Jane Fitzgerald - Northampton, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 20.190 W 072° 39.185
18T E 693344 N 4689806
The grave of Jane Fitzgerald, who drowned in flood resulting from the Mill River Dam Disaster, is located in St. Mary's Cemetery in Northampton, MA.
Waymark Code: WMWDA7
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/18/2017
Views: 0
Jane Fitzgerald was at home in the village of Leeds. Her house was destroyed by the ruins of the upstream button mill and swept Jane away.
A 3' square by 5' high granite gravestone with the family name FITZGERALD at the base marks the grave of the Jane Fitzgerald. The gravestone is inscribed:
ROBERT FITZGERALD
DIED
MAY 27 1872
AE 53 YS.
---
JANE
HIS WIFE
LOST IN THE MILL RIVER
FLOOD MAY 16 1874
AE 40 YS
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 downstream villages of Haydenville, Skinnerville, and Leeds. 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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