Lizzie M. Calhoun (1858-1877) [Sec 65 Lot 39]

Killed in a carriage accident in the Albany Rural Cemetery 1877

Elizabeth M. Calhoun was the daughter of Margaret (Cahoun) Hunter, and step-daughter of Andrew Hunter, formerly a cattle dealer, and a wealthy Real Estate owner in West Albany which is present day Town of Colonie. The family residence was on Central Avenue, where Lizzie attended Albany High School expecting to graduate in June as class valedictorian. An Albany newspaper of the time called her "one of the most loved and most promising pupils of the high school ... richly endowed physically and mentally."

On the afternoon of May 31, 1877, she went on a carriage ride in the Albany Rural Cemetery with her friend, Ms. Alice Overton. The driver of the carriage was 21-year-old James Clark, an employee of Lizzie’s stepfather. The carriage was pulled by a young pair of Black horses, recently purchased and reported to be “somewhat spirited”.

It was about 4:00 pm in the North Ridge section of the Albany Rural Cemetery when the carriage started down a steep slope of road in the area near the Battersby monument. The monument pictured at Right, features an angel leading a young soul towards Heaven.

In the descent, the cross reins slipped becoming entangled under the hitch pole of the carriage, and making the horses increasingly difficult to control.

The cross reins are pictured at Left, crossing from one horse’s bit to the shoulder/back of the opposing animal. Pulling on the Left (Green) team line pulls both horses to the left, while pulling on the right team (Red) line turns both horses to the Right. This steering system lets the driver turn both animals at the same time. It is important that the cross reins are the same length, and connect to the team lines equal distances back from the headgear. Incorrect positioning or length causes horses to crowd together or split apart, which can create control issues.

Soon after entanglement of the reins, the horses bolted downhill placing the carriage and its’ team in an out-of-control situation. The driver jumped, attempting unsuccessfully to untangle the reins, and was dragged along the path.

Continuing down the incline, Lizzie Calhoun jumped from the carriage, presumably in hopes of avoiding injury. Unfortunately, she fell onto the gravel road sustaining a serious head injury. Her friend Alice remained in the carriage which soon began colliding with trees, ultimately damaging its’ roof while traversing over a bridge. Alice’s most serious injury was a sprained ankle. The carriage at some time sustained further damage. The team was later discovered with portions of the carriage wheels and axle still connected on lands owned by James Gazeley situated behind the cemetery Chapel. Calhoun’s body was attended to by the driver James Clark, with the assistance of several by-standers. Showing no signs of life, she is presumed to have died soon thereafter.

Elizabeth M. Calhoun died on May 31, 1877. Her headstone, created by James Gazeley who was also a stone cutter, features formal columns and a bouquet of flowers.

There is scant knowledge of Ms. Calhoun’s early life, her birthday, the circumstances of becoming a step-daughter, or specifics about her parents connection in Albany society. Although reported to be an excellent student, she is most often recognized from the cemetery accident.

Although there is no official report detailing the accident specifics, there are newspaper articles and excerpts from documents which together describe the incident, and provide clues as to the proximal location of the events leading to Ms. Calhoun’s death. Working with these accountings, supplemented by historical records from the Cemetery, scientific examination, geographic analysis and cemetery maps from the era, the Accident Reconstruction which follows seeks to assemble a time line and location of events which transpired on the afternoon of May 31, 1877 at the Albany Rural Cemetery. Although portions of the accounting may be subject to speculation, their basis can be endorsed by the facts as written during the time immediately following Lizzie’s death.

  1. The carriage and its occupants are travelling Southwest on a section of road designated as a “Tour Route”. The terrain is flat, as travel is along the contour; higher ground to the West, lower slopes to the East. Thus far, for most of their cemetery excursion the roads have been gentle slopes.
  2. At the South end of Section 70, the carriage turns Left and begins a descent where the road slope approaches 9%; about the maximum downhill grade for a horse and wagon. With the weight of the carriage behind, the horses are the breaking force slowing the perhaps 1000 lb. coach. The road is graveled, but on this Spring day, and following the winters snow melt, fine soil particles are likely to have washed down hill leaving modest ruts where carriage wheels have traveled, also exposing stones and larger rock surfaces. Although speculative, it is possible that one of the horses lost footing as an iron horseshoe slid across exposed rock, its head dropping and a single cross rein slips under the carriages hitch pole between the two animals. As the horse rights itself, the tangled rein caused its head to turn toward the opposite animal restricting the horse’s normally forward vision to the side.
  3. The two young horses have not worked together for the length of time needed to function as a team. The weight of the carriage behind, and the now limited vision causes one horse to excite the other. The downhill speed increases with their agitation, as the driver unsuccessfully attempts to slow the team by pulling back on the reins. His action only causes further distress.
  4. Although the driver is challenged to slow the descent, he is able to maintain travel alignment on the road, now making a turn to the South between Sections 71 and 72. The slope is still a constant 9% grade and the carriage is gaining speed.
  5. In an attempt to bring the team under control, the driver decides to attempt freeing the tangled cross rein. He exits the carriage forward over the drivers’ foot board, planning to walk out on the hitch pole between the two animals to access the entanglement. The carriage is bouncing, the horses are swaying and the driver slips from the hitch pole landing on the ground between the carriage front wheels. As the carriage travels over him he is able to grab onto the back axle, but the rough motion of movement causes his grip to weaken leaving him in the road and the driverless carriage free on the run. At this juncture, the remaining events will transpire within the next one and a half minutes.
  6. Abreast is an intersection forming a more open area where the North Ridge Road passes between Sections 65 and 71. It is in this vicinity near the Battersby Monument, located on the map by the image marker, where reports denote Elizabeth Calhoun sustained her unfortunate death. Both passengers being bounced about the back seat have witnessed the driver exit then disappear. Uncertain as to his fate, anxiety is high. In an attempt for survival, Elizabeth decides to jump from the carriage. Unknown if she jumped feet first, or tripped during exit, the fall resulted in a traumatic head injury. The official cause of death was listed as “concussion of the brain or dislocation of the neck”.
  7. In 1877, having only been in operation for a bit over 3 decades, the landscape of the cemetery is open, and the arrangement of headstones is widely scattered. Dispersed headstones do not form barriers directing travel, but permit the horses to run freely toward the South East corner of Section 65. Alice Overton is now alone in the carriage, probably unaware of Elizabeth’s peril, and clinging onto whatever she can to avoid being thrown about.
  8. At the Southern edge of Section 65 the land drops into a gully formed by time from the outflowing waters of the Kromme Kill. Some 40 years earlier when these lands were farmed, the gully was likely grazed heavily, creating an open grassey ravine. Now decades removed from agriculture the gulley has begun to regenerate woody vegetation. Seedlings and saplings exist to heights approaching 6 – 10 feet of perhaps Ash, Aspen, Pine or other pioneer species. Newspaper accounts reveal the horses and carriage “crashed through the trees”, likely bending them to the ground during travel through the scrub vegetation.
  9. At the South end of Section 65 the contour drops sharply. The horses charge down the slope causing the carriage to lurch violently while transitioning to the road grade of Cemetery Avenue, and the bridge crossing the Kromme Kill. Bridge construction features an open deck with Iron corner posts and side rails, similar in appearance (images at Right) to other crossings assembled in the cemetery. As the horses race across the bridge, violent swaying causes the carriage to lean to its Right, colliding with the corner post of the bridge tearing away portions of the side and as reported “reducing the upper part of the carriage to splinters”. The impact shifts the carriage, now fully upon the bridge, to its Left. As the horses exit the bridge’s South end, the Left front wheel impacts the bridge end post breaking the spokes and causing the carriage’s Left front corner to drop.
  10. Leaving the bridge behind, the horses travel down Cemetery Avenue’s Eastern side slope. With the Left wheel damaged, and the coach’s structure weakened from intense impacts, the front axle disconnects from the carriage. Now absent of its front wheels, the coach front drops, digging into the ground. The rapid deceleration propels Alice Overton forward, her foot impacts the base of the driver’s seat twisting her ankle as she ejects over the seat and onto the ground. A newspaper reveals “she was uninjured with the exception of a sprained ankle and a few bruises about the body, but was more dead than alive with fear and excitement”.
  11. The horses leave the cemetery grounds, later located in an area behind the cemetery’s Chapel on lands owned by James Gazeley, a local stonecutter. The horses, reported to be still connected to the front axle and wheels, had sustained only some minor bruises.

Elizabeth Calhoun is buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery, the South end of Section 65, Lot 39.

The Undertaker, a Mr. M. Tebbutt, submitted the request below on June 1, 1877 to the superintendent of the cemetery to open a grave in the lot of Andrew R Hunter for Lizzie M. Calhoun, aged 17 years 8 months. The funeral was to be held on June 3, 1877 at 3:00 in the afternoon. The undertaker listed her Disease as: “Killed by runaway train”. Ironically, the current Tebbutt funeral home is reportedly located on the same site as Lizzie’s former home; today’s 633 Central Avenue, Albany.