Sunday, May 15, 2011

Horse Accident and "Stupid Girl" - June 13-15, 1846

Warning, nothing but sad news from 1846. :(

SINCE DIED.--Mrs. Marion Nelson, the unfortunate woman whom we mentioned on Saturday as having been dangerously wounded by a runaway horse, died yesterday morning at the house no. 68 Stanton street, whither she was removed the previous afternoon from Dr. Ayres' office, corner of Fulton and Sands streets. Mr. Coroner Oakes held an inquest in the course of the day, and the following, among other testimony was taken : Dr. Ayres deposed that her injury was concussion of the brain ; but she revived somewhat after she was brought to his office ; and that her death arose from effusion of blood within the cavity of the brain, from a fracture of the base of the skull.

John Duryea deposed that she must have seen the approach of the horse, but seemed too much paralyzed with fear to get out of the way.

James Downy, the driver of the horse, was sworn, and testified that he left him in the charge of a boy fifteen years of age, while he (Downey) went into the Mansion House, in Hicks street, and when he came out, about a minute afterwards, the animal had run away. The horse was a gentle one, and the witness was told by a colored man and some boys that a cracker had been thrown under him, which caused him to start. The witness did not hear any explosion of crackers, nor could he learn the name of his informant.

The jury rendered the following verdict: "That the deceased came to her death from injuries inflicted by a horse, owned by Messrs. Newton & Co., Broadway, New York, which ran away while left standing in the street."

There seems to have been a fatality about the family of the deceased ; for we learn that her husband was drowned at Coney Island some seven years since, by the sinking of a vessel, and by whose death she was reduced to rely upon her daily exertions for a livelihood. By the untoward accident of Saturday a family of four children who were dependent upon her are thrown upon the charities of the world. We learn that some benevolent persons have taken their case into consideration for the purpose of collecting a fund for their benefit. We are likewise told that Messrs. Newton & Co. have expressed their readiness to do all that can be expected of them to alleviate their condition as well as defraying the funeral expenses of the deceased.

We understand that when the unfortunate woman was taken to the drug store of Mr. Howard immediately after the accident he refused to receive her on account of the inconvenience, and directed the driver to convey her to the office of Dr. Ayres !--Such conduct requires no comment from us.
--Brooklyn Eagle, Monday, June 15, 1846

Very sad. The June 13 article says the horse was standing for the purpose of receiving empty bottles, and smashed his cart but kept running. "He then continued down the sidewalk, as a stream of people were coming up who had just landed from the ferry boat. How they all escaped is difficult to tell ; and the only wonder is that at least a dozen were not killed, as the horse was at full speed and the aforesaid shaft playing about in all directions. The animal abated not his speed until he had knocked down a lady who had just landed from the boat, and a man inside the ferry gate, and ran upon the further end of the boat where the chain finally stopped him...."

And this isn't Coney but below the article where Mrs. Nelson died...wow. Just WOW.

CHILD KILLED.--A stupid girl suffered a child to fall from her arms upon the sidewalk in Hicks st. a week or two since, through sheer carelessness.--The unfortunate little sufferer was so injured that it died a few days ago. We did not learn the names.

--Brooklyn Eagle, Monday, June 15, 1846


I do wonder if they would have used the word "stupid" had they known the names. Of course, the early Brooklyn Eagle put out some rather sensationalistic stories that turned out to be false (my personal favorite being the mystery of the female murder victim in the brown dress). So here's hoping they just published a rumor as fact. They already had enough bad news for the day, in my opinion.

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