Sarah H. Snow - Williamsburg, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 23.736 W 072° 44.159
18T E 686339 N 4696183
The grave of Sarah H Snow, who drowned in flood resulting from the Mill River Dam Disaster, is located in Village Hill Cemetery on Village Hill Road in Williamsburg, MA.
Waymark Code: WMWC0M
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/11/2017
Views: 0
Sarah H. Snow was widowed wife of William Snow and the mother-in-law of Henry Tilton. When the flood was bearing down, Henry found Sarah outside and tried to carry her to safety. She slipped from his grip and fell into the current of the flood waters.
The grave of Sarah H Snow is marked by a gray marker which is inscribed:
SARAH H
Wife of
WILLIAM SNOW
Drowned in
Mill River flood
May 16, 1874
Aged 79 yrs.
---
He giveth his beloved sleep
In 1865 The Hampshire Reservoir Company build a dam three miles north of Williamsburg, MA on the east branch of the Mill River. The dam was built for corporate mill owners for the sum of $35,000. It was 42 feet above the bed of the stream, holding back 90 acres of water with an average depth of 24 feet.
On May 16, 1874, the dam collapsed. It was determined at an inquest that poor supervision and faulty workmanship of the contractor, caused the dam to give way. Water swept down through Williamsburg and the villages of Haydenville, Leeds, and Skinnerville. The disaster cost included: 144 lives lost, 750 people were made homeless, and damage to buildings, personal property, bridges, dams, roads, factories, and mills amounted to over one million dollars. One third Williamsburg was devastated in the largest disaster in New England of its time.
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