09/07/07

EXPRESS & STANDARD, JUNE 29, 1906

 FOUR CANOEISTS DROWN

 A DISTRESSING ACCIDENT ON LAKE MEMPHREMAGOG

One of the saddest drowning accidents that has ever happened in this vicinity, and which has thrown the place into the greatest gloom, happened last Sunday afternoon, when Fred S. Paquin and wife, his sister, Ethel Paquin, and George Dailey were drowned in Lake Memphremagog.  The four, together with the parents of Fred and Ethel Paquin, had taken a cottage at Knowlton’s Bluff for a week’s outing, and in the early afternoon had got into a canoe and started toward Horseneck Island.  North of the island they were met by Henry Bogue in his launch, who conversed with them and warned them to keep close to shore.  This was the last seen of them from authentic sources.  It is evident they went to some point down the lake, and as it began to rain, started to return.  It is rumored a canoe with a couple in each end, and umbrellas up, was seen returning toward Horseneck Island about two o’clock.  The first intimation of the accident was at 3 p.m., when Mrs. Howard Lindsay and Rosalind Foulks, occupying the Lindsay cottage, noticed an overturned canoe in the water in the vicinity of Black Rock.  Taking a boat and rowing to the spot, they found cushions, pillows, a coat and hat afloat, which told only too plainly the fate of the occupants of the canoe.

            Quickly the news were wafted into town and people with boats and teams began to gather at Lindsay’s beach.  At first the rumors were so vague and contradictory that no one seemed prepared to act.  The placid surface of the lake, being almost without a ripple throughout the day, made such an accident seem almost impossible.  Many believed the canoe had gotten away from them at some island in the vicinity and the four were marooned.  When these theories were explored, and a careful search failed to find the two couples alive, grapples and hooks were sent for and the sad duty of grappling for the bodies commenced.

            As it happened, at the point where the accident took place, only the Lindsay cottage was in sight.  Horseneck Island blocks off all the view from the south.  If an outcry was made by the victims of the accident, no one heard it.  One at Lindsay cottage did think she heard a voice cry out “Henry!” but thought nothing of it at the time.  How the accident happened in that calm water no one will ever know; but our supposition is that a sudden movement by one in the frail and over-loaded canoe caused it to lurch, then it quickly overturned, throwing the occupants into the water.  The results, even though one of the party was a good swimmer, could be easily foreseen.

            The various reports as to the direction of the wind at the time of the accident handicapped the work and made it doubtful, in just what direction the bodies would be found.  It was surmised the canoe had been drifting but one hour, and could not have gone far, owing to the lack of wind; therefore the grappling was most persistent close to shore and in the vicinity of where the canoe was found.  A few continued the work throughout the night, and a large party grappled and dragged the sandy bottom all the next day; but not until 12:30 o’clock of Tuesday afternoon were the bodies found, and then in 20 feet of water, about one quarter of a mile from the shore, almost directly opposite where the canoe and other articles were found afloat.  Miss Ethel Paquin was found first, the body being brought to the surface by Raymond Fuller.  Mr. and Mrs. Paquin, tightly locked in each other’s arms, were grappled next by George Roby, and parties in the same boat quickly grappled the body of George Dailey, also in the same vicinity.  The watches of the young men were found stopped at 2:15 o’clock, which probably determines the time the accident took place.  As soon as possible the bodies were placed in the Holbrook launch, brought to Newport, and placed in the charge of Undertaker Green, at whose rooms the inquest was held.

            Words are hardly adequate to express the sorrow of the bereaved parents and relatives in this sad catastrophe, or the gloom it has cast over the community.  Especially is it a sad blow to the parents of Ethel and Fred Paquin as their home has been left entirely desolate, no children being left.  The young people were very popular in town and supported a large circle of friends.  Messers. Paquin and Dailey were employed as clerks in the E. Lane & Son store.  Miss Ethel Paquin was central girl in the New England telephone exchange.  Mrs. Fred Paquin for the last few weeks was employed as bookkeeper for Z.C. Blake & Co., meat dealers.  Formerly she was clerk in the C.F. Ranney & Co. store, and continued in that capacity when it was purchased by the Express and Standard, until her marriage with Fred Paquin one year ago last May.

GEORGE ALMER DAILEY

            The funeral of George A. Dailey, one of the victims of the sad drowning accident of last Sunday, was held at the St. Mary’s church on Thursday morning, the Rev. Father Clermont officiating.  A large number of sorrowing friends and neighbors were present, including many brother members of the Independent Order of Foresters, dressed in regalia, and the Newport Band.  There was a profusion of flowers from the numerous friends of the deceased, including a beautiful wreath of carnations and roses from E. Lane & Son, a pillow of carnations and roses from the Court Honor, a lovely bouquet of flowers from Clyde Court, a cross of white carnations and roses by the near neighbors of the family and a flower pillow containing the words “At Rest” from his relatives and friends at White River Junction.  The funeral services were rendered in English and were very impressive.  After they were concluded, the long procession of mourners and friends, led by the Newport Band and members of the order of Foresters, passed down through the principal streets of the town, the band effectively rendering the funeral dirge on the way, until the Catholic cemetery was reached.  The Catholic rites were performed at the grave, after which, a portion of the burial rites of the order of Foresters was performed and the body laid to rest.

            George Almer Dailey was 21 years old at the time of his tragic death, and leaves a father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dailey, besides three sisters and two brothers and numerous relatives and friends to mourn his loss.  He was born in the town of Westfield, where he attended school in early youth, later moved with his parents to Jay, and in 1892 came to Newport with his parents, where they have since resided.  He first began clerking in a store at Derby, and later entered the employ of E. Lane & Son, where, greatly to his credit, he continued for the past five years, giving abundant satisfaction and respected by all.  A sister is employed in the same store.  Desiring a short respite from labor, he accepted the invitation of Fred Paquin, who also was a clerk in the same store, and with whom he was on most intimate terms, to join him with his wife and father’s family for a week’s outing at Knowlton’s Bluff, where a cottage had been secured.  Thus the beginning of seemingly a most happy vacation quickly closed with a sad and terrible ending, clearly proving the great uncertainty of life.  So numerous were the gifts of flowers outside of the set pieces as to make it impossible for us to mention all of the names.  Among them might be noticed the Maloney brother and sisters, Ward Prouty, clerks in the True & Blanchard and Lane & Dwinell stores and numerous private families and friends, showing the great appreciation in which he was held.  During the hours of the funeral services many of the stores were closed.  Thus is the end of the first chapter of the sad tragedy that has cast a gloom over the town and left a pang of sorrow in every heart.

A TRIPLE FUNERAL

            At 2 o’clock on Thursday afternoon, following prayers at the home, the funeral of the three remaining victims of the drowning accident, Fred S. Paquin and wife and sister, Ethel, was held in the Baptist church at W. Derby, Rev. W.C. Newell officiating, ably assisted by Elder Chrystie Long before the sad procession filed up the aisle the seats were filled to overflowing, and  dozens of the friends and neighbors of the three still forms now shut out from their sight forever in the flower covered vaults, were compelled to remain on the outside.  Never before had three coffins reposed side by side in front of the alter under such distressing circumstances, and never before had such a sea of God-given flowers ever testified in language more forcible than words the sorrow and sympathy of mourning hearts, and the love and esteem in which the three, now lost to them for a time, were held in life.  Plainly the three caskets told of one home made desolate and of others made sad by an unwritten law that sooner or later falls upon all alike; a law that chooses not between those in the bloom of youth or the whitened hairs of old age.  It was a house of mourning outside of the relatives of the deceased, and as the services, filled with comforting words and hopes of a future meeting in the great beyond, drew to a close, there was scarcely a dry eye in the house.  The tears were not for the dead alone, but mingled in sympathy with parents, over a rendered desolate in almost the twinning of an eye.

            The coffins were borne to the alter by Elmer Pinney, Charles Cousins, Walter Aiken and Hamilton Green, chosen as bearers, followed by Campanion Court Clyde, and Court Honor of the Independent Order of Foresters, of which the deceased, Fred S. Paquin, was a member.  Behind them followed the parents and relatives of the deceased.  The Rebekahs, of which Mrs. Cora Paquin was a member, was present in body, but not in the funeral train. 

            The funeral cortege to Pine Grove Cemetery was similar to that from the house to the Baptist church.  One large open grave had been prepared for the three caskets and as each was lowered into Mother earth, the husband and brother, Fred S. Paquin in the center, his wife, Cora, on the right and sister, Ethel, on the left, it was through such a mass of beautiful blossoming mild-eyed flowers as to rob the grave of much of it’s gloom.  The parting at the grave was a sad scene, over which we draw the veil.  The last prayers were said, the burial rights of the Foresters carried out, the mourners and friends almost forcibly torn away, and the dead were left with the dead, and the flowers, and Mother earth, and the God who watches over all and governs the destiny of all alike.  And as their bodies now rest under the green-tufted sod, so rests the body of their friend and companion, George Dailey, gone with them but never forgotten, in the little Catholic cemetery on the hill.

              One remarkable feature surrounding the lives of these two couples is worthy to note.  Fred Paquin and George Dailey had clerked together for several years n the E. Lane & Son store and were greatly attached to each other.  At the marriage of Mr. Paquin to Miss Cora Darling one year ago last May, George Dailey was best man and Ethel Paquin bridesmaid.  Thus those four who stood together, to join in, and to witness the holy bans of matrimony, were destined to die together, and now rests together, buried in the same garments that clothed them on that happy bridal day.

            With relation to the numerous flowers and set pieces sent in by the friends and relatives of the deceased, not only from home friends throughout the state, but other states as well, the numbers are so large as to render it almost impossible to give a detailed list.  The circumstances surrounding the case were so sad as to touch a sympathetic cord in every heart, and that sympathy was expressed in a gift of suitable flowers which voiced their sorrow and sympathy in language stronger than any tongue could speak.  And so the gifts were numerous and beautiful, and beyond the limits of a weekly newspaper to describe.  Of the orders presenting special pieces were Companion Court Clyde, Court Honor, the Rebekahs, Odd Fellows and Evening Star Lodge.  Among the stores the clerks of True & Blanchard Co., Lane & Dwinell, Gilman & Co., EXPRESS AND STANDARD force, and E. Lane & Son presented beautiful set pieces, as did also the proprietors of many of the stores.  The New England Telephone Central office force, where Miss Ethel Paquin worked, presented a lovely standing wreath.  Two beautiful pieces were sent by Mr. and Mrs. Rowell and daughter Bernice from Manchester, N. H.; calla lilies from Mr. and Mrs. Goodman of East Charlston, a pillow from the Darling family, a wreath for each of the three from Mr. and Mrs. Paquin, and a wreath from E. Lane & Son, in whose store the young men were employed.  In connection with these we were able to secure the names of the Maloney brother and sisters, Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, Mr. and Mrs. A.J. White and daughter Daisy, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Green and Miss Hattie Green, Walter Aiken, Charles Cousins, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles McCauley.  Dozens of names we could not secure as the cards were still attached to pieces at the grave.  Rest assured, however, that all did their duty in expression of sympathy for the bereaved, and if names are omitted, it is on account of the number of them and our want of space and lack of time to look them up.

            Of those from a distance who attended the triple funeral were:  Mrs. Henry Leach, sister to Mr. Paquin, and her son and daughter, and Frank Leach from Sherbrooke, Que., Dr. J.B. Cushman from East Charleston, George W. Mayo and wife from Dixville, P.Q., Mr. and Mrs. Henderson Hunt from Troy, Mrs. Ames and two sons from Holland, Mrs. Harding from St. Johnsbury and C.D. Nichols of West Burke.  With these were the sisters of Mrs. Cora (Darling) Paquin:  Mrs. Charles White of Springfield, Mrs. Willard Adams and husband of Albany, N.Y., and Mrs. Annie Galbraith of Enosburg Falls.

FRED SUMNER PAQUIN

            Fred Sumner Paquin was 26 years of age at the time of his death, and was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Paquin.  He was born in Coaticook, P.Q., and moved to West Derby with his parents in 1894, where he continued to make his home.  He was educated in Derby and Newport, and after a two years’ clerkship in the Paul & Williams store, entered in the employment of E. Lane & Son, where, at the time of his death, he had remained six years.  Only words of praise are spoken of him by members of the firm, and his six years with them is enough of itself, to show the esteem in which he was held.  On May 17^th, 1905 he was united in marriage to Cora Olivette Darling, an estimable young lady, then in the employ of the EXPRESS AND STANDARD, and after the honeymoon trip, took his bride to the home of his parents, where he continued to live.

ETHEL MAY PAQUIN

            Ethel May Paquin, the sister of Fred Sumner Paquin, was 21 years old, and an only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Paquin.  She, too, was born in Coaticook, P.Q., coming with her parents when they moved to West Derby, and had never left the parental roof.  She was a young lady with numerous friends, much devoted to her home, and was of a pleasing and amiable disposition.  Besides assisting as a clerk in some of the stores, she had worked as assistant in the People’s Telephone central, and at the time of her death was in the employ of the New England Telephone central office.  Her death, together with that of her brother, Fred, and his wife, Cora, robs the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Paquin of their last child and leaves the home desolate.

CORA OLIVETTE (DARLING) PAQUIN

            Cora Olivette (Darling) Paquin was 25 years old at the time of departing this life, and was the daughter of Mrs. Emma Darling of West Derby, and the youngest of seven sisters.  This naturally made her the favorite of the family and the home child.  She was born in Newport, and with the exception of two or more seasons spent in Springfield, Mass., has always lived in this vicinity.  For a long time she clerked in the store of C.F. Ranney & Co., and when the firm was succeeded by the Express and Standard, continued in her same position as clerk until married to Fred S. Paquin, May 17^th, 1905.  She then retired, going with her husband to his parents’ to reside, and just preceding her death was employed as bookkeeper in the Z.C. Blake & Co. meat market.  Of those of the family who still survive to mourn her loss are her mother, Mrs. Emma Darling of West Derby, and sisters, Mrs. Chris White of Springfield, Mrs. Willard Adams of Albany, N.Y., Mrs. Annie Gailbraith of Enosburg Falls, Mrs. Homer Albee of West Derby, and Mrs. Fred Donaghy and Miss Gertrude Darling also of West Derby.  With those who departed this life with her, she was young and full of hope, enjoying life for what it was worth, loving and being loved by her friends, and seemingly looked forward to a bright and happy life.

In Conclusion

            We have little to say in conclusion, as the tragedy speaks for itself.

Pictures in the article:

1.      View of Knowlton’s Bluff, looking north, and showing Horseneck Island.  Just back of this island to the left was where the four bodies were found.

2.      George Almer Dailey

3.      Fred Sumner Paquin

4.      Mrs. Cora (Darling) Paquin

5.      Miss Ethel Paquin