Unknown Baby Boy

Unknown Baby Boy

by | Apr 18, 2023 | Alliance Review, Cemetery

Death and Discovery | Blume’s undertaking rooms | Funeral Rites | Laid to Rest

On Tuesday evening, May 2, 1916, at 8:30 p.m., Mrs. J. T. Conley and Mrs. H. Richards discovered the lifeless body of a male child in the woman’s toilet room of the Pennsylvania depot in downtown Alliance. The child was wrapped in newspaper and had been dead for some time. Its weight was about 8-10 pounds.

Death and Discovery

The two ladies immediately notified the police who in turn started investigating the death. Coroner B. J. Douds of Canton arrived to inspect the child’s body.

The skin of the baby was dark, denoting either African American or Italian parentage. The coroner was unable to determine whether the baby was born alive or not, but all indications were that no physician had handled the delivery. The newspaper account stated that “the child had apparently been bathed and there were some indications that talcum powder had been used upon it.” The official word from the coroner was “hemorrhage from neglect to tie cod, being found dead in toilet room at Penna. depot. Alliance, Stark County. — Neglect.”

Blume’s undertaking rooms

The baby remained at Blume’s underaking rooms as the investigation continued. Several hundred people visited the funeral home to view the abandoned baby boy. “Mr. Blume had the body embalmed and dressed and it [rested] in a neat little casket placed within a glass case, where it [could] be viewed by all who [cared] to see it.” Mr. Blume offered a $10 reward to the mother of the child if she would come and claim the body. Three days later, he raised the reward to $20, but no one came forward.

The mystery of the dead baby boy grew as Blume’s undertaking received a phone message from an unidentified woman on May 7. The caller requested that the body be held until Friday, May 12.

Visitors who viewed the baby asked how he would be buried. Though their donations were small, people began leaving quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, with an occasional dollar bill to help provide a proper burial for the abandoned child. Donations continued to come in “for baby” and soon totaled $21.57 to defray the expenses of burying the infant.

Funeral Rites

On Sunday, May 14, 1916, the funeral services were held at G. E. Blume & Son undertaking rooms, with Rev. J. C. Turner of the A. M. E. church and Capt. Stark of the Salvation Army officiating. The remains would be deposited in the City Cemetery receiving vault if no new developments arose.

The account of the service made the front page of The Alliance Review with the heading, “Unusual Were Funeral Rites.” More than 200 people attended the service to pay their respects to the baby. The service was touted as “unusual” because of the mystery surrounding the child, the fact that no mourners attended, and no mother was in attendance to grieve the death. The crowd contained a mix of nationalities to witness the Christian burial of the unknown baby boy.

A quartet from the A. M. E. church consisting of Charles Smith, William Johnson, Mary Moore, and Lucy Smith sang two songs and Mrs. Stark from the Salvation Army sang “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere.” The baby, robed in a garment of white, rested in a little white casket, with a donated wreath of flowers decorating the bier.

Laid to Rest

Burial took place on Monday, May 15, in the northwest corner of Section S in Alliance City Cemetery. A grave marker, about two feet by eight inches and three inches thick was donated by Bauhof and Graham monument makers. It is inscribed:

UNKNOWN BABY BOY
Found dead at Penna. R. R. Depot
May 2, 1916
Buried by the public

Each year, on the anniversary of the baby’s death, an unknown person places flowers on the grave. The mystery continues.

=====

Story compiled from reports in The Alliance Review, May 3, 1916 — May 16, 1916

Alliance’s Deadliest Train Accident

Alliance’s Deadliest Train Accident

by | Dec 3, 2022 | Events, Historic facts

Background | What Happened | After the Crash | The Victims | Who Was to Blame

Alliance’s deadliest train accident occurred on December 8, 1856, at the crossing. Eight people were killed and many others were severely injured, when two railroad trains collided. Newspapers across the country and the journal Scientific American shared the gruesome details of the aftermath of that fateful night.

Background

A passenger train consisting of an engine, tinderbox, baggage car, and four passenger cars, left the Pittsburgh depot at 3:00 p.m. and arrived in Alliance at 6:38 p.m. for a supper break at the Sourbeck Hotel. The train traveled west from Pittsburgh on the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. E. A. Leavitt was the conductor of the train.

The second train approached from the south on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad track. W. C. Cleland was the conductor and his engineer was William Cherry.

The crossing is where the village of Alliance got its name, since the two railroads crossed there and there was an “alliance” of the two railroads. On the northeast side of the crossing sat the Sourbeck Hotel. The building stretched alongside both railroad tracks and was a frequent stopping place for trains and their passengers.

What Happened?

A well-known rule of the railroads instructed all trains must come to a full and complete stop at any railroad crossing, whether there was any other train in sight or not. A flagman would get off the train and check for traffic before the conductor would cross the other tracks.

As the supper break concluded and the passengers climbed aboard the Pittsburgh train at about 7:00 p.m., conductor Leavitt began to cross the Cleveland and Pittsburgh tracks. The entire train had not crossed the intersection when the headlight of the Cleveland train was seen about a half mile away. The flagman failed to slow the speeding train, which showed no signs of slowing down and did not sound its whistle. The speed of the train was estimated from 25-35 mph.

The Cleveland train struck between the third and fourth passenger cars of the Pittsburgh train. The two cars were tossed from the tracks. The fourth car landed in the lobby of the Sourbeck and the third car crashed into the crowd of people who were standing on the platform. Strangely, none of the passengers riding in the cars were killed, but many were severely wounded. The only people killed were standing on the platform outside the hotel or near the tracks.

After the Crash

After the crash occurred, William Cherry, the engineer of the runaway train jumped off and ran away from the scene, fearing that he would be lynched for the accident. When the wreckage was cleared, it was determined that eight people had lost their lives. They were found under the train cars and some were dismembered as well as totally disfigured.

The Victims

Those killed included Alliance resident Jacob Rudie, flagman for the railroad; Dr. P. B. Smith and his wife Sarah B. Smith, residents of Alliance, a newly married couple with a promising future ahead of them. John Brooks resided in New Jersey and was on his way to Limaville to be married. Nicholas G. Taylor, a resident of Philadelphia, was on a business trip to Chicago. John C. McIntyre lived in Alliance and had a wife and two young children. He is buried in the Williamsport Cemetery. He, along with Pierson Otterhalt and King Watson were carpenters. Atterholt and Ritchey resided in New Garden, Ohio.

Who Was to Blame?

Who was to blame for the slaughter? Leavitt had left the supper stop four minutes later than he should have, at just the time that the Cleveland train was to arrive. It was unclear whether Cleland’s engineer, William Cherry, had sounded his whistle or not. If he had pulled the brakes and reversed the engine as the train approached the crossing, was there a coating of frost on the tracks that prevented the train from slowing and stopping as it was required to do? If he had tried to stop the train, why did he jump off and run away? Engineer Cherry turned himself in to authorities in Cleveland several days after the incident. On January 1, 1857, he appeared before a magistrate in Alliance to tell his side of the story.

Cherry swore in his statement that he had whistled down the brakes, reversed the engine, and tried to stop his train before reaching the crossing. He noted that the wheels slid on the tracks and he was sure that the train was going no faster than twelve miles per hour. He stated that when he did see the lights of the Pittsburgh train and those on the station platform, the track was clear. He tried several times to slow the train, but it did not stop.

The judicial inquiry into the incident formed quickly with the verdict coming just nine days later. The Summit County Beacon reported the findings on December 17, 1856, as follows: “After having heard evidence extensively and examined the bodies, we do find that the deceased came to their death by violence … inflicted and caused by the passenger train on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad crossing of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad at Alliance … the Jury find caused the immediate death of said persons whose bodies were found as aforesaid. And we, the jury, do further find that one John Cherry, the Engineer on the engine of said train on said Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad running north, was concerned in the perpetration of said outrage, violence and death, as principal.”

Alliance’s Worst Disaster – The Orr Block Explosion

by | Sep 11, 2021 | Events, Historic facts, Obituaries

Orr Explosion headline

Headline from The Alliance Weekly Review, February 6, 1884 detailing Alliance’s worst disaster

At 4 o’clock in the afternoon of February 1, 1884, Alliance’s worst disaster occurred. Seven people lost their lives and at least 15 others were seriously injured as the fumes from a gasoline spill inside the Orr Block ignited, causing the three-story building to explode.

The victims

Frank M. Orr, age 46, owned the stove and tin ware store, located on the south side of Main Street near 5th Street (now known as Seneca) in downtown Alliance. On the second floor of the building, lived Mr. Orr’s 24-year-old daughter and son-in-law, Homer and Allie Highland, along with their 2-year-old son, Vernon Highland. The Highlands had been married three years. On the third floor lived Frank Evans, his wife Ida, and their two small children, ages 2 years and 4 months. Frank Orr’s son, Elmer, age 21, worked in the store with his father. He was friendly and showed a good talent for business.

How the disaster happened

It was a typical Friday afternoon at the store with a few persons shopping. The building, completed in the fall of 1883, was considered one of the finest in the city. Its exterior consisted of pressed bricks and French plate glass windows. Businesses in the adjoining buildings included a three-story dry goods building, owned by Mr. Miller, to the east, a single-story millinery store to the east of that, and a two-story grocery store to the west of the Orr Block. Noted in the newspaper reports of the day, about seven or eight people were shopping at the grocer’s store at the time of the explosion and a few people were working in the Miller building. Frank Orr was a staunch believer in the Temperance movement and had offered his store to the local WCTU for a meeting on the afternoon of February 1, 1884, but “some trifling matter” caused them to postpone their meeting for another time.

Mrs. Highland and her son Vernon were visiting with her father, Frank, and brother, Elmer, in the tin shop when young Vernon opened the spigot of the gasoline tank. Frank Orr kept gasoline in an airtight galvanized iron tank inside his store for his customers. About a gallon of the liquid spilled out onto the floor of the shop and the fumes began to disperse into the air. Elmer Orr began to mop up the gasoline when the fumes reached a fire-burning stove and caused the great explosion.

The explosion

Two men from Duprez & Benedict’s Minstrels, standing in the doorway into the shop at the time of the explosion, were hurled through the plate glass window to the opposite side of the street. A team of horses on the opposite side of the street, thrown down by the violent explosion, scrambled to their feet. Eyewitnesses remarked that the building appeared to be lifted up before crashing to the ground. The sound of the explosion, heard several blocks away, caused many to think there had been an earthquake. The neighboring three-story building collapsed and thin glass windows within two blocks of the explosion shattered. Property damage estimates were $50,000 and there was little insurance coverage.

Frank and Elmer Orr along with Allie Orr Highland and her young son Vernon all perished in the subsequent fire and building collapse. Frank Evans had just put his 4-month old baby into her crib when the explosion occurred. Their third floor apartment collapsed, trapping the family beneath the ceiling beams and bricks as the fire spread. Evans was able to pull himself out from the wreckage but could not reach his wife, Ida, or either of their children and they perished in the disaster.

News of the disaster

News of the explosion traveled quickly to neighboring Canton and an estimated 4,000 people arrived by train by the next morning to see what had happened. Spectators scooped up pieces of broken glass as souvenirs. Coverage of the disaster appeared in newspapers across the country from The New York Times to Missouri and beyond. The Business Men’s Association constructed a memorial arch on the site of the former Orr Block as a sign of respect for one of their members, Frank Orr.

The funerals

Frank Evans worked at The Hammer Works. Nearly 2,000 people attended the funeral of his wife and children, held at the home of John R. Morgan on Market Street. The funeral service for the Orr family, held in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, included a detail of special police stationed to prevent overcrowding at the service. At the cemetery service for the Orr family, the crowd of spectators and sympathizers, estimated at five to six thousand, attended. The burial service included full Odd Fellows rites since Frank Orr was a member.

All seven victims of the Orr Block explosion are buried at Alliance City Cemetery. Their names:

  • Frank M. Orr, age 46
  • Elmer Orr, age 21, son of Frank Orr
  • Allie Orr Highland, age 24, daughter of Frank Orr
  • Charles Vernon Highland, age 2, son of Allie Highland
  • Ida Evans, and her two small children, ages 2 years and 4 months

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 14

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 14

by | Sep 1, 2019 | Events

What Happened to the Other Guests?

As we conclude our story of the Great Olive Poisoning of 1919, we return once again to the retelling of the story by William H. Morgan, who later became the President of Morgan Engineering in Alliance, Ohio. He wrote this history of the events in the form of a letter to Harriet Clem, Director of Rodman Public Library, in 1982. It is available online through Alliance Memory, a collection of over 8,000 images and documents about Alliance, Ohio. You can find it here: https://www.alliancememory.org/digital/collection/voices/id/110/rec/3

What of the future of the guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Three or four years later Bill Gahris died suddenly and unexpectedly on a train en route to New York on business. Gretchen Gahris is now Mrs. J. Harrison Keller of Alliance.

Soon after the loss of her husband, Emily Weybrecht sold their home and moved to Seward, Alaska where she kept house for her bachelor brother, Cal Brosius. She died there some years later.

Sharer Memorial in Alliance City Cemetery

Sharer Memorial in Alliance City Cemetery

My first cousin, Ann Sharer, now Mrs. Warren C. Flynn, a widow, has lived in St. Louis for many years. We keep in touch. I had a telephone conversation with her several weeks ago.

Lou Brush became very successful in the newspaper business. Not long after, he formed the Brush-Moore chain in association with two of his friends. In addition to The Salem News, which he owned, other papers were purchased including the East Liverpool paper, The Marion Star, and The Canton Repository. Lou died suddenly while attending the Republican National Convention in 1948. Maude Brush continued to live in their home in Salem until her death in the late 1950s. She never lost her engaging personality nor her sense of humor.

Fred Morris later became President and Chairman of the Board of The Morgan Engineering Company. He died in 1948. Ella Morris was probably the last survivor of the Gahris dinner party. She lived until the late 1960s.

Dr. Sanford later remarried and practiced in Alliance during the 1920s. I believe that he died during the 1930s.

Clem, Mary and their daughter Jean Bates moved to California a few years later after the Buckeye Jack plant was closed. I have lost all track of them.

Father [Col. Morgan] died in 1928. Mother [Annette Sharer Morgan] continued to live in our old home until she sold it to the Elks in 1939. She then moved to Cleveland where she lived in the Moreland Courts apartment on Shaver Boulevard until her death in 1960. She never tasted another ripe olive after the Gahris party, nor could I blame her.

Dr. John Phillips died from toxic smoke inhalation during the disastrous fire at the Cleveland Clinic in May 1929.

Yes I eat ripe olives. I believe with modern safeguards the chance of botulism is very remote. Nevertheless outbreaks do occur from time to time. A few years ago botulism was traced to Vichyssoise soup bearing the label of Bon Vivant. The adverse publicity and the following suits put the company out of business.

A few weeks ago bacillus botulinus was found in canned salmon from two Alaskan canneries. Apparently a malfunction of the machinery caused minute holes to be punched in some of the cans.

The lesson to be learned is that although rare, botulism still remains an insidious and deadly killer.

I hope that whoever reads this narrative will gain a knowledge of not only the facts but also of the people involved in the olive poisoning tragedy of 1919.

Sincerely,

William H. Morgan

We hope you have enjoyed reading this account of one of the most tragic events in Alliance’s history. To help us with further projects like this one and to stay informed of our activities, we ask that you consider becoming a member of the Alliance Historical Society. Memberships begin at just $15 per year and can be paid through PayPal or by credit card. Memberships help to fund research projects, protect our archival materials, and maintain the Mabel Hartzell Historical Home.

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 13

by | Aug 31, 2019 | Events

Aftermath for the Morgan Family

We return to the final portions of the story as told by William H. Morgan, son of Col. Morgan, who was just 15 years old at the time of the dinner party.

Aftermath.

Mother [Annette Sharer Morgan] later admitted that she was very ill the week following the Lakeside dinner. Her eyes did not focus properly and she felt generally bad, but simply had to keep going. She said that her eyes never were as good afterward, although she had excellent eyesight. This was the result of one bite of a contaminated olive.

Lou and Maude Brush recovered as did Mary Bates, although it took months before she completely regained her health.

About one month after the Lakeside Party, Dad noticed an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a prominent family in Grosse Point Michigan by the name of Sayles being victims of a strange type of poisoning. Dad [Col. Morgan] immediately suspected botulism and sent a telegram addressed to the Physician attending the Sayles family, informing him that we had a similar outbreak, and suggest that he contact Dr. John Phillips at the Cleveland Clinic. The telegram was delivered. Dr. Phillips contacted, and the result was botulism was diagnosed and the culprit found to be Mammoth Ripe Olives packed by Curtiss Brothers in California.

Shortly thereafter an account of another poisoning in the Pittsburgh paper, this time in Greensburg, Pa. Another telegram and the same result, botulism caused by Mammoth Ripe Olives packed by Curtiss Brothers in California.

How many contaminated jars were distributed across the country? How many deaths were caused? The answer will never be known, but there was sufficient adverse publicity that Curtiss Brothers soon went out of business.

Many years later Mrs. Morgan and I were at the Congress Lake Club one evening. I was introduced to a woman from Detroit who was visiting an old school friend in Canton. Somehow she mentioned the fact that her maiden name had been Sayles. I couldn’t wait to ask her if she were related to the Sayles family who had been the victims of a poisoning in 1919. They were indeed her family. She had been very young at the time, and several of them had died. Since it was neither the time nor place to press for more details, the subject was dropped. It was just one more proof that it is a small world.

Tomorrow: What of the future of the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Part 14

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 12

by | Aug 30, 2019 | Events

The Final Victim

Saturday, August 30, 1919

The final victim of the olive poisoning, Jessie Sanford, died. Reports on Mary Bates said that she was barely holding on.

The headline of The Alliance Review  now referred to the dinner party as the “death banquet” as another victim is claimed.

State to Probe Death Banquet Headline from The Alliance Review, August 29, 1919

Mrs. Sanford could not survive, even with injections of a serum that was tried on her as a last resort.

Serum Used on Poison VictimThe Alliance Review, August 30, 1919

Tomorrow: Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 13

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 11

by | Aug 29, 2019 | Events

Funerals Are Held for the Dead

Friday, August 29, 1919

The entry in William H. Morgan’s accounting of the Olive Poisoning for August 29 is very brief but relates how difficult a day it was:

This was a difficult day. Uncle John and Aunt Kit Sharer were buried in the morning. Col. Weybrecht’s funeral was in the afternoon.

For more details of the events of the day, we turn to the accounts in The Alliance Review. Lengthy articles are given with many details of the funerals and processions for the dead. The following are part of the address by Karen Perone given during the 100th anniversary memorial service on August 25, 2019.

The funerals for the Sharers were short and simple with only family attending at their home. The service followed the Episcopal Ritual and included no eulogies and no music. They occurred on Friday morning, August 29. Their memorial here at the Alliance City Cemetery depicts a young woman weeping. It is thought that the young lady was the couple’s only daughter, Ann, who was only 7 at the time of her parents’ deaths but could also symbolize John’s mother who buried her son.

At noon on Friday, August 29, the mayor requested all businesses and stores to close as the community prepared to pay its respects to Col. Weybrecht. Flags were lowered to half-staff and the city mourned its favorite son. Funeral services were held at the Weybrecht home on South Union Avenue and were attended by a large number of friends, relatives, military and civil associates. A men’s quartet from the Rotary Club sang renditions of some of Col. Weybrecht’s favorite hymns, including Face to Face.

Following the service, a funeral cortege 10 blocks long formed. A military unit formed on East Market Street and Freedom Avenue and a civilian unit formed on East Oxford and Linden. The military unit consisted of a firing squad from Company K, Company B and the 146th US Infantry, World War veterans, Spanish American veterans, and veterans of the Army, Navy, and Marines. The 146th Infantry Band of Akron led the military division.

Funeral procession for C.C. Weybrecht

Funeral procession lined up on E. Market Street in Alliance. It included the Alliance City Band, members of the 146th Regimental Organization, and funeral cortege with a car carrying the honorary pall bearers. The procession was 10 blocks long.

The civic unit was led by the Alliance City Band and consisted of 800+ workers from Morgan Engineering and 100 workers from Alliance Machine.

An automobile carried honorary pallbearers who read like a Who’s Who of Alliance’s leaders: Charles Sebring (brother of Helen Gahris), Walter Ellett, Col. Morgan, Willis Ramsey, Walter Heiss, Capt. Atkinson, Dr. Charles Hoover, O.T. Transue, D.W. Crist, and W.J. Rose. Following the automobile was a hearse carrying Col. Weybrecht’s body.

As a military tradition, Col. Weybrecht’s riderless horse followed the hearse. The horse was fully dressed with a saddle, bridle and saddle cloth. His riding boots were reversed in the stirrups, and his saber was hanging from the saddle horn.

The cortege proceeded to pass the Weybrecht home at 29 S. Union Avenue and made its way to the Alliance City Cemetery. It is estimated that 10,000 citizens were waiting there to pay their last respects. Director Emil Rinkendorf of Alliance led the choir of buglers in a stirring rendition of Taps. He also led a similar performance at the burial ceremony for William McKinley.

Photos from Weybrecht funeral procession Photos from Weybrecht funeral procession, Alliance Review, August 30, 1919

Tomorrow: The Final Victim

Part 12

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 10

by | Aug 28, 2019 | Events

Jessie Sanford Struggles

The entry for August 28 in William H. Morgan’s account is equally short with yesterday’s:

Thursday August 28

Jessie Sanford’s condition worsening. Mary Bates critically ill.

The Alliance Review offers details on the day’s events, including a photograph of the Lakeside Club’s chef who died, Frank McAvoy, and the menu that was served at the dinner. Among the items served were pink meat cantaloupe, white and dark meat turkey with dressing, browned potatoes, scalloped corn with green and red peppers, sliced tomatoes on lettuce with French dressing, fresh rolls with butter, salted wafers, olives, ice cream, spice cake with caramel frosting, nuts, candy, and coffee. The olives, nuts, candy, Newport creams and chocolate were brought to the dinner by Mrs. Gahris.

A number of olives and the can they came in were still in the refrigerator of the country club. They were sent to Columbus for analysis. A rabbit died after eating one of the olives. The results of the tests performed on the olives and the organs of the Lakeside Club staff members were expected to take at least three weeks.

Mrs. Gahris was buried on this day in Sebring while plans were made for the funerals of Mr. & Mrs. Sharer and Col. Weybrecht for the following day.

Alliance Review, Aug. 28, 1919The Alliance Review, Aug.28, 1919, https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll36/id/9287/rec/1

Tomorrow: Funerals Are Held for the Dead

Part 11

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 9

by | Aug 27, 2019 | Events

The First Information Published in The Alliance Review

William H. Morgan’s account of August 27 is extremely short:

Wednesday August 27

Aunt Kit Sharer died Wednesday morning.

At this point, the story is picked up by The Alliance Review. Three prominent citizens of Alliance (Col. Charles C. Weybrecht, John Sharer, and Katharine Sharer) had died and the story became newsworthy. Also among the dead were the hostess, Helen Gahris, the chef, Frank McAvoy, and the waiter, Robert Jennings.

The headline for the day read: “FOOD POISON DEATH TOLL SIX” and several articles describing the food and the dead were given. The secondary headline read, “Mr. and Mrs. Sharer Die; Chef Passes Away; Chemist Analyzes Vitals of Chef and Negro Waiter.” Here is the front page of The Alliance Review for August 27, 1919.

Alliance Review, Aug. 27,1919The Alliance Review, Aug. 27, 1919 – https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll36/id/9274/rec/1

Tomorrow: Jessie Sanford Struggles

Part 10

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?

Great Olive Poisoning of 1919 – Part 8

by | Aug 26, 2019 | Events

Other Members of the Dinner Party are Contacted

In today’s posting, we learn of the status of other members of the Gahris dinner party and locate evidence to be analyzed for the cause of the illnesses. Again, here are the recollections of William H. Morgan.

Tuesday August 26

Since the poisoning was definitely linked to the Saturday night party, all of the Gahris party were contacted. Jessie Sanford and Mary Bates were both very ill. Lou and Maude Brush in Salem were ill. We were very concerned about Fred Morris who had left Sunday night on a business trip to the east. He was finally located and found to be all right, much to the relief of Mrs. Morris.

The Lakeside Club and the Canton Medical Society were informed, and it was found that no other guests at the Saturday night dinner other than those at the Gahris table had become ill, with the exception of the Club Chef and one waiter, both of whom died.

It was first thought the turkey was probably the carrier of the deadly bacteria, but the fact that only the Gahris table was affected and not all of them ill seemed to point to a different source. The other suspect was the olives. Those who had become ill had all eaten olives. Also it was found that both the chef and the waiter had sampled them. The waiter had suggested to one of his co-workers that the olives tasted odd, and wanted him to try one, but he refused. Fortunately the olive jar which was marked MAMMOTH RIPE OLIVES, packed by Curtiss Brothers in California, was in the club refrigerator with about a half dozen olives. The olives together with a sample of turkey were sent to Columbus for analysis. The turkey was harmless, the olives contained bacillus botulinus. The cause was pinpointed.

Tuesday night Uncle John Sharer died.

Tomorrow: The First Information Published in The Alliance Review

Part 9

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Who was Col. Weybrecht?

Part 3 – The party hostess: Helen Sebring Gahris

Part 4 – The dinner guests

Part 5 – The dinner party – August 23, 1919

Part 6 – The first effects of the tainted olives

Part 7 – The similarities in the symptoms become obvious

Part 8 – Other members of the dinner party are contacted

Part 9 – The first information published in The Alliance Review

Part 10 – Jessie Sanford struggles

Part 11 – Funerals are held for the dead

Part 12 – The final victim

Part 13 – Aftermath for the Morgan Family

Part 14 – What happened to the other guests at the Gahris dinner party?