ACTING CORONER SUMMONS A JURY
The Daily Telegram., December 13, 1916
To Make an Investigation into Death of John Stanley Carter and Fritz Rockenstein
Magistrate William E. Starcher, acting coroner, has summoned a coroner’s jury to meet Wednesday afternoon to view the bodies of John Stanley Carter and Fritz C. Rockenstein, the two men who died Tuesday evening from injuries received a short time before when No. 12. fast east bound passenger train, struck the Gandy Provision Company’s Ford delivery truck in which they were riding.
After viewing the bodies, the jury will adjourn until a future date to allow the officers time to summons witnesses to testify before the jury. The jury will probably meet again Thursday afternoon.
The accident which caused the death of Carter and Rockenstein occurred at 5:32 Tuesday evening at the West End crossing at Adamston. They had been delivering meat to the Kerns store at Glenwood and were returning to the city.
The approach to the crossing is rather steep and the road on account of the snow and mud was very soft. The car could not make the grade in high gear; so, Carter who was driving the car dropped back to low gear and the car was moving along nicely.
On account of the noise made by the car running in low gear and the wind which was blowing they did not see of hear the fastly approaching train until it was upon them. From reports gathered by persons who arrived at the scene of the accidentally shortly after it occurred, the engineer on the train saw the auto but not in time to stop his train as there is a curve near the crossing. Seeing the auto approaching the track, it is alleged, that he sounded his whistle several times but to no avail.
The Accident
The engine struck the auto and knocked it and its occupants about sixty feet. The engineer stopped the train in a short diestance and the crew returned to assist the injured. Rockenstein died before he could be removed to a hospital and Carter died shortly after being brought to the hospital. Although both men were knocked a considerable distance by the train, neither one was badly cut up. According to physicians who gave first aid at the scene of the accident and who attended young Carter after he reached the hospital, both deaths were caused by fractured skulls.
John Stanley was a son of Magistrate and Mrs. Jackson V. Carter, of Broad Oaks and was a well known and popular young man. He had been working for the Gandy company for about six months. He is survived by his mother and father, William O. Carter and Bryan Carter, brothers, Mrs. Guy Zinn, of Baltimore, and Mrs. Ray C. Seese, of Broad Oaks, sisters.
Surviving relatives of Rockenstein are his widow, and Laurence and Jerald Rockenstein, sons, all residents of this city; his mother, Miss Lena Rockenstein, a sister; Clarence and Andy Rockenstein, brothers, all residing in Cincinnati, O.; Mrs. Cora Watson, another sister, residing at Jane Lew; and Max Rockenstein, also a brother, residing at Parkersburg.
Carter was 16 years old and Rockenstein was 40 years old.
No funeral arrangements have been made yet by relatives of either of the dead men.
—UPDATED—
The Daily Telegram., December 13, 1916, page 3
Funeral services over the body of young John Stanley Carter will be held at 2:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon at the Ash Chapel Church by the Rev. M. F. Pritchard. The burial will be in the Odd Fellows’ cemetery.
Funeral services for Rockenstein will be held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the burial will be in the Holy Cross cemetery, but the date and hour has not been agreed upon as yet.
TRAIN HITS AUTO; TWO ARE KILLED
The Wheeling Intelligencer., December 13, 1916, page 9
Special Dispatch to the Intelligencer
CLARKSBURG, W. Va., Dec 12– John Carter, 18, son of magistrate Jackson V. Carter and F. C. Rockenstein, 35, a butcher, both employees of the Gandy Provision Company were killed, when a Baltimore and Ohio passenger train struck a delivery automobile tonight at a grade crossing at Adamston. The car stuck in mud on the track when its speed gear was changed. Rockenstein leaves a family.
CORONER
The Daily Telegram., December 14, 1916
And Jury Hear Much Evidence as to the Death of Carter and Rockenstein.
Magistrate William E. Starcher, acting coroner, and a coroner’s jury were busy all afternoon Thursday taking evidence in the probe of the death of John Stanley Carter and Fritz C. Rockenstein, who died Tuesday evening from injuries received when the Gandy Provision Company auto truck in which they were riding, was struck by fast passenger train No. 12 at the west end station at Adamston.
A large number of witnesses were summoned and all will not be through testifying until late Thursday afternoon. Among the most important witnesses examined were the engineer and fireman who were in charge of the train and the one eye witness to the affair.
ROCKENSTEIN FUNERAL
The Daily Telegram., December 14, 1916
Funeral services over the body of Fritz C. Rockenstein, who died Tuesday night from injuries he received when the Gandy Provision Company’s truck was struck by fast passenger train No. 12, will be held at 9 o’clock Friday morning at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The burial will be in the Holy Cross Cemetery.
CORONER’S JURY
The Daily Telegram., December 15, 1916, First Section, Page 3
Exonerates the Trainmen in Charge of Train Which Killed Carter and Rockenstein.
The coroner’s jury which spent Thursday afternoon in investigating the death of John S. Carter and Fritz C. Rockenstein, who died from injuries received Tuesday evening when fast east bound passenger train No. 12 struck the Gandy Provision Company’s delivery auto, returned a verdict late in the afternoon exonerating the railroad company.
After hearing all the evidence the jury’s verdict was that Carter and Rockenstein’s deaths were not due to the negligence of the persons in charge of the train but want of precaution on the part of Carter and Rockenstein and the dangerous situation of the crossing.
Friends Are Shocked
The Daily Telegram., December 15, 1916 Second Section, Page 2
Friends and relatives of John Carter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson V. Carter, of Broad Oaks, who was killed by a fast train near Clarksburg the first of the week, were very much grieved and shocked when they heard of his untimely death. “But ye know not the day nor the hour.” so we can only bow to the dictates of a Supreme Being and expect our time to come, sooner or later.
TRAINMEN EXONERATED
Special Dispatch to the Intelligencer
The Wheeling Intelligencer., December 15, 1916, page two
CLARKSBURG, W. Va., Dec. 14.–
A coroner’s jury tonight returned a verdict exonerating trainmen for the deaths of F. C. Rockenstein and John S. Carter, of this city, who were killed in an automobile Tuesday night on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Adamston, but condemned the crossing as dangerous.
CARD OF THANKS.
The Sunday Telegram., December 17, 1916, First Section, page 3
We desire to thank our many friends and neighbors for their sympathy and many floral tributes during the death of our beloved son and brother, John S. Carter.
MR. AND MRS. JACKSON V. CARTER.
