Larew - Alice
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal Thursday, 12 May 1892
Some time ago Miss Alice Larew, the daughter of Mrs. Amanda Larew, the postmistress of Elmdale, went to Cincinnati and took employment at the Munds Hotel, which is kept by a friend of the family. Sunday with a party of friends she attended a picnic at Woodsdale Island on the Big Miami. About four o’clock in the afternoon with John Bolin and the Misses Clark and Tenhuendfeld, she went out for a boat ride above the dam. Bolin was inexperienced and careless and Misses Larew and Clark were drowned and the other lady very nearly. When rescued from the water, Bolin told the following story: He had rowed down the river to the buoys and as the river was so smooth, concluded to go beyond the limit allowed by the management of the island. For some distance the boat was allowed to float with the current. He was entertaining his companions and not noticing how far he was going until suddenly one of the women called out that they were approaching the dam. Bolin then started to turn the skiff to go back but too late, for the current swiftly carried the boat toward the danger point. Although the dam is several hundred feet wide, the river only flows over a part of it. It forms a fall of about four feet high, and it would be impossible for a boat the size of the one in which the party was to shoot it in safely. Seeing that he could not save the boat from going over the dam, Bolin tried to steer the skiff, in a vain attempt to make it in safety. To add to the excitement, the three women, who now realized their danger, commenced shrieking and calling for help. Bolin called to them to hold on to the boat, and not to move, if they wanted to save their lives. Despite his warning, they jumped up and were about to throw themselves out when the frail craft shot over the dam. The next moment it was upset and whirling round in the eddy at the foot of the falls. As soon as Bolin got his head above the water, he caught hold of the boat and looked for his companions. They were some distance from him, struggling to keep their heads above water. Miss Tenhuendfeld was closest and he saved her, but the others were seen no more until their bodies were rescued Monday night. The remains of Miss Larew arrived here last night from Cincinnati in charge of her father, Garret Larew, and were taken to the Potts graveyard, northwest of this city, and interred. The family has the sympathy of all in this terrible calamity. - thanks to S