. Farewell, dear friend, a long farewell.
