Spirit of the Times Batavia-Genesee Co., NY February 24-1852 Married. On the 19th inst., by the Rev. J. W. Davis, Mr. Horace W. Shaw, of Bethany, to Miss Caroline E. Gibson, of Barre Centre. On the 19th inst., by the Rev. J.W. Davis, Mr. Byron Granger, of Webster to Miss R.S. Disbrove, of Bethany. In this village, on the 19th inst., by rev. S.M. S_im_on, Mr. Amasa E. Dorman, to Miss Sarah Churchill, both of Batavia. Died. In Alexander on the 8th inst., after a long and severe illness which he bore with uncommon fortitude, patience, and christian resignation to the divine will of her Heavenly Father, Abigail, wife of A_ _ Stowell, aged 70 years. At Lewiston on the 12th inst., Dr. Seymour Scovell, a most estimable citizen of this place, in the 66th year of his age. Terrible Accident on the N.Y. & Erie Railroad. [From the N.Y. Tribune of Wednesday] The most terrible accident which as yet occurred upon the Erie Railroad, befel the train coming to New York yesterday morning. The writer of this account was an eye witness and participant in the thrilling scene, and will briefly sketch what came under his notices. When the engine with a baggage car and four passenger cars attached, had come to a sharp curve in the road, about two miles west of Equinunk, those of us who were in the next to the last car, were suddenly startled from our seats, thrown hither and thither by that peculiar jolting motion, which is well known to the experienced as indicating that the car is off from the track. We were drawn over the sleepers for the distance of forty rods expecting every instant that the car would fall to pieces. The stove was at once upset, and the coals scattered in every direction, blinding our eyes with smoke and ashes. When the engine was stopped, upon rushing to the door, the first sight that met our view was the Delaware River rushing by directly beneath, at the foot of a walled precipice, at least thirty in feet height. The next moment the conductor of the train came drifting by upon a cake of ice, calling for help, and assuring us that he had already fallen through the crumbling foothold two or three times. A short distance behind him was a passenger in a similar situation. The ice was drifting at the rate of five miles an hour, and it required fast running to keep in a line with them. Ropes were procured from the engine, and after some minutes of fearful suspense, with the aid of a skiff and a board thrown to one of them to be used as a paddle, they were both rescued in a helpless condition. By this time, we learned that the passenger car behind us, the last of the train, was on the other side of the curve, thrown entirely into the Delaware River, with all who were in it. We hastened to the spot, and to thirty feet below was the car, almost buried under the water, and the poor creatures within were thrusting their arms out of the windows calling for help. Two or three of them had crawled upon the roof and were beseeching us to save them. The scene at first seemed to strike every one dumb with horror. The smooth-walled precipice could not be descended. We were obligated to go a little farther up the river, where there is no wall but only a gravel bank, and there slide down to the water's edge. The car, at the nearest end, was about 25 feet from the shore the water was deep and running very swiftly. Boards were found upon the beach but none of them were long enough. After half an hour's hard work a dead trunk of a hemlock tree was shoved into the last window, and the other end resting upon the ground. With the aid of this a bridge was built, upon which those able to walk were led, and those too much frozen to move were carried. An ax was procured and holes cut through the roof, and one after another the unfortunate passengers were lifted out. It was one of the most thrilling scenes ever imagined. A Young girl was drawn up, and at once began to plead that her mother might be saved; a husband begged for his wife's rescue-- friend struggled to save friend. An old lady seventy years was drawn out of the water insensible, but she afterwards revived. Upon getting the sufferers ashore, the only way to get them to a place of relief was to put ropes around their bodies under their arms, and draw them directly up the precipice. The severe cold incapacitated them for raising hardly a finger to aid themselves. The hair and garments of the ladies were frozen stiff as soon as they were drawn out of the water in the car. One man, by the name of Wyatt, was quite dead when taken from the ice. The sufferers (wounded dreadfully some of the, and all more or less bruised,) were taken into the two remaining uninjured cars and there made as comfortable as they could be, chilled through with dripping garments. Though two or three passengers were said to be missing, it was thought best to come on with the wounded, and they were left some of them at points upon the route, and those able and willing to do so continued their journey to New York. There is every reason to believe that four persons have been killed, and the number of wounded must be twenty or thirty. The Telegraph reports "a German pedlar from Buffalo," among those killed--name not given. submitted by Linda Web-Page Editor for Bethany BETHANY: Its Past and Present ~ Bethany Town Page http://www.arkwebshost.com/family/bluebird/TownOfBethany.shtml Contributor for the BUFFALO and Western NYS Website: www.buffalonian.com ~ History Through Newspapers