One Century Ago: Watchman Found Unconscious

Welcome back to One Century Ago, a collaboration between Patch and the Historical Society serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

Each week we bring you the front page of a local newspaper that covered the news in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (North Tarrytown) one hundred years ago. This front page comes from the Tarrytown Press-Record. The Press-Record was published as a weekly from 1893 to 1946 and has been preserved by the Historical Society on microfilm.

Friday, October 11, 1912:

Watchman Mysteriously Injured

Mr. Daniel Lawrence, of North Broadway, North Tarrytown, was the victim of a peculiar and inexplicable accident which left police baffled. Mr. Lawrence was said to be “one of the best known and respected citizens of North Tarrytown”, and had worked for the Maxwell-Briscoe Company for a number of years as a night watchman. It was his job to patrol the part of the factory which had formerly been the Rand Drill, and was situated near the docks. On the night in question, Mr. Lawrence arrived promptly at 7 o’clock, but barely half an hour later he was found lying injured and unconscious at the dockside.

Mr. Starkweather, the superintendent of the factory, was notified of the accident and he called Dr. Fairchild immediately, who ordered Mr. Lawrence to be taken to the Tarrytown Hospital.

After an examination, doctors concluded that Mr. Lawrence’s face was badly gashed and bruised, and that he had extensive bruising on the rest of his body.

Mrs. Lawrence hurried to her husband’s bedside, and the next morning he confided to her that he had not the slightest recollection of how he was injured so badly. He did say that he remembered standing near the dock when he thought he heard someone calling “Dan!”, but after that he remembered nothing. The money which he had with him at the time was not stolen, and nothing was damaged or stolen from the factory. The only possible conclusion doctors and police could surmise was that Mr. Lawrence had fainted and been injured when he fell on the edge of the dock.

During his time working for the Maxwell-Briscoe Company, Mr. Lawrence had been injured twice before. Once he fell off of a ladder and broke his arm, and another time his left arm became caught in a belt and had to be amputated.

Board Meeting: Missing Stone to be Returned

At the regular board meeting of village trustees a number of local issues were raised. Trustee Babcock wanted to know why the curb stone from Cortlandt street was to be found prominently displayed on the property of Mr. Margotta of Depeyster street. Nobody knew how or why this had come to pass, and Mr. Babcock decided to order contractors to take the stone which belonged to the village and deposit it on the Pocantico bridge, where it was needed.

Obituary of Mr. Dinkel

It was with great sadness that the death of Mr. Theodore H. Dinkel, 48, was announced. A successful businessman, Mr. Dinkel was also said to be a kind-hearted man with a jovial nature, and all those who came into contact with him respected him. While he had enjoyed robust health for most of his life, over-work and anxiety caused him to suffer a nervous breakdown from which he never fully recovered. 

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