Mt. Pleasant, MI Oil Well Explosion, Jul 1931
Posted January 15th, 2010 by Tim Taugher
GUSHER BLAST KILLS SEVEN
Victims in Michigan Disaster Sprayed With Flames.
MT. PLEASANT, Mich., July 19. - (United News) - The first major disaster of the newly-developed Michigan oil fields had taken a toll of seven lives today after a wild gusher exploded and scattered blazing oil over a crowd of 2,000 persons.
Men, women and children, who had flocked to see the state's biggest oil "strike" were caught in the fiery blast shortly after nightfall last night. The well was a column of flames today while hundreds of men fought to bring it under control.
The known dead were:
Mrs. Walter L. McClanahan, 35, wife of the well owner.
Mrs. E. J. Guy, 45, wife of the general superintendent of the Roosevelt Refinery.
Ruby Melvin, 13, Mount Pleasant.
Mrs. Robert C. Guy, 18, Mt. Pleasant.
Arwin E. Gorham, wealthy Mt. Pleasant manufacturer.
Marion Fugate, 28, Mt. Pleasant.
Mrs. Thomas Lamb, 25, Mt. Pleasant.
Two others were so seriously burned that they are not expected to live.
A cigaret carelessly dropped by a member of the crowd was blamed for the tragedy.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA 20 Jul 1931
__________________
Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!
Search for more information on this disaster and other train wrecks, fires, accidents, etc. in historical newspapers in the Newspaper Archive. Over one billion newspaper articles online!
Search for your ancestors among the billions of names at ancestry.com Find death records, census images, immigration lists and genealogy other databases for your surnames. Use this Free trial
to search for your ancestors.
Start Your Family Tree It's FREE and easy. Start with yourself, your parents, grandparents and you're on your way to building your family history! Get Started Now and build your family tree at ancestry.com. It's Free!
Find Your Ancestors For Free!
Take advantage of a free trial and start finding more information on your ancestors!
Military Records - 7 days for FREE! Fold3 Civil War, World War I, World War II, and more
Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce Records, Obituaries - 7 days for FREE! Find genealogy records at archives.com
Census Records, Vital Records, Old Newspapers - 14 days for FREE! Trace your families history at ancestry.com Search millions of records.
Yearbooks, Death Records, Histories, Obituaries, - 3 days for FREE! Search huge database of Records at worldvitalrecords.com
|
gendisasters.com is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. Database and records searchable by surname. Compilation, design, artwork and concept covered by copyright. Copyright ©2006-2011, All rights reserved. Contact me. Privacy Policy. |