Marguerite Daigneau Wilson and her daughters Matilda, Rosa, & Marguerite - Haydenville, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 22.587 W 072° 42.029
18T E 689318 N 4694135
The graves of Marguerite Daigneau Wilson and her daughters Matilda, Rosa, & Marguerite, all of whom drowned in flood resulting from the Mill River Dam Disaster, are located in High Street Cemetery in Haydenville, MA.
Waymark Code: WMWCRR
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/15/2017
Views: 1
Marguerite Daigneau Wilson and her three daughters, Matilda, Rosa, and Marguerite, were at home alone when the flood resulting from the Mill River Dam Disaster laid waste to the village of Haydenville. They were among the 27 victims in the village of Haydenville.
MARGUERITE DAIGNEAU
Wife of J. Wilson
Drowned by the flood
May 16 1874.
Aged 49.
Also
Matilda, Rosa
& Marguerite
Children of John &
Marguerite Wilson
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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