My great-great-grandparents settled in Oakland in 1892. My grandmother was married from her home in Oakland in 1931. Here is a story about my great-great-grandfather's brush with death.
From Topeka Daily Capital, Thursday, August 11, 1892. Page 4, Column 4
Topeka Public Library, Topeka, Kansas
Thomas Ward Caught By Falling Timbers Which Crushed His Skull.
After Lingering Unconscious For Many Hours, He Breathed His Last Yesterday Morning Others of the Family Narrowly Escape the Same Fate.
There is an old saying to the effect that lightning does not strike twice in the same place, and while this may be true of lightning it does not hold good when applied to tornadoes.
There is a handsome two story brick dwelling located on Green street near Indiana avenue, on the Oakland electric car line, which suffered severely from a raging hurricane last spring. A portion of the roof and brick work of the south gable exposure, having been wrenched away at that time. Tuesday evening when the storm burst upon Topeka, it again sought this spot, and seizing upon a large two story frame barn, thirty by twenty feed in dimensions, situated on the west end of the premises, it careened it completely over. In its fall, it crushed a little frame play house, adjoining it on the east, burying in the debris two boys of 10 and 14 years of age.
They were the children of Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Ward, who with a daughter 18 years old, made up the family who dwelt upon the premises. The family are English, having been in America but two short months, having come to this country from Lancashire. They had but recently moved into these quarters, and the house is still in an unsettled condition. The father is employed at the Santa Fe storehouse and at the time of the casualty was at work. The mother and daughter were away from the home on matters pertaining to their household affairs, and the two boys--Alfred, aged 10 years, and Thomas Dickinson Ward, aged 14 years--were the only persons at home when the storm broke. They were upon the east veranda at the time, but the wind and rain becoming so terrific they thought it would be safer in their playhouse than in the brick dwelling, so they unfortunately sought safety there. They were not in this retreat for more than a few minutes before the wind buried the huge barn upon their frail structure. When they heard the crash they threw themselves face downward upon the floor and Alfred escaped with only a slight bruise upon his head, but poor Thomas had his head wedged between two timbers, which crushed his skull so severely as to cause contusion of the brain. He remained unconscious until 3:15 o'clock Wednesday morning, when he peacefully breathed his last.
A neighbor, Mr. Dichey, seeing the barn was blown over, called to investigate and to render any assistance necessary. Calling upon another neighbor, Mr. Moore, by great exertion they soon freed the boys from their perilous situation, and carried the inanimate form of poor Tom into the dwelling. Mrs. Moore then hastened for medical assistance, and Drs. Millard and Ellinger were upon the scene of disaster as soon as it was possible for them to arrive there. But three-quarters of an hour had fully elapsed before they arrived, and about the same time the anxious mother and daughter and the grief-stricken father also arrived, they having been notified of the catastrophy. A hasty examination by the physicians disclosed the fact that there was no hope for poor Tom, and all they could do was to make the end as easy as possible.
Alfred escaped, but Thomas was called. He was an intelligent, studious and industrious boy, and his untimely death is a severe blow to a deserving and worthy family.
The funeral will take place this (Thursday) morning at 10 o'clock.
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Del Kahre, is also kind enough to send this photo.
Note. This photo can be enlarged by pushing on it, after it opens move your arrow around and a enlarging box well come up, push on it to enlarge to full screen.
This is one of my favorite of our family photos from Oakland. It was taken on the steps of the Presbyterian church and is marked 1926. My grandmother is marked in the front row. We do not know the identity of any other person in the photo. I seem to remember this photo also being published in a history of Topeka. However, this is a copy of an original owned by my grandmother.
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