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Star Beacon

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Ashtabula, Ohio | www.starbeacon.com 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016

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Crash changed industry

Some seen
as heroes,
others
villains
EDITORS NOTE: Dec. 29 was the
140th anniversary of the 1876
Ashtabula Train Disaster. In recognition of the event, this week the Star
Beacon is looking at the past and
present of the railroad in Ashtabula
County.
BY DAVE DELUCA
ddeluca@starbeacon.com

death for their lack of concern for their customers.

The mid-nineteenth century was a time of tremendous
innovation and saw a few
industrialists like John D.
Rockefeller, J.P Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius
Vanderbilt gain unbridled
wealth and power, he said.
The railroad industry was
Americas first big business.
Railroad accidents were
rising at the time of the
Ashtabula Bridge Disaster,
and the death toll was also

While many of the specifics of the Great Ashtabula

Train accident have long ago
become historical record, unsolved mysteries and unsung
heroes remain.
One local hero was Charles
B. Leek, the Ashtabula telegraph operator who stayed
at his post for more than 50
hours without sleep to send
messages to those needing
to know what happened to
the Pacific Express. Leek took
over Dec. 29, 1876, from
John Manning, Ashtabulas
regular telegraph operator.
Leek was also the nations
first African American telegraph operator.
Leek circulated frantic
requests for medical help,
said documentary producer
Len Brown of Beacon Productions in Canton. In the
early morning hours, doctors
and railroad officials finally
arrived on a relief train from
Cleveland.
Browns website, engineeringdisaster.com, notes
that Leek was born free. He
was a well-respected and accepted member of Ashtabula
life even before he assumed
his duties as head telegraph
operator. He played violin in
a few local orchestras and
later inherited his fathers
restaurant in Ashtabula
all because Ashtabula was a
strong abolitionist county,

SEE INDUSTRY, A3

SEE CRASH, A3

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Dick Mullen, an expert on the Ashtabula train disaster of 1876, holds acopy of the 1877 Harpers Weekly about the bridge collapse. Part
of the reason the accident eventually prompted safety changes in the railroad industry was because of the national attention it drew.

Ashtabula was ground zero

for the beginning of real change

BY DAVE DELUCA
ddeluca@starbeacon.com

The Ashtabula Train Disaster is mostly remembered for

the death and devastation it
wrought, but some good did
come out of it as the tragedy
prompted a number of safety
changes to the industry
eventually.
The Ashtabula Train Disaster is sometimes associated
with the rise of the populist
movement in the United
States, said researcher and
film producer Len Brown.
It was during the 1870s

The Ashtabula Train Disaster became

a yardstick for what needed to be
done to make things safer, but it wasnt
until at least 30 years later that things
became law. It was known all around the
world what happened, but it still took a
long time to do anything about it.
Bob Frisbie

Ashtabula Maritime and Surface Transportation Museum director

that the robber barons,

includingCornelius Vanderbilt, tycoon and owner of the
railroad,made their fortunes,

Brown said. They paid little

attention to safety issues in
the railroads, and were often
considered purveyors of

Man shot while leaving party

in Ashtabula Harbor
BY SHELLEY TERRY
sterry@starbeacon.com

ASHTABULA A
26-year-old Ashtabula
man was hospitalized after a shooting
early Thursday in the
Ashtabula Harbor,
police said.

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NEWS TIP?
CALL US!
440-994-3243

The victim, whose

name has not been
released, was one of
five people leaving a
party in the 1500 block
of West Eighth Avenue
at about 1:45 a.m.,
Ashtabula Police Chief
Robert Stell said.
Five people got
The Star Beacon office
will close Dec. 30 at
noon and reopen
Jan. 3 in observance of
the holiday.
Customer service lines
will be available at
440-994-3242
on Sat. 6 a.m.-noon
and Sun. & Mon.
7 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

New Circle K under

construction on Lake Avenue

into a car and several

shots were fired at the
vehicle, he said. One
passenger was hit in
the upper back.
The man was transported by ambulance
to Ashtabula County

ASHTABULA Circle K is building a convenience store in the

Ashtabula Harbor.
The brand new
5,333-square-foot
store and gas station is

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DEATHS

S PORTS

MORE FOR YOUR MONEY SINCE

1940

OUTS I DE

KUEHNLE, Elizabeth B.
PATTERSON, M. Jeanne
WILBER, Ivan E. Sr.
WRIGHT, Marian L.

Browns vs. Steelers

RG3 to start

Obituary deadline for the

New Years Edition will be
4 p.m. Saturday

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440-993-6266 4520 Main Ave Ashtabula

FURNITURE APPLIANCES BEDDING

under construction at
917 Lake Ave., across
from McDonalds, on
the vacant lot where
Washington Elementary School once stood.
Circle K plans to
close its store north of
the site, 833 Lake Ave.,
and move into the

BY SHELLEY TERRY
sterry@starbeacon.com

Your Entire Purchase

2 DAYS
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December 30th & 31st
Must mention this ad.

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I NS I DE

Snow Showers
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Sunrise 7:51 A.M. Sunset 5:01 P.M.

new store in April. The

contractor is American
Trade Mark of Dayton,
building officials said.
City Manager Jim
Timonere said hes
excited about the new
construction.

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