1890 Fenley Edmunds Letter Old Colony Train Wreck Quincy MA

Adressee: Mr. W.C. Fenley, Quincy, Mass.
September 11, 189

A short letter to Quincy, Massachusetts sent from cousin to cousin is not what it first seems.

by Mary Katherine May

THE LETTER (introduction): Historical Facts versus Assumptions

I recently purchased this letter while on a short trip into southwestern Wisconsin.  On first reading, I thought the note, written to William Fenley by his cousin William Edmunds is bland and chatty.  I wonder if maybe Edmunds’ words are rather bold, perhaps looking for a return on the money paid out upon receipt of the second trunk from Quincy, Massachusetts.  I was wrong.

THE LETTER: Transcription

To Mr. W.C. Fenley, Quincy Massachusetts

Stationery: Citizens National Bank, Louisville, Ky.

September 11, 1890

Dear Cousin Will:

Mother asked me to write and let you know the other trunk had arrived.  It came by the American Express last evening, and the charges were not prepaid, as the other had been which came over another line—the Adams.  I merely let you know this so that if any mistake has been made, it may be corrected at once.  We are very quiet here and there is no news to write.  Mother and Aunt Ruth have gone out to your place for the day.  We have had a real hard rain and everything is fresh this morning.  Write us when you can do so, as every word from you is of great interest to us here.

Yours,

Wm. Edmunds.

THE TRAGIC STORY

William Carr Fenley, the first of five children born to Oscar Fenley and Mary Elizabeth Carr Fenley, was in Quincy because six family members including his daughter Susan, his mother Mary Elizabeth and sister Mary Lewis were killed less than a month earlier in what is known as the Old Colony Train Wreck that tragically took 22 lives. I believe the Fenley family had been seated in the fourth car of the train, which in the wreck had been forced up and over the engine.  The boiling hot steam from the engine filled the car above scalding everyone inside.

The Fenley Family Members Who Lost Their Lives 

Mary Elizabeth Carr Fenley, mother of 5 children including Mary Lewis, William C. and Oscar
Mary Lewis Fenley Abbott, wife of William Abbott
Alice Rosebrook Short Fenley, wife of Oscar
Susan Hannah Fenley, daughter of William Carr and Frances Marion Williams Fenley
Mary Katherine Fenley, daughter of Oscar and Alice Fenley
Alice Short Fenley, daughter of Oscar and Alice Fenley

The Fenley Survivors

Two of the Fenley party on the train survived: William Abbott, husband of Mary Lewis Fenley Abbott, and Elizabeth, daughter of Oscar and Mary Elizabeth. Both had been badly burned.  

Oscar Fenley, brother of letter recipient William Carr Fenley, stayed in Quincy until his daughter Elizabeth recovered sufficiently to travel. I don't know if his brother William to whom this letter is addressed remained the whole time but it is likely that he did. Two months after the wreck Oscar brought his family home to Louisville to be buried.

The Trunks Shipped to Louisville

The two trunks shipped to Louisville about which William Edmunds wrote were the belongings of the deceased. 

Letter to William Carr Fenley from cousin William Edwins dated September 11, 1890

WILLIAM EDMUNDS (1862-1912)

William Edmunds’ relation to the Fenley family is through his mother, Martha Gaither Carr Edmunds (1827-1911), one of seven daughters born to Captain John Carr and Mary Gaither Carr, and sister to Mary Elizabeth Carr who died in the Old Colony train wreck. Aunt Ruth mentioned in the letter is also a sister. Captain John Carr fought in the war of 1812.

Postal Information

I am not an expert on postal cancellations and so I offer little information in this respect, leaving it for others to decipher.  The envelope has two postal cancellations: Quincy, Mass. on the back dated possibly September 13, and Louisville, KY. on the front with an oval boat shape bar killer inset with the number 2. The postage is a prepaid 2 cent green Washington.  

References

Quincy History Newsletter, Fall 1994

Mary Elizabeth Carr Fenley with links to other family members on FindaGrave.com

Carr Family Information on RootsWeb

William Edmunds on FindaGrave.com