HomeMy WebLinkAbout1915-03-30 - Four Prominent Washingtonians Died in Car Crash Off Riverton Draw BridgeThomas Prosch, Virginia Prosch, Margaret Lenora Denny, and Harriet Foster Beecher
die in a car accident on March 30, 1915.
By Paula Becker
Posted 10/16/2003
HistoryLink.org Essay 5574
Thomas Prosch, Virginia McCarver
Prosch (below Thomas), Harriet
Foster Beecher, Margaret Lenora
Denny, ca. 1915
Courtesy The Seattle Times
Newspaper account of 1915 acciden
that killed Thomas and Virginia
Prosch, Harriet Foster Beecher, and
Margaret Lenora Denny, 1915
Courtesy Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Approach to Riverton Draw Bridge
spanning Duwamish River, with
interurban tracks and trestle
roadway, 1905
Photo by Edwin Little, Courtesy Tukwila
Historical Society
On March 30, 1915, shortly after 5:00 p.m., four prominent
Washingtonians die when the car in which they are backseat
passengers plunges off the Riverton Draw Bridge into the Duwamish
River. Killed in the accident are Thomas W. Prosch (1850-1915), his
wife Virginia McCarver Prosch (1851-1915), Margaret Lenora Denny
(1847-1915), and painter Harriet Foster Beecher (1854-1915). The
driver, chauffeur Paul Kumai, and the frontseat passenger, Emily
Carkeek (1852-1926), survive the accident. Emily Carkeek is the owner
of the car, likely a large Pierce -Arrow touring car. The friends were
driving home to Seattle from Tacoma, where they were attending a
meeting of the Washington Historical Society.
The Accident
The accident occurred on the west side of the Duwamish River, midway
between the present (2003) Allentown Bridge and a footbridge to its
north. The Riverton Draw Bridge (built in 1903, demolished in 1927)
was a wooden swing -span bridge. The east end of that bridge was
located at the present intersection of S 124th Street and 42nd Avenue
S in Tukwila. A small island midstream marks the location of the
bridge's swing pivot. At the time of the accident, the road ran along a
trestle beside the Interurban track. The turn onto the bridge was a sharp
right angle.
As the driver, Paul Kumai, began making the sharp turn onto the bridge,
he saw two children and swerved to avoid them. At the same moment,
Mrs. Carkeek directed him to pass by the bridge and continue straight
along the west side of the river. He corrected the steering wheel and
applied the brakes, but the heavy touring car did not respond quickly
enough. The car crashed through the railing of the bridge. It turned
completely over as it dropped 30 feet into the water. The Duwamish at
this point is about 10 feet deep.
Some accounts report that Emily Carkeek and Paul Kumai were both
thrown from the car. Other reports state that Kumai was thrown clear,
swam ashore, and then immediately swam back, pulled Mrs. Carkeek
from the vehicle, sat her on the car's roof in water to her waist and then
dove repeatedly trying to free the backseat passengers.
His task was impeded by the vehicle's heavy rain curtains, which had
been fastened in place before the party left Tacoma. These rain
curtains took the place of window glass on the sides of the car. They
were fastened in place by pulling grommets in the curtains over metal
posts on the body of the car. Locking fasteners were then screwed onto
the posts to hold the curtains in place. These fasteners would have
been difficult to remove in an emergency.
A group of men floated a raft downstream to rescue Emily Carkeek from
the car roof. She was in shock, with a serious gash on her head. Seattle
physician C. B. Boudwin was driving by, saw the accident scene, and
stopped. He attended to Emily Carkeek and drove her back to her home
in Seattle. The bodies of the victims had not been extracted from the
submerged car when Emily Carkeek was driven away.
Thomas Prosch was still breathing when police officers pulled him from
the river. Patrolman C. C. Fortner and Dr. J. L. Harvey worked with a
pulmonator (a primitive resuscitation device) for longer than half an
hour, but Prosch could not be saved. The other bodies were pulled from
the submerged car with ropes and grappling hooks.
Paul Kumai's Story
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Deputy Sheriffs Sutton,
Boyd, and William Hodge took Paul Kumai from the scene of the
accident:
Paul Kumai, chauffeur to Morgan
Emily Carkeek, 1915
Courtesy Seattle Post-lntelligencer
and
Pierce -Arrow 1911 Model 66-QQ
seven -passenger touring car similar
to that involved in the 1915 accident
at Riverton Draw Bridge
Courtesy University of Michigan
AAA
Riverton Draw Bridge (1903-1927)
spanning Duwamish River, ca. 1910
Courtesy King County Archives
"As the sheriffs car whirled away toward the jail, Kumai attempted to
hurl himself out of the automobile in an endeavor to return to the spot
where he believed members of the unfortunate party were still in the
waters of the Duwamish river. When the county jail was reached,
Kumai, dripping from his attempts to rescue those beneath the car, was
bundled in a blanket and placed before a fire and hot coffee was given
him. There he revived enough to tell his part of the story in broken
sentences.
When he had finished, he announced that he would kill himself. Fearing
that he would carry out his threat, Sheriff Hodge ordered a guard placed
over him throughout the night. Yesterday he was taken to the hospital
ward, where medical attention was given him. Physicians fear that he
will have brain fever. Kumai tossed on his cot, repeatedly calling out 'Is
Miss Denny alive?'" (Seattle Post-lntelligencer, April 1, 1915).
Kumai, whose arm was injured in the crash, was not told until several
days after the accident that the four passengers in the back seat had
drowned.
Kumai later told reporters that he was driving slower than 18 miles an
hour at the time of the accident. He said the car had had tire chains on
during the drive from Seattle to Tacoma, but that the chains were
removed prior to starting back after the Historical Society meeting
ended. Had the chains been left on, he felt, the car would not have
skidded off the bridge.
The coroner's office fully exonerated Kumai and prosecutor A. H.
Lundin ordered him released, but jailer M. E. Rally continued to hold
him in the hospital ward for his own safety: "Hally said that the
Japanese shows signs of being on the verge of insanity, due to
remorse, and advised that he be held several days longer" (The Seattle
Times, April 1, 1915).
A few Seattleites reacted with anti-Japanese rhetoric, but Kumai also
received a groundswell of cards, letters, and even newspaper editorials
praising his heroism and attempting to offer him comfort. By April 5 he
had been released into the care of friends, who took him to a local
Japanese hospital for further recuperation.
Emily Carkeek
The owner of the car, Emily Gaskill Carkeek, was born in Bath,
England, and came to Seattle as a bride in 1879. Her husband Morgan
James Carkeek (1847-1931) was a contractor and stonemason who
used his time and fortune to help build Seattle (both literally and
figuratively).
The Carkeeks were civic leaders, especially interested in documenting
and celebrating the history of Seattle and of the state of Washington.
Emily Carkeek is most remembered as the founder of the Seattle
Historical Society, an organization for which she, her husband, and their
daughter Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff all served in turn as
President.
Shock and Sorrow
Thomas and Virginia Prosch's daughter Edith learned of her parents'
death from a Seattle Post-lntelligencer reporter who came to the door of
the family's home at 621 9th Avenue. After recovering from the shock
Miss Prosch said, "I was worrying some over the late hour, but we
expected the folks to come home soon. Despite the fact that a chauffeur
was with the party 1 did not feel that they were safe owing to the bad
conditions of the road on a wet night like tonight. 1 cannot believe that it
is true" (Seattle Post-lntelligencer, undated but probably March 31,
1915).
The Washington Historical Quarterly recounted the loss of these four
colleagues with grief and disbelief: On Tuesday evening, March 30,
death took heavy toll from the friends of history in the State of
Washington. "The whole State was painfully shocked by the accident.
All four of the victims were prominent and well beloved" ("Death of Four
Friends of History").
The Pioneers of Washington, an organization in which all four of the
Riverton Draw Bridge (1903-1927)
spanning Duwamish River, ca. 1910
Courtesy King County Archives
deceased had been active members, issued the following statement:
Site of Riverton Draw Bridge (1903-
1927), Duwamish River at Tukwila,
2003
Photo by Paula Becker
Biographies of the Victims
"The people of the City of Seattle and the State of Washington have
been shocked by the announcement of the sudden tragedy that has
overtaken a group of honored and respected pioneers.While in pursuit
of their earnest efforts to preserve the pioneer records of their loved
Commonwealth for the benefit of generations to follow them, they were
called from earth in a moment by an unfortunate accident.
"Thomas Wickham Prosch and his wife, Virginia McCarver Prosch; Miss
Margaret Lenora Denny, Mrs. Harriet Foster Beecher, all were loved
and respected as pioneers of Seattle and the Puget Sound country
during the greater part of their lives. Miss Denny came to Seattle as a
small child when her father's family constituted a part of that colony
which founded this city. The others came later, but all had witnessed
the city's growth from a village in the wilderness to the metropolis of the
present day.
"Words are inadequate to express the feeling of sorrow engendered by
this tragedy. All that can now be done is to express our sympathy with
the stricken families and to give voice to our appreciation of the noble
lives whose untimely end we mourn.
"The Pioneers of Washington, through a committee appointed for the
purpose, speak for the pioneers of the State in thus attempting to offer
this tribute of their appreciation and their sorrow, as well as of sincere
sympathy for the bereaved families" ("Death of Four Friends of
History").
Following are brief biographies of Thomas Prosch, Virginia McCarver Prosch, Margaret Lenora Denny, and Harriet
Foster Beecher.
Thomas Prosch
Thomas Prosch was a key early journalist, historian, and civic booster. He was the son of Charles Prosch, who
founded the Puget Sound Herald in Steilacoom in 1858. Thomas grew up helping his father with the newspaper, and
bought the paper in 1872 when he was 22-years-old. He moved it to Tacoma in 1873 and to Seattle in 1875.
The Tribune ceased publication in 1878. In 1879, Prosch and Samuel L. Crawford bought the Seattle paper
the Intelligencer, and in 1881 with John Leary and George W. Harris, established the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In
1884, Prosch became sole owner. Following the paper's sale in 1886, Thomas Prosch focused his energy on
recording and preserving the history of the region and on civic improvement .
Prosch was appointed Seattle postmaster by President U.S. Grant (1822-1885), a post he held from 1876 to 1878.
He served on the Seattle Board of Education from 1891 to 1893. An early and long-standing member of the Seattle
Chamber of Commerce, he actively promoted Seattle and played a major role in both the civic and social life of the
city.
As he grew older, Thomas Prosch became increasingly interested in documenting the history of his fledgling city. He
walked the town taking photographs, which he assembled into annotated albums. He assembled a dictionary of
Chinook trade jargon. He wrote and published several books documenting the role his extended family and other
pioneers had played in the history of the Puget Sound region. They include McCarver and Tacoma, The Conkling-
Prosch Family, David S. Maynard and Catherine T. Maynard, David E. Blaine and Catherine P. Blaine. He wrote a
chronological history of Seattle from 1850 to 1897, which was still unpublished when he died. Important accounts of
the region's history are based on Prosch's work.
His friend University of Washington Assistant Librarian Charles W. Smith (1877-1956) reflected a few years after
Prosch's death:
"Though his work was cut short in the midst of his greatest activity, he had already accomplished much of high and
enduring value. Subsequent historians in the Pacific Northwest will yield grateful recognition to this industrious and
painstaking workman" (Smith).
Virginia McCarver Prosch
Virginia McCarver was born on April 17, 1851. She was the daughter of Morton and Julia Ann McCarver, founders of
Tacoma. She taught school in Tacoma until marrying Thomas Prosch on September 12, 1877. She bore five
daughters (Julia, Edith, Genevieve, Beatrice and Phoebe) and one son (Arthur). Like her husband, she was an
active participant in building Seattle.
Along with Emily Carkeek and several others, Virginia Prosch was instrumental in the incorporation of the Seattle
and King County Historical Society on January 8, 1914. At the time of her death she served as the Society's
historian. Her duties included listing the Society's acquisitions, which she did in a small red book. "Her sunny smile
and cheerful greetings were always welcome at gatherings of pioneers" ("Death of Four Friends of History"). The
Prosches were longtime members of Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, which Thomas's parents had helped to found.
Margaret Lenora Denny
Margaret Lenora Denny was born on August 14, 1847. She was the second daughter of Arthur A. Denny and Mary
Ann Boren Denny and at age five had landed on Alki Point with her family. With her family she traveled the Oregon
Trail from Cherry Grove, Illinois, to Portland and then on by boat to the place called at first New York and then Alki
(in 2003 Alki Point in West Seattle). She was one of the original students at the Territorial University. Lenora Street
in downtown Seattle is named in her honor.
Margaret Denny eventually inherited from her parents "an ample fortune. This was most liberally used in promoting
public welfare, particularly for the support of charitable institutions, schools, churches, and for perpetuating the
memory of pioneers" (Nimes, "Obituary").
At the time of her death her estate was valued at $400,000. Nearly half of this was bequeathed to public service
organizations including the Riverton Pulmonary Hospital (which treated tuberculosis), the University of Washington,
Whitman College, the Women's Relief Society of Washington, the Florence Crittenton Home, the Young Women's
Christian Association of Seattle, Plymouth Congregational Church, the Congregational Home Missionary Society,
and the Seattle Seaman's Friend Society.
Harriet Foster Beecher
Harriet Foster Beecher was a portrait, landscape, and still life painter, said to have established Seattle's first art
studio in 1881. She studied at St. Mary's Academy in South Bend, Indiana, and at the San Francisco School of
Design. She painted portraits of many Washington pioneers, among them Ezra Meeker and Margaret Denny, as well
as Makah and Clallam Indians in the Port Townsend area. Her paintings were exhibited at the World's Columbian
Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.
She and her husband Herbert Beecher moved from New York to Port Townsend in the 1880s, and to Seattle
sometime after 1900. She had two daughters, Mary Eunice and Beatrice, and a son, Henry Ward Beecher, who bore
the name of his paternal grandfather, the well-known Congregational minister. She was active in artistic circles and
frequently exhibited paintings with the San Francisco Art Association.
The Mourners
Thomas and Virginia Prosch's funeral was held at 1 p.m. on April 1, 1915, at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church (at that
time located on the corner of Harvard Avenue and Spring Street). Hundreds of people attended. The mourners then
moved on to Margaret Denny's 3:00 p.m. service at the family residence at 1220 Boren Avenue.
The Prosches were buried in Lake View Cemetery beside the graves two daughters, Julia and Genevieve, who had
predeceased them, and near the graves of Thomas's parents, Charles and Susan Prosch. Margaret Denny was laid
to rest in the nearby Denny family plot. A private service for Harriet Foster Beecher was held at Bonney -Watson
Funeral Parlor the same evening.
Sources:
Note: The make and model of the accident vehicle and the configuration of its rain curtains were deducted from 1913
automobile ownership records and from photographs, with the help of engineer David Becker, interviewed October
9, 2003. "Seattle People Die In Accident," The Seattle Times, March 31, 1915; "Plunged Off Bridge Into River,"
Seattle Post-(ntelligencer, March 31, 1915; "Mrs. Carkeek's Escape Regarded Miraculous," undated clipping, likely
March 31, 1915, University of Washington Manuscripts and Special Collections biographical file "Thomas Prosch";
"Death of Four Friends of History," Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume VI (Seattle: Washington University State
Historical Society, 1915), p. 136; George M. Hines, "Obituary," The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol.
16 (Portland: The Ivy Press, March -December, 1915), p. 276; Charles W. Smith, "Notes on the Life and Historical
Services of Thomas W. Prosch," The Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 1 (January 1923), p. 30;
Clarence B. Bagley, History of Seattle, Washington, Vol. 2 (Chicago: The S.J. Clark Publishing Company, 1916), pp.
787, 836; Robert L. Ferguson, The Pioneers of Lake View (Bellevue, WA: Thistle Press, 1995, p. 29; James R.
Warren, King County and its Emerald City: Seattle ( Sun Valley, CA: American Historical Press, 1997), 154; Sophie
Frye Bass, Pigtail Days In Old Seattle (Portland: Binfords & Mort, 1937), 88; Thomas W. Prosch, The Conkling-
Prosch Family (Seattle: General Lithography & Printing Company, 1909); Thomas Wickham Prosch Collection,
Accession # 42-001, UW Manuscripts,Special Collections,University Archives; Thomas Prosch, Addresses and
Articles (Seattle: bound manuscripts, 1900-1914), UW Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives;
Thomas Prosch, Facts and Figures About Washington, The Evergreen State, and Seattle, Its Queen City (Seattle:
Lowman & Hanford, 1893); Warren W. Wing, To Tacoma By Trolley, The Puget Sound Electric Railway (Edmonds,
WA: Pacific Fast Mail, 1995); Paul Dorpat and Genevieve McCoy, Building Washington: A History of Washington
State Public Works (Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1998); "Fear For Life of Driver of Carkeek Auto,"Seattle Post-
Intelligencer, April 1, 1915; "Carkeek's Driver Threatens Suicide," The Seattle Times, April 1, 1915; "Grieving
Chauffer Finds Many Friends,"Seattle Post-/ntelligencer, April 4, 1915; "Ye Towne Gossip,"Seattle Post-
Intelligencer, April 2, 1915; "Public Bequests of Miss Denny Reach $185,000,"Seattle Post-!ntelligencer, April 16,
1915; "Church and Home Filled With Friends Tribute To Dead," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 2, 1915; Thomas
Prosch, compiler and annotator, continued by Edith Prosch, "Prosch Scrapbook No. 4, Pioneer Obituaries 1913-
1916," UW Manuscripts/Special Collections/University Archives; King County Archives RG 103, Series 36, Box 10,
Road Engineer Bridge Files, Folder "Bridge No. 622-A, Riverton Draw Bridge"; Automobile Road Book of Western
Washington: A Road Guide Book ... (Seattle: Lowman and Hanford Co., 1913), 309; Sister Mary Clementia, An
Appreciation of Thomas Wickham Prosch, A Washington Pioneer MA Thesis, 1930, University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington; Brooks T. Brierley, There's No Mistaking A Pierce -Arrow (Coconut Grove, FL: Garrett and
Stringer, Inc, 1979, 1986); Beverly Rae Kimes, The Third Edition Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-
1942 (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996); Marc Ralston, Pierce -Arrow (San Diego: A. S. Barnes and Co, Inc,
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Francisco: Pacific Coast Blue Book Publishing Co, ca. 1915) "Beecher, Harriet Foster," AskArt.com Website
accessed on October 19, 2003 (http://www.askart.com); John S. Robinson, "Portrait of a Lady: Guendolen
Plestcheeff," Washingtonians: A Biographical Portrait of the State (Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 1988).
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