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CIVIL WAR VETERAN DEATH NOTICE
Charles F. Rayman, one of the best known citizens of Brothersvalley township and a Civil War veteran, met with a
horrible death Saturday afternoon, while working at John Seibert's steam saw mill about one mile distant from his home and seven miles east of Somerset.
Mr. Rayman had charge of the yard surrounding the mill and when he had no lumber to stack or other outside duties he frequently assisted the men
at work on the mill. About 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon he entered the mill, and, taking a position on the carriage rode to a point directly
opposite the rapidly revolving saw. He wore a long coat to protect him from the weather, in the instant the carriage came to a stand still a gust
of wind blew the tails of his coat over the saw. Where they were caught by the sharp teeth and he was drawn into his death. His body being
frightfully mutilated. His left arm was severed at the wrist and his left leg, after being cut off near the hip, was thrown a distance of 50 feet.
The revolving disc threw the unfortunate man into a position where the merciless steel teeth laid open his body the entire length and split his
head almost in two pieces.
Some time elapsed before his fellow workmen, who were eye-witnesses of the frightful scene, recovered from the shock, but they hurriedly
gathered together the dismembered body and removed it to his late home.
Doctor Shaw, of Berlin, was sent for and prepared the body for burial. The news of the deplorable accident soon spread throughout the
neighborhood and hundreds of people called that afternoon and the following day to offer their sympathy to the bereaved family.
Charles F. Rayman was a son of the late William Rayman, of Brothersvalley township. He followed the occupation of farming up until the
outbreak of the Civil War where he enlisted as a private soldier in Company H, 211th Pa. Vol. His brother in law, Oliver Knepper, who died
last week, was a member of the same company. After the war he resumed farming. He was elected jury commissioner in 1882 by the Republican
party and served as a store keeper and gua-er(?) in the International Revenue Service under the Harrison Administration.
A gentleman of kindly disposition and genial manners he made friends wherever he went. He was a member of the Brethren church.
He is survived by his wife, who is the daughter of the late James Pugh, of Somerset township, and by four sons and one daughter, viz: Irvin
and James of Salisbury; Theodore, of Brothersvalley township; Norman of Illinois; and Mrs. William Peterson, of Brothersvalley township.
He is survived also by two brothers Uriah, of Brotherton, and Benjamin, of Berlin, and by several sisters.
The funeral took place at ten o'clock yesterday morning, the service is being conducted by Rev. D.H. Walker. Interment was made in the brethren
church cemetery, one mile east of the late residence of deceased. The funeral was one of the largest ever held in brothersvalley township.
His age was 56 years, 10 months and 24 days.
(Somerset (Pa.) Herald, February 8, 1899)
Track Foreman Mahlon Pugh
is Ground to Death
Maintenance Crew Was Working on
East Side Allegheny Mountain
After shouting warning of an approaching train to the men in his crew, B. & O. maintenance foreman
Mahlon M. Pugh, on Tuesday morning, stepped in front of an east-bound fast freight and was ground to death beneath the wheels.
Mahlon M. Pugh, aged 60, of Meyersdale, R.D. 2, a veteran trackman and maintenance foreman on the B. & O. railroad, with his gang,
was unloading new rails in the vicinity of Mance, east of the Sand Patch tunnel, when the accident occurred.
At least six men of the crew had a narrow escape as the on-coming east-bound train,
on the west-bound track, mowed down their boss.
A crane was being used to lift the heavy rails from a railroad car. The men in Foreman Pugh's gang
had guide ropes attached to the rails to steer them into their destination. Several of the men stood on the tracks while pulling on the
ropes attached to the rails that were being unloaded.
Foreman Pugh spied the on-coming train from the west and shouted to his men to clear the track.
The fact that the eastbound fast freight was traveling on the regular west-bound track is believed to have confused the men and caused them
to seek safety in the path of the on-coming locomotive.
Two men, still clinging to a guide rope, stepped off on opposite sides of the track as the locomotive
was upon them. The rope was severed as the train passed between them. Other men in the crew were scarcely in the clear as the giant
locomotive rushed by at their heels.
It is believed that Mr. Pugh's concern about the safety of his men, at a critical moment,
caused him to lose his own life. The engineer of the train applied the brakes immediately but the locomotive and fourteen cars had passed
over Mr. Pugh's body before the fast freight could be brought to a stop.
Mr. Pugh's head was crushed and decapitated, his left arm severed, left leg crushed and his body
otherwise mangled. The remains were in such condition as to make it impossible to prepare the corpse so that it can be viewed by the
family and friends. The casket in which rests the remains of Mahlon M. Pugh will not be opened before burial in Union Cemetery,
Friday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock.
Mr. Pugh was born in Somerset County, June 10, 1882, and was aged 60 years and 20 days.
He was a son of Daniel and Elizabeth Shultz Pugh. He was a member of the Meyersdale Church of the Brethren.
Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Ida Alberta Bittner Pugh and the following daughters:
Mrs. Eugene McClarry, Detroit, Michigan; Mrs. Richard Lindeman, State College, and Misses Ada and Ruth Pugh, both at home.
Also surviving are five grandchildren and the following sisters: Mrs. Peter Brown and Mrs. Carrie Schrock, Meyersdale;
Mrs. Edward Lehman, Pittsburgh; Mrs. William Brown, Shanksville, and Mrs. Joseph Day, Detroit, Michigan.
Funeral services will be conducted at the home Friday afternoon, by Rev. DeWitt L. Miller.
Arrangements are in charge of W. C. Price & Son, local morticians.
(Meyersdale (Pa.) Republican, July 2, 1942)
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William Alexander Saylor died 20 Nov 1956 |
WOMAN KNOWN HERE DROWNS IN MID-OCEAN
Mrs. Chester Knepper, wife
of Lieut. Knepper, a retired captain in the navy was swept overboard during a storm on the steamship Niagara on the evening of
February 5th. Every effort was made to save her, but there was no sign of the unfortunate woman. Lieut. Knepper's mother lives
in Somerset where the deceased has visited. The couple had been living in France for some time and were on their way to this country.
(Meyersdale (Pa.) Commercial, Feb. 18, 1915)
(Note: Maiden name Helen Todhunter)
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