The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-03-10
SIXTY YEARS AGO.
Two Children Frozen to Death In a
Stage Between HOnesdale
and Port Jervls.


and Port Jervls.
The Goshen Independent Republican,
under the head of Happenings of Lo-
cal Interest During the Last Week in
January, 1919" among other facts re-
calls the severity of the weather, the
mercury only rising twice above the
freezing point during the month, and
reaching aslow as II degrees below zero,
and the incident that "two children were
frozen to death while travelling by stage
from Port Jervis to Carbondale."
Few who are still living in Honesdale
were old enough at that time to be able
to recall now the shock experienced by
the townspeople when the story spread
about the village that the New York stage
which reached the Mansion House
(where the Petersen-Nielsen building
now stands) at about daylight on the
morning of December 9th, 1913, mot
Jan. 1S49, as the Goshen paper has it)
contained as passengers father and
mother, bearing in their arms two of
their children, who had been frozen to
death on the trip from Port Jervis.
In 1874 William r. McLaury & Co.,
established a stage line between Homes
dale and New York city, post coaches
leaving this place every day for the city,
and running three days of the week via
Big Eddy to Port Jervis and onward,
and the alternate three days by way of
Cherry Ridge, Blooming Grove and Mil
ford to the same point. Other stages
coming from New York started at the
same intervals and travelled over the
same routes. 1t was in one of these
conveyances. coming to Honesdale over
the Pike county turnpike, that the fatal
ity referred to happened.
The particulars as related at the time
in Honesdale paper are as follow: An
Irish family consisting of a father,
mother and several young children, left
Port Jervis on the 26th of Dec, l84S,
in the stage bound for Carbondale. The
night was exceedingly cold, and though
the children complained bitterly and the
parents repeatedly endeavored to obtain
admittance to taverns along the route to
warm themselves, they were in every
instance refused admission. One of the
children expired early IN the night, when
not many miles from Port Jervis an
other died just previous to reaching
Cherry Ridge. They were aged respec-
lively nine and thirteen years. The stage
reached Honesdale about daylight on
Wednesday morning, December 27, 1S4S,
and soon after left for Carbondale, carry
ing with it the unhappy parents and the
corpses of the little sufferers. The name
of the family could not be learned. The
local journal added: "If these facts
are true if these children came to an
untimely end through the brutal care
lessness of the drivers, or the more brutal
inhospitality of the tavern keepers along
| the route, we trust that the matter will
not be suffered forest here. We earnest
ly hope that the authorities of Pike coun-
ty will institute thorough investigation
into the affair. A fearful responsible
ty rests somewhere, and no effort should
be spared to ascertain the guilty parties,
and to mete out to them the severest
penalty that the law attaches to such a
brutal and criminal outrage upon hu-
manity."
In subsequent issue the editor modi-
fled his indignant censure to the extent
of saying that every attention that hu-
manity could suggest was paid to the
suffering family at Cherry Ridge ; and
if blame attaches to any persons it GER
tainly does not, nor did we intend to
fix it, upon the hotel managers or stage
agents at this end of the route