Carrington - Nancy (d 1899)
Source: Waveland Independent newspaper, Waveland, Montgomery County, Indiana April 14, 1899
A terrible accident occurred at the home of John H. Carrington, near Wingate, last Friday afternoon. Mr. Carrington was engaged in blowing up stumps in a clearing with dynamite. Some of the explosive was frozen and he placed a quantity of it, said to have been about 12 pounds under the kitchen stove to thaw out. About an hour later this exploded. The house, a log and frame structure, was torn to splinters. Mrs. Carrington's limbs were broken and she was terribly cut and bruised and died in a few hours. Her little daughter Nona, 17 months old, was instantly killed, her head being torn off. An older daughter escaped with a few slight wounds. The funeral of the unfortunate woman and child was held at Freedom Church on Sunday, the funeral sermon being delivered by Rev. LF Galey. The unusual circumstances attracted a crowd beyond the capacity of the house. The mother and her baby were buried in the same casket. Mrs. Mary Carrington was a daughter of Mrs. Hannah Maddox and her early life was spent in this vicinity. She was born in Clinton Co, Iowa in Nov. 1859. She joined the Presbyterian Church when 17 years of age and later united with the Baptist Church. She leaves a husband and four children. - kbz
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal 9 April 1899
One of the largest crowds that ever gathered at Freedom Church was last Sunday to witness the funeral and burial of Mrs. John Carrington and child, of which church she has long been a member. We were pained to hear of that awful accident indeed, which caused their death. Mr. Carrington and family having lived in this neighborhood quite awhile made quite a number of acquaintances and friends. Mrs. Carrington was a woman of a kind nature to everyone whom she chanced to meet. This sad accident as was reported to the writer is as follows: “Mr. Carrington had some stumps in a field a quarter of a mile away from the house that he wanted out and when going out to the field he left some 12 pounds of frozen dynamite under the kitchen stove to thaw out where Mrs. Carrington was ironing with the child near by. While Mr. Carrington was blowing up these stumps the explosion took place at the house. A 7 year old girl was in an adjoining room and was pinned down by the falling timber, but was taken out unhurt. What caused the explosion exactly is not known, whether it was the jar from blowing up the stump, being a quarter of a mile away, or the collection of the nitro glycerin and heat while thawing out. The child was blown out of the house to the yard fence with the back part of its head blown away and mangled terribly otherwise. Mrs. Carrington was not killed instantly, having lived five hours, during which time she was conscious. Pieces of timber were blown into and through her body in a horrible manner. There was only one piece of the cook stove found and that was some ways off and buried in a sugar tree. Had the remaining forty pounds of dynamite exploded the accident would no doubt have been more disastrous. It certainly was frozen or it would have exploded from the jar of the other explosion. Mr. Carrington and family have the sympathy of this neighborhood in their sad bereavement. -s
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 14 April 1899
The funeral of Mrs. John Carrington and her child, the victims of Friday’s dynamite explosion near Wingate, took place Sunday at the Freedom Baptist Church in Brown Township, and a great concourse of people attended. Mother and child were buried in one coffin. The father continues almost prostrated and is in a pitiable condition. It is said that on Sunday over two thousand people visited the scene of the catastrophe, coming from miles around. Many carried away pieces of the wrecked home as relics. - KH
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 14 April 1899
Last Friday afternoon shortly after three o’clock a terrible accident occurred at the home of John Carrington, two and a half miles southwest of Wingate. The other day Carrington came to Crawfordsville and purchased of Voris & Cox ten pounds of dynamite and took it home for the purpose of blowing out stumps in a clearing near the house. Friday afternoon about two o’clock he took all but three pounds of the explosive to the clearing and placed the three pounds remaining on the floor near the kitchen stove “to thaw out.” An hour later the report of the blast at a stump was followed by a terrific roar from toward the house and Carrington turning his eyes in that direction saw that an explosion had wrecked the place completely. He hurried to the house, or rather to the debris which marked the spot where it had stood, and in the ruins found his wife in a terribly mutilated and dying condition. The noise of the explosion had been heard for miles around and many neighbors were soon on the spot to give aid. Mrs. Carrington’s limbs were all broken and there was a gaping wound in her head, but she lived until about 8 o’clock, when she died without having regained consciousness. In the barnyard was found the body of the eighteen months old baby. It had been with its mother at the time the dynamite exploded and was carried far away from the house by the force of the powder. The body was mutilated in a sickening manner and the head was literally blown off.
A peculiar feature of the accident was the escape of the eight year old Carrington girl. Just before the accident occurred she left the house and going into the yard was attracted by the cackling of a hen under the front part of the structure. Thinking she had discovered a hidden nest she crawled under the house and was robbing the nest when the dynamite exploded. She was caught by the heavy timbers but strange to relate was not seriously hurt, although naturally being badly bruised. It was thought for some time that she was dead also and the truth was not known until her cries attracted attention to her prison. The house was a very old one and was part of logs and part frame. The force of the explosion simply reduced it to splinters and fragments of the dwelling that could be found all over the adjoining fields. Large sills were split up as though for use in a kitchen stove and the furniture was simply blown to bits. The eldest child of the Carringtons’, a 17 year old boy, narrowly escaped death. Just before the accident he had left for Wingate to make a purchase. When the word of the accident reached Wingate many people went out to view the ruins and doctors went to give aid to Mrs. Carrington, but arrived after her death.
There seems to be some doubt as to the cause of the explosion. Some maintain that it resulted from the concussion of the explosion of the dynamite in the stump and others think that it became overheated by its proximity to the stove in the kitchen.
Carrington went to Coal Creek Township not long ago from the Russellville neighborhood, where he was raised. -s
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 14 April 1899
One of the largest crowds that ever gathered at Freedom Church was last Sunday to witness the funeral and burial of Mrs. John Carrington and child, of which church she has long been a member. We were pained to hear of that awful accident indeed, which caused their death. Mr. Carrington and family having lived in this neighborhood quite awhile made quite a number of acquaintances and friends. Mrs. Carrington was a woman of a kind nature to everyone whom she chanced to meet. This sad accident as was reported to the writer is as follows: “Mr. Carrington had some stumps in a field a quarter of a mile away from the house that he wanted out and when going out to the field he left some 12 pounds of frozen dynamite under the kitchen stove to thaw out where Mrs. Carrington was ironing with the child near by. While Mr. Carrington was blowing up these stumps the explosion took place at the house. A 7 year old girl was in an adjoining room and was pinned down by the falling timber, but was taken out unhurt. What caused the explosion exactly is not known, whether it was the jar from blowing up the stump, being a quarter of a mile away, or the collection of the nitro glycerin and heat while thawing out. The child was blown out of the house to the yard fence with the back part of its head blown away and mangled terribly otherwise. Mrs. Carrington was not killed instantly, having lived five hours, during which time she was conscious. Pieces of timber were blown into and through her body in a horrible manner. There was only one piece of the cook stove found and that was some ways off and buried in a sugar tree. Had the remaining forty pounds of dynamite exploded the accident would no doubt have been more disastrous. It certainly was frozen or it would have exploded from the jar of the other explosion. Mr. Carrington and family have the sympathy of this neighborhood in their sad bereavement. -s