Monday, July 22, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: July 22


July 22, 1901 – While attempting to make a coupling at Nineteenth Ave. and Bluff Street in Minneapolis today, Harry Purchase, a switchman, who had been in the employ of the Great Western Railway for about a year, stumbled and fell and was cut in half by the wheels of an oil tank car.

The trunk of the body was left on one side of the road and the legs on the other for nearly an hour until Coroner Williams could be secured, after which they were removed to the morgue.

Purchase was 28 years old. Witnesses of the tragedy say that no one was to blame but the victim, and that his foot caught in some unexplained manner and he was drawn under the trucks and crushed to death before anything could be done to stop the momentum of the cars.

Purchase was a member of the Switchman’s Union. Coroner Williams has been investigating the facts, and he believes he has sufficient evidence to lay before a jury. It is likely that an inquest will be held tomorrow, such a request having been made.

The Minneapolis Tribune; “His Body Was Cut in Twain; Harry Purchase, a Switchman, While Attempting to Make a Coupling in the Great Northern Yards, Meets Horrible Death.”; July 23, 1901; p. 5.


http://users.frii.com/gbooth/Trains/GreatWestern/Introduction/
Prototype.htm


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If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


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