WITMER, Loren T

1871 - 1903  (31 years)

• Name	WITMER, Loren T
  Birth	Nov 1871	New York
  Gender	Male
  Death	27 Sep 1903	Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY
  Burial	WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY
  Person ID	I12368	Laur from Germany
  Last Modified	1 Oct 2016

  
  

  Father	WITMER, Martin M,   b. 21 Sep 1833, New York d. 12 Jun 1918, Prob CO (Age 84 years)
  Mother	KING, Elizabeth I,   b. Feb 1840, New York d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	Abt 1860
  Family ID	F5701	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	BROOKFIELD, Mary Leonora,   b. Jul 1872, New York d. 27 Oct 1949, Warrens Corners, Niagara County, NY (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	1892
  Children	1. WITMER, Evelyn Marie,   b. 10 Jul 1894, New York d. Sep 1987, Lakeland, Polk County, FL (Age 93 years)   2. WITMER, L Lewis,   b. 1895, Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY d. 1895, Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY (Age 0 years)   3. WITMER, May,   b. 1897, Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY d. 1897, Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY (Age 0 years)
  Family ID	F5705	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Nov 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Witmer - On Sept. 27, 1903, Loren T. Witmer, aged 34 years, met a very sad and sudden death caused by coming in contact with a surcharged electric line, causing instantaneous death. He was the son of Martin and Elizabeth Witmer, and great-grandson of John and Barbara Witmer. He leaves a widow, one daughter and a large circle of relatives and friends to mourn his untimely death. "In the midst of life we are in death." ALSO Niagara Gazette - 9/28/1903 Loren T. Witmer, a well known resident of t h e city was electrocuted a t his home No. 1307 Linwood Avenue early Sunday morning between the hours of 2 and 3 o'clock. . There was a cross on the incandescent circuit which caused tlie switch blocks to spark, and Mr. Witmer while searching for the trouble picked up a wire in the cellar and it is supposed that he received a shocK of 2,000 volts. Mrs. Witmer was aroused by the noise made by the electricity, there being a buzzing sound. She awakened her husband telling him there was something the matter with the electric light system. He arose from his bed and told his wife that he would go to the at- tic to throw off the switch. He returned In a minute and with his wife went to the cellar. It was dark and Mrs. Witmer left him s t a t i n g that she would go upstairs after a lamp. As she went up the stairs she heard a groan. "When she returned she found her husband lying on the cellar floor apparently dead. She called to h im and receiving no r e sponse she hastened upstairs and summoned Drs. W. H. Hodge and E. O. Mccarty. Upon the arrival of t h e physicians an examination was made and although it seemed hopeless an a t t e m p t was made to. rescusutate him by artificial respiration. The physicians worked over Witmer for an hour and then gave it up, the .man being beyond medical assistance. The exact manner in which Witmer met his. death will never be known. In the cellar beneath the stairs there was an Incandescent lamp suspended from a. hook. The Wire attached to the lamp was too long and a portion of it sagged in a loop touching the cellar floor. At the point of contact with the floor the insulation was burned from the wire leaving it bare. It is supposed that Witmer picked up the wire at the 'point of contact with t he floor and received . t h e full force or' the voltage of the wire with which the incandescent system was charged. He was thrown a distance of several feet from the point where he was .standing when he picked up t he wire. He grasped the wire with the left hand the physicians finding a charred burn on the wrist and also a burn on the instep where the charge of electricity left the body. Witmer was in his bare feet and the floor of the cellar being damp the circumstances could not have been more favorable for him to receive the full- voltage of t h e crossed wires. Coroner Slocum was called, made an examination of the wiring of t he house with Mr. McDonnell of the Buffalo & Niagara Fails Electric Light & Power Company. Everything was found as i t should be a n d a test of the wires made by Mr. McDonnell registered a voltage of 110 a s it should be. .Yes- terday afternoon the coroner wishing to be positive went to the Witmer house with a first-class electrician and made another examination. The wiring was pronounced to be perfect.- The only deduction left was that the incandescent system was crossed with a wire of higher voltage and this is t r u e as one ohe electric light circuits was clossed down for a short time early 'Sunday morning in order to locate a cross of the wires. Just how the electricity entered the house on the incandescent wire' is not explained. It is supposed that the switch was not thrown entirely off or if the disconnection had been made in a proper manner that the voltage was so high that the electricity leaped the Intervening space and made connection. Witmer was employed as a bookkeeper at the plant of the Carter-Grume and was 31 years old. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Witmer who formerly resided in this city but who now reside in Colorado. Besides his wife and child the deceased is survived by three sisters. At 2 o'clock Sunday morning Superintendent of the Fire Alarm M. J. Donohue was notified of trouble on the wire, the fire alarm having sounded several strokes. The pin on one of the cross arms of a pole at 18th and Niagara streets had pulled out allowing the the a l a rm wire to drop on a n arc wire. Word was at once sent to the power house and at 5: 45 o'clock circuit No. 4 was closed clown upon orders of Supt. Donohue he .believing it to be better to have the lamps on t h e circuit in darkness rather than to t a k e a chance, of someone being killed by a t t e m p t i ng to send in an a l a rm on circuit No. 2 of the fire alarm. In t he opinion of Supt. Donohue if a person attempted to send in an a l a rm from one of the boxes on No. 2 circuit with the electricity on the. No. 4 a r c circuit they would- have received a shock which would have caused death Superintendent Donohue had the system in working order and as soon as daylight arrived he went to work and pulled up the wire which crossed the arc system. Supt. Donohue is of t h e opinion that one of t h e Wires of the No. 4 a r c s y s t em was crossed with the incandescent- system and caused Witmer's death. He is positive t h a t death was not the result of the crossing of the a r c circuit with t he fire alarm wire at the corner of Niagara avenue and 18th street where the trouble was located at daylight. The only damage caused the fire a l a rm system by the cross was t he burning out of a pair of magnet rolls in box No. 23 and the burning of a shunt in box No. 27.