Welcome to our blog, where we embark on a captivating journey through time, exploring the rich tapestry of history and genealogy.
In this edition, we'll delve into the treasure trove of historical news articles dated August 19, unearthing stories that resonate with genealogists and history enthusiasts alike.
From local happenings to global events, we'll uncover the stories that shaped the lives of our ancestors, providing valuable insights for those on a quest to discover their roots.
So, grab your magnifying glass and step into the past as we unravel the August 19 historical headlines that may hold the missing pieces of your family's history puzzle.
Cumberland, Rhode Island, USA (Valley Falls) (Ashton) (Cumberland Hill)
Disagreeable necessity obliges us to shock the sensibilities of our readers, by the recital of another horrible calamity from a collision of Railway trains.
At 8 o'clock, yesterday morning, a collision occurred on the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which caused the death of fourteen persons, and seriously injured about forty more. The collision occurred between the regular up train and the excursion train from Weeting's. The latter was out of time, and met the up train at Valley... Read MORE...
The Ohio Organ - Cincinnati, Ohio - August 19, 1853
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1853 - AWFUL RAILROAD ACCIDENT. FOURTEEN LIVES LOST. THIRTY OR FORTY SERIOUSLY INJURED.
Disagreeable necessity obliges us to shock the sensibilities of our readers, by the recital of another horrible calamity from a collision of Railway trains.
At 8 o'clock, yesterday morning, a collision occurred on the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which caused the death of fourteen persons, and seriously injured about forty more. The collision occurred between the regular up train and the excursion train from Weeting's. The latter was out of time, and met the up train at Valley... Read MORE...
The Ohio Organ - Cincinnati, Ohio - August 19, 1853
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Oswego, New York, USA
Oswego, N.Y. (AP) - An explosion tore through a tunnel cut in rock 100 feet below Lake Ontario and killed three construction workers yesterday. The blast turned the 6,250-foot tunnel into a gas-filled death trap that claimed another worker's life today.
The fourth man was overcome as he worked with a crew trying to bring out the bodies of the three blast victims early this morning.
Further efforts at retrieving the three bodies were called off until ventilating equipment could be... Read MORE...
Chester Times - Chester, Pennsylvania - August 19, 1957
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1957 - GAS BLAST IN TUNNEL FATAL TO 4.
Oswego, N.Y. (AP) - An explosion tore through a tunnel cut in rock 100 feet below Lake Ontario and killed three construction workers yesterday. The blast turned the 6,250-foot tunnel into a gas-filled death trap that claimed another worker's life today.
The fourth man was overcome as he worked with a crew trying to bring out the bodies of the three blast victims early this morning.
Further efforts at retrieving the three bodies were called off until ventilating equipment could be... Read MORE...
Chester Times - Chester, Pennsylvania - August 19, 1957
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1800s Cooking Tips and Recipes
Cider Cake
Rub together three quarters of a pound of sugar, and half a pound of butter. Dissolve two tea spoonsful of saleratus in half a tea cup of water, turn it into the cake, together with half a pint of cider, stir in two pounds of flour and ...Read MORE...
The New England Cook Book, 1836
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 19 - (AP) - Six persons were burned to death and several others injured or burned in a fire in a rooming house here today.
Explosion of a gas cooking stove started the fire which trapped the victims in their upstairs rooms. The house was a fourteen room frame structure and the blaze spread rapidly through it.
The dead are:
SAMUEL J. ARCHER, 17.
HIRAM EVANS.
MARTIN KAPP.
FRANK HARTY.
DAN STRANGE.
FRANK MATHEWS.
All were roomers at the facility.
The... Read MORE...
Centralia Daily Journal - Centralia, Washington - August 19, 1929
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1929 - SIX LOSE THEIR LIVES IN BLAZE. SEVERAL OTHERS INJURED WHEN FIRE DESTROYS ROOMING HOUSE AT LITTLE ROCK.
Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 19 - (AP) - Six persons were burned to death and several others injured or burned in a fire in a rooming house here today.
Explosion of a gas cooking stove started the fire which trapped the victims in their upstairs rooms. The house was a fourteen room frame structure and the blaze spread rapidly through it.
The dead are:
SAMUEL J. ARCHER, 17.
HIRAM EVANS.
MARTIN KAPP.
FRANK HARTY.
DAN STRANGE.
FRANK MATHEWS.
All were roomers at the facility.
The... Read MORE...
Centralia Daily Journal - Centralia, Washington - August 19, 1929
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1800s Advice and Etiquette for Ladies
NEATNESS AND ORDER
Wealth and abundant service does not always bring this. A neat, orderly house throughout is rarer than we suppose. Had we liberty to investigate many a home, we should find a surprising lack of knowledge of many simple sanitary ...Read MORE...
Advice for Ladies - The Southbridge Journal, Southbridge, Massachusetts, December 25, 1885
1897 - Aspirin is invented (Felix Hoffmann (Bayer), Germany)
Aspirin Discoverer Dies an Unknown Man
"CHICAGO (UPI) - In these days of deadlines and taxes and other headaches, offer a cheer for Felix Hoffmann, one of the world's great painkillers.
Hoffmann solved a problem and narrowed the odds in mankind's fight with misery He developed our most popular drug - acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin.
By whatever name, its annual worldwide production is in the millions of pounds, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. And despite recent... Read MORE...
Simpson's Leader-Times - Kittanning, Pennsylvania - August 19, 1971
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Athol, Massachusetts, USA
Engine and Five Freight Cars Derailed - Wreck Crew Has Ten Hours Task Clearing Up.
The Boston & Maine wreck train was called out from this city early Sunday morning and the crew were given a 10 hours' task in clearing up a bad freight wreck which had occurred in the freight yards at Athol half an hour after midnight, in which a large freight locomotive tipped over and slid down a small embankment, five freight cars also jumping the rails, two of which tipped over with the locomotive. The... Read MORE...
The Fitchburg Sentinel - Fitchburg, Massachusetts - August 19, 1907
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1907 - WRECK AT ATHOL.
Engine and Five Freight Cars Derailed - Wreck Crew Has Ten Hours Task Clearing Up.
The Boston & Maine wreck train was called out from this city early Sunday morning and the crew were given a 10 hours' task in clearing up a bad freight wreck which had occurred in the freight yards at Athol half an hour after midnight, in which a large freight locomotive tipped over and slid down a small embankment, five freight cars also jumping the rails, two of which tipped over with the locomotive. The... Read MORE...
The Fitchburg Sentinel - Fitchburg, Massachusetts - August 19, 1907
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Brattleboro, Vermont, USA (West Brattleboro)
BRATTLEBOROUGH, Vt., Aug. 18. - An accident occurred on the narrow gauge railroad here to-night, in which the engineer of a train and one passenger were killed and seven other passengers were seriously injured. The scene of the accident was one mile from the village, at the mouth of West River, where a bridge, constructed of wood and iron, 200 feet long, spanned the stream 60 feet above the water. The bridge broke down under the weight of a mixed train, consisting of six flat and two box cars... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - August 19, 1886
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1886 - THE BRIDGE GAVE WAY. A FATAL RAILROAD ACCIDENT NEAR BRATTLEBOROUGH, VT.
BRATTLEBOROUGH, Vt., Aug. 18. - An accident occurred on the narrow gauge railroad here to-night, in which the engineer of a train and one passenger were killed and seven other passengers were seriously injured. The scene of the accident was one mile from the village, at the mouth of West River, where a bridge, constructed of wood and iron, 200 feet long, spanned the stream 60 feet above the water. The bridge broke down under the weight of a mixed train, consisting of six flat and two box cars... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - August 19, 1886
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Andover, Massachusetts, USA
The Andover Mass. Advertiser tells a story of a woman belonging to that town, who had a falling out with her husband, and threatened to drown herself in the 'great pond.' Her husband was not at first alarmed, but at length she disappeared; soon her bonnet and shawl were discovered at the water's edge, the alarm spread throughout the neighborhood; diligent search was initiated. Several persons were engaged in dragging the pond, grappling irons were brought into requisition, but to no purpose.... Read MORE...
genealogybank.com
New-Hampshire Patriot - New Hampshire - August 19, 1857
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1857 - Watched People Search for Her
The Andover Mass. Advertiser tells a story of a woman belonging to that town, who had a falling out with her husband, and threatened to drown herself in the 'great pond.' Her husband was not at first alarmed, but at length she disappeared; soon her bonnet and shawl were discovered at the water's edge, the alarm spread throughout the neighborhood; diligent search was initiated. Several persons were engaged in dragging the pond, grappling irons were brought into requisition, but to no purpose.... Read MORE...
genealogybank.com
New-Hampshire Patriot - New Hampshire - August 19, 1857
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1914 - Married 52 Years - Mr. and Mrs. George W. Salisbury will observe anniversary tomorrow
Mr. and Mrs. George W. Salisbury, who reside at No. 1 ½ Lewis Street are congratulating themselves that if they live until tomorrow they have reached the fifty-second anniversary of their marriage. Although for the first three years of their married life they did not see each other and were thus forced to dispense with what is commonly known as the honeymoon, Mr. Salisbury says that they have endeavored to stretch that important occasion over the remaining 49 years and from the smiles on the... Read MORE...
The Auburn Citizen - Auburn, New York - Wednesday August 19, 1914
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1955 August 19-20 - Rivers throughout Central Massachusetts and Northeastern Connecticut overflow, causing millions of dollars damage.
oldewebster.com
August 19, 1955
Visit , Massachusetts, USA!
1895 August 19 - American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
historyorb.com
August 19, 1895
Visit El Paso, Texas, USA!
1934 August 19 - The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
historyorb.com
August 19, 1934
Visit Dayton, Ohio, USA!
oldewebster.com
August 19, 1955
Visit , Massachusetts, USA!
1895 August 19 - American frontier murderer and outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
historyorb.com
August 19, 1895
Visit El Paso, Texas, USA!
1934 August 19 - The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
historyorb.com
August 19, 1934
Visit Dayton, Ohio, USA!
1897 EXPLOSION IN A SIRUP REFINERY. Causes a Fire and Loss of Life.
Davenport, Iowa - August 19 - An explosion of dust knocked out two walls of the elevator of the Davenport Sirup Refinery to day. John RAPP and John RAHN, two men in the cupola, were forced to jump sixty feet and were badly injured. Wm. WOLF, a farmer, was fatally crushed, and his seven year old daughter was killed. Frank STEVENS was also injured. The building took fire and was destroyed.
Madison Courier
Madison, Indiana
August 19, 1897
Visit Davenport, Iowa, USA!
1955 Hurricane Diane
...Connecticut Hit. And in Connecticut, Gov. ABRAHAM RIBICOFF ordered units of the National Guard to Torrington where the Naugatuck River and its tributaries were swollen. Flash floods developed in the Connecticut River Valley from Montague City southward...
Chester Times
Pennsylvania
August 19, 1955
Visit Torrington, Connecticut, USA!
1930 Kick By A Dead Horse Puts Man In The Hospital
Plymouth. - Paradoxical as it may seem, Walter Brickner was confined to the hospital here today as the result of being kicked by a dead horse. Brickner, an employe of the Edward W. Bohnsack company at their rendering plant outside the city limits, was watching two workmen remove the carcas of a horse. One of the hind legs swing around suddenly, hitting him in the head and rendering him unconscious. Although he is suffering slight injuries to the head, his condition is not serious.
The Sheboygan Press
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
August 19, 1930
Visit Plymouth, Wisconsin, USA!
Davenport, Iowa - August 19 - An explosion of dust knocked out two walls of the elevator of the Davenport Sirup Refinery to day. John RAPP and John RAHN, two men in the cupola, were forced to jump sixty feet and were badly injured. Wm. WOLF, a farmer, was fatally crushed, and his seven year old daughter was killed. Frank STEVENS was also injured. The building took fire and was destroyed.
Madison Courier
Madison, Indiana
August 19, 1897
Visit Davenport, Iowa, USA!
1955 Hurricane Diane
...Connecticut Hit. And in Connecticut, Gov. ABRAHAM RIBICOFF ordered units of the National Guard to Torrington where the Naugatuck River and its tributaries were swollen. Flash floods developed in the Connecticut River Valley from Montague City southward...
Chester Times
Pennsylvania
August 19, 1955
Visit Torrington, Connecticut, USA!
1930 Kick By A Dead Horse Puts Man In The Hospital
Plymouth. - Paradoxical as it may seem, Walter Brickner was confined to the hospital here today as the result of being kicked by a dead horse. Brickner, an employe of the Edward W. Bohnsack company at their rendering plant outside the city limits, was watching two workmen remove the carcas of a horse. One of the hind legs swing around suddenly, hitting him in the head and rendering him unconscious. Although he is suffering slight injuries to the head, his condition is not serious.
The Sheboygan Press
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
August 19, 1930
Visit Plymouth, Wisconsin, USA!
1865 EXTENSIVE FIRE. The Spirit of Fire After Connecticut Buttons - Heavy Loss.
NEW-HAVEN, Friday, Aug. 18. The large button factory of MALTBY, MORTON & Co., in Waterbury, Conn., was totally destroyed by fire this morning at 3 o'clock. The building was entirely of wood, three stories high, and it burned like a cinder. The loss is $80,000. Insured $40,000. The fire was probably the work of an incendiary. A large number of hands are thrown out of employment. The building is to be immediately rebuilt.
The New York Times
New York, New York
August 19, 1865
Visit Waterbury, Connecticut, USA (Waterville)!
NEW-HAVEN, Friday, Aug. 18. The large button factory of MALTBY, MORTON & Co., in Waterbury, Conn., was totally destroyed by fire this morning at 3 o'clock. The building was entirely of wood, three stories high, and it burned like a cinder. The loss is $80,000. Insured $40,000. The fire was probably the work of an incendiary. A large number of hands are thrown out of employment. The building is to be immediately rebuilt.
The New York Times
New York, New York
August 19, 1865
Visit Waterbury, Connecticut, USA (Waterville)!
America - Did you know?
The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times!
Quebec - Did you know?
To occupy their free time, the inhabitants of New France held soirées, when they would gather to tell stories, or to share in celebrations. In town, many people would go to inns and taverns. There, they would drink spirits and play cards, billiards, ...Read MORE...Virtual Museum of New France. For more information visit www.historymuseum.ca/ virtual-museum-of-new-france
Picture of the Day
Visit Montpelier, Vermont, USA!
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.
Montpelier House, Montpelier, Vt. Y.M.C.A. Building at left.
