A Letter written on Jun 23, 1905

Open Hearth
Lake Avenue

June 23" 1905

Dearest Auntie:

Such a terrible sorrow has come to us now that we are simply overwhelmed. It is all like a terrible dream. Poor dear Charlie. We ought not to say poor for he is happy. O, how we shall miss him! I dont know how we can get along. I dare not think. There are lots of things to be thankful for with all the rest for Bertha got there in time to have him speak to her and then he went under the influence of the opiates and lived only a short time after. He went out so full of hope and courage only to be brought back. He was so brave! As always, he was thinking of others to the very last. When they brought him to the hospital he dictated a long letter to Bertha[.] How happy dear Father & Mother are now. O, Aunt Emma, it is all so dreadful. Mr. Morgan was not found for several hours and a near neighbor of Charlie, Mr. Johnson was not found until six o'clock last night. The three funerals are to be held to-morrow a double service being held at the Stone Presbyterian Church beside the service of the homes. Bertha is so brave. Has kept up wonderfully, but I dread to-morrow for her. And poor Sam is simply crushed. I'm glad Mother has gone first. Everybody just loved Charlie. I never saw anything like it. Telegrams from all over the Country and notes from so many. Poor Mr. Mead, the London representative of both of our Companies was with them and he too lived just a short time. So far away from home.

I am sending you papers giving the accounts. [no longer with the letter]

I do hope Auntie, that Uncle Geo. is much better. Now with much love to you both, I remain your
loving Jessee.

[Charles Henry Wellman was Emma Cogswell Turner's nephew; his mother was Emma's sister Mary Abigail. Jessee is Charles' sister. Charles' wife's name was Bertha, and he had a son and a half brother both named Samuel. Charles died in a Mentor, Ohio train wreck on June 22, 1905. The train ran into an open switch and jumped the track, landing in a ditch. At least nineteen people died in the wreck, including Charles, general manager of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Engineering Company in Cleveland; Thomas Morgan, who also worked for the company; A. P. Mead of London, a prominent steel man; and Arthur Johnson, of Comey & Johnson of Cleveland, a company that made straw goods and ladies' hats.]