Presentations explore historic 1916 Amherst train crash

AMHERST — A foggy train crash in the middle of the night woke the town of Amherst more than 100 years ago. In the wee hours of March 29, 1916, an unthinkable crash happened about a mile west of downtown on Milan Avenue, when two sections of No. 86, a double passenger train headed from Detroit to Cleveland collided in the impenetrable fog. The first section of the wooden train stopped, believing it had been given a stop light. The second section, unaware the train ahead of it was sitting still, continued to barrel down the line and slammed into the train. While shocked victims were still trying to pull themselves from the wreckage, the New York-to-Chicago flyer Twentieth Century Limited, came roaring through at 70 mph and plowed into the other two. Twenty-seven people were killed and 47 injured, said Tom Jewell, who will present twice this week about the wreck to commemorate the tragedy's anniversary. Jewell will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday at Amherst Public Library, 221 Spring St. and 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Amherst Historical Society Hall, 113 S. Lake St. Five victims were buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, unidentified because they were burned so badly with "Died at Amherst Ohio March 29, 1916" on their donated headstones. Two of the five were later identified; one by his tattoos and the other a victim of mistaken identity in the immediate aftermath. The man's wife and 3-year-old daughter had been waiting for the man to return home to Louisville and he never arrived. They exhumed his body in October of that year, according to reports from local newspapers at the time in the archives of the Amherst Public Library. The wreck caught national attention, even drawing a mention in the New York Times and other newspapers across the country. An unusual detail eventually surfaced: One of the passengers was Mary Pickford, a famous silent movie star. Two other silent film actresses were also on board, Jewell said, though one is believed to have been killed. The scale of the tragedy would be enormous today with modern medical facilities and first responders, but the task in 1916 was daunting. The sound of the crash brought townspeople to the still-dark scene where the Amherst Historical Sandstone Village stands now. News accounts of the time noted that mangled bodies were strewn along the tracks and mixed with luggage and the twisted remains of the train. Townspeople worked in the foggy dark, slogging through mud to get to screaming victims. Some of the victims were so damaged, identifications were made by the barest of details: one man was identified by his bowling ball; one by an embroidered handkerchief. Ground had been broken for the Amherst hospital the year before, but it wasn't operational. The injured were hurriedly put back onto train cars bound for Memorial Hospital in Elyria. Jewell said his presentations use many display boards that were researched and compiled by Jim Wilhelm, former chief of the Amherst Volunteer Fire Department and a board member of the Amherst Historical Society who was instrumental in getting a monument placed at Sandstone Village in 2016 to mark the 100th anniversary. Jewell, who volunteers with the historical society, said his popular presentations — known for their interactive nature with the audience — were finessed when he was handed a scripted speech to give about the train wreck to visitors at the Sandstone Village, the historic town re-creation that sits just below the train tracks where the event occurred. He discovered quickly the embellished script he'd been given was one made up for other events. "Finally somebody came in and said 'None of that is true. Some of that part is not true.' Turns out, it was something someone made up for a Halloween thing," he said, laughing. He now tells guests the facts but also offers some of the details that have been passed around as 'legends' over the years. "I guess it made it more fun and interesting." That drove him to do much of his own research to present the correct story, he said. Both presentations are free. Register for the library event at amherst.lib.oh.us or reserve a spot at the Amherst Historical Society by calling (440) 988-7255 or emailing office@amhersthistoricalsociety.org. Reach Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.