John Fishback (1810-1860) http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=138976984 One of the headstones unearthed by RPI’s Alpha Phi Omega. The part of the stone with the inscription was buried under the blank broken lower half of the stone which was only partly showing. > From the Troy Times, Sept. 7. > FALL FROM A STEEPLE.—Two men were this morning employed in giving to the dome of St. Patrick’s Church, West Troy, a coat of white paint. Before going up, one of them, named John Fishback, was noticed by his companions to have been drinking, and was remonstrated with for ascending; but it was said in reply that he was better able to go up in that condition than though he was perfectly sober, and as it appeared he was quite rational, and but slightly under the influence of liquor, he was permitted to go up. Sixty-one feet from the ground is a narrow ledge or cornice, from two to three feet wide, running around the base of the dome. On this ledge the two men had been at work for some time, having previously finished painting above by means of ladders fastened from the cross on the summit of the dome. Upon this narrow shelving, where the men were now at work, Fishback would frequently let go all support from the dome, and walk out on the very edge, to show his nerve a! nd bravado. The entreaties of his companion not to do so, only induced him to show still greater recklessness, until all at once his companion saw him going, when no power of his could save him. He had lost his balance, and falling struck first upon a cornice quite a distance below, and then upon the ground, falling upon the right side of his head and shoulder and instantly killing him, causing the blood to spout from his ears, and driving the right side of his head and face into a horrid shape. Coroner Whitbeck held and inquest, and the jury returned a verdict in accordance with the above facts. Fishback was a native of Canada, and was a widower, having grown up children, who are, we believe, at work in Albany. “Fall from a Steeple.” Massachusetts Spy[Worcester, MA]. September 19, 1860: 1. That steeple would not have been on the recently-demolished cathedral, but the earlier 1840 church seen pictured on page 3 in this booklet: http://issuu.com/storiedboards/docs/st._patrick_s_history_booklet_v3_fi Chris Philippo