Posted on: Venango Co. Pa Obituaries Forum Board URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Pa/VenangoObits?read=356 Surname: CARD, GRIFFIN, MILLER, SULLIVAN, GRIMM ------------------------- A HORRIBLE DEATH. Benjamin CARD is suffocated by smoke at his Home in the Galloway District. Franklin, Nov. 11 – [Special] – A shocking fatality occurred near this city on Saturday morning when, by the burning of his home, Benjamin Card, one of the oldest and best known residents of this section, was suffocated and his body burned to a crisp. Card lived in a comfortable little shanty, located about two rods from the home of his daughter and her husband, Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Miller, in the Galloway district. About 7:30 on Saturday morning, Mr. Miller arose and started across the fields to a neighbor. He had gone only a few rods when his attention was called to the house by the frantic screams of his wife and, turning, was horrified at seeing Card’s shanty all ablaze. Mr. Miller, assisted by a few neighbors, whose attentions has been attracted by the blaze, fought the flames desperately, but did not succeed in subduing them until the building was almost consumed. The body of Card was found in the ruins, lying on the bed. It was burned to a crisp and was unrecognizable. The old man had doubtless suffocated as he slept, for the position of the body, when found, did not indicate that he had made any effort to escape. How the fire started is not known but the supposition is that the bedclothes came in contact with the open fireplace, located at the foot of the bed, in which the gas blazed slightly, and became ignited. When Mrs. Miller first discovered the fire, the bed was enveloped in flames. Alderman J. B. GRIFFIN, acting as a deputy coroner, impaneled a jury and held a inquest over the remains and the jury after hearing the testimony of a few witnesses, decided that Card “Came to his death by suffocation, as the result of the burning of his home.” Card was well known in this city and vicinity, having resided in this section for the past 25 years. He was born in New York State 87 years ago. When but a young man he came to this state, locating at Sandy Lake, Mercer County. When the war broke out in 1861, he enlisted in Company 1, Fifty-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers and in 1863 he was honorably discharged. For a year following his discharge he was employed as a pumper on oil wells on Oil Creek and at Pithole, but he gave that up and went to Chicago, where he remained but a few years. He returned to Pithole and remained there until 1873, when he located to the place where he met his tragic death. Card was a kind hearted and gentle old man and had the respect of all his acquaintances. For the past decade he followed the vocation as gunsmith and was always known as “Ben Card, the Gunsmith”. He was an expert hunter. During his residence in Sandy Lake, Card married Mary Jane LYNCH, who still survives, her place of residence being Bradford. He is also survived by the following children: Mrs. J. W. MILLER, Galloway; Mrs. John SULLIVAN, Bradford; Misses Della and Mary Card, Bradford; Frank Card, Bradford; James Card, Galloway. The last named was painfully hurt on the GRIMM farm a week ago, in the collapse of an oil derrick on which he was standing. The funeral services took place at the home of J.W. Miller on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 o’clock and the body was interred in the Franklin cemetery Oil City Derrick, Monday Morning, November 15, 1897