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Mary Jane Sterling Mouse

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Mary Jane Sterling Mouse

Birth	:	12 Jul 1887 Big Spring, Washington County, Maryland, USA
Death	:	30 Aug 1974 Williamsport, Washington County, Maryland, USA
Burial	:	Greenlawn Cemetery, Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate	:	39.5922012, -77.8125000
Description	:	SOURCE: Daily Mail Hagerstown, Maryland August 31, 1974 Mrs. Mary Jane Mouse, 87, of 24 E. Potomac St., Williamsport died Friday morning [August 30, 1974] at the Williamsport Nursing Home. She was born near Dam No. 5, Big Springs, and was the daughter of Daniel Lee and Virginia Sanders Sterling. She was a member of St. Augustines Catholic Church, and an honorary member of the Sodality. She is survived by one daughter Mrs. Virginia Messina of Baltimore; one brother, Daniel B. Sterling of Hagerstown; and two grandchildren. The Mass of the Resurrection will be held at 9 a.m Monday morning at St. Augustines Catholic Church in Williamsport. ... Read More	SOURCE: Daily Mail Hagerstown, Maryland August 31, 1974 Mrs. Mary Jane Mouse, 87, of 24 E. Potomac St., Williamsport died Friday morning [August 30, 1974] at the Williamsport Nursing Home. She was born near Dam No. 5, Big Springs, and was the daughter of Daniel Lee and Virginia Sanders Sterling. She was a member of St. Augustines Catholic Church, and an honorary member of the Sodality. She is survived by one daughter Mrs. Virginia Messina of Baltimore; one brother, Daniel B. Sterling of Hagerstown; and two grandchildren. The Mass of the Resurrection will be held at 9 a.m Monday morning at St. Augustines Catholic Church in Williamsport. The Rev. Father Alfred E. Smith will be celebrant. The family will receive friends at the Leaf Funeral Home in Williamsport Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9. The rosary will be said Sunday evening at 8 p.m. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery in Williamsport. ----------------------------- SOURCE: Daily Mail Hagerstown, Maryland May 19, 1973, pg. 8 By Ora Ann Ernst THEY SHARED A "SHOCKING EVENT" SEVENTY YEARS AGO AT DAM NO. 5 The month of May marks the 70th anniversary of an unusual, nearly-unbelievable event, shared by two elderly residents of Washington County. On May 1, 1903, Harry E. Newkirk, at the age of 18, was swept over Dam No. 5 in a canal boat while Mrs. Tom Mouse, then 15-year-old Mary Sterling, watched the horrifying incident from the porch of her childhood home. "It was shocking," she said as she reminisced last week in her present home in Williamsport, "and I hope I never see anything like it again. My mother fainted when it happened." Newkirk of Big Spring, but now at Avalon Manor, also has vivid memories of his violent, near-fatal ride over the falls. WINDSTORM AROSE He and his 16-year-old brother Ralph had taken a horse from their home at Two Locks to plow a lot for the Sterlings at Dam No. 5. As a "light" (empty) canal boat came west through the locks at the dam, a windstorm started to rise. Harry, giving his younger brother quick instructions to finish plowing the lot, ran down from behind the Sterling house that overlooked the dam and jumped on the boat to ride back to his father's store at Two Locks. Mary Sterling Mouse recalls that Harry did so to help the "old man," the captain of the boat, handle the ropes in the wind, but Harry can't remember such altruistic motives. ‘I do remember that I almost missed the boat when I jumped," he says, "Ten seconds later I wouldn't have made it." Then things happened. ROPES SNAPPED OR CUT At Dam No. 5, the canal boats had to go into slack water in the river to get to Two Locks. Because the cut at that time was somewhat overgrown, the route was farther offshore, making an extra strain on the ropes and the mules pulling them. Harry's recollection is that the new mule boy, too excited, whipped the mules who jumped and snapped the ropes. But Mary remembers her father's story that the boy, fearing that the wind would drag the mules into the water, cut the lines himself. Neither story could be verified because the frightened lad ran off and never returned. In the meantime Ralph Newkirk and Dan Sterling, Mary's father, had jumped into a skiff and grabbed the ropes. "They tried to get to the bank to pull the canal boat in, but the wind was so great and it was out in the river too far, the line wouldn't reach. They thought they could get it to the bank and snub it but they couldn't." Mrs. Mouse recalls. So the wind drove the helpless, unweighted boat over the dam. BOAT LANDED ON SIDE Harry remembers that it landed on its side, paused in that position, and then righted itself. He also recalls being knocked into the river and hanging onto the rudder blade. He can still see the "old woman," the wife of the boatman, Capt. Kime, as "she stuck her head out of a hole in the cabin and asked (Harry) if he saw anything of the girls." The "girls" were the two little daughters of Capt. and Mrs. Kime. They had been in the cabin with their mother. One was swept away with a table in the rough water; her body was found some days later. The other little girl had her leg broken when the cabin stove fell on it. Capt. Kime, who "had hold of the steer stick" trying to guide the boat, suffered many broken ribs and possible lung punctures. Dan Sterling and Ralph Newkirk had abandoned their skiff above the dam and rushed to get into another one below the falls. They pulled Harry out of the water and hauled him ashore, taking him to the Sterling home where Mrs. Sterling put dry clothes on him and put him to bed. She and the others were alarmed by bleeding from Harry's mouth, but time proved that it was caused only by broken front teeth. Capt. Kime and his wife and remaining daughter were also put to bed in the Sterling house. Dr. Richardson from Williamsport came to minister to them and, in about a week, decided to move them to Ashton Station to board a train for their home in Cumberland. Will Frantz came from Clear Spring in his spring wagon to haul them to the station. Mrs. Mouse relates that Mrs. Kime sat on the front seat while her daughter was tied on a cot for the ride. Jimmy Ritchey, superintendent of that section of the canal, transported the injured boatman in his wagon, but Capt. Kime, with more internal punctures than first suspected, died at Ashton Station. CANAL BOAT UNDAMAGED The canal boat itself was not hurt. Company men came up and took it to Dam No. 4, where there was "big slack water," and put it back into the canal. A barrel of oats that was in the middle cabin (where hay and other supplies were kept) never upset, Mr. Newkirk remembers. Two mules were in the third cabin, the "mule cabin." They were thrown into the river. Mrs. Mouse recalls that the "blind one swam to Maryland and the other one went to West Virginia." A canal boat usually had a complement of four mules – two on the towpath, working, and two in the cabin, resting. Harry remembers that his father, Tunis (Bud) Newkirk, owned a "dozen or more mules" which he rented or sold. The mule business was big because there were around 150 boats going up and down the canal at the beginning of this century, mostly hauling coal from Cumberland to Georgetown, and then returning "light" with some grocery supplies for stores along the river. Harry says that his father, who owned a grocery and feed store at Two Locks, received staples from wholesalers who shipped to Cushwa's at Williamsport where they were loaded on the boats. Along with sugar, flour and salt there were also barrels of coal oil, buckwheat and molasses. RECOLLECTIONS Wholesalers that Harry remembers are Bloom's, J.W. Myers and a firm called Wolfinger, Allen and Brown. He fondly talks of "Old man Tommy Allen as the nicest man in the country," because he always had little treats for the children of his customers. Harry recollects, too, that he had to sleep in his father's store at night. "Someone had to be there all night, because the boats came at any time. Andy Snyder was the lock tender and he slept in the shanty on the lock." Harry also has remembrances of driving mules on the canal, especially on the long, eight-day trip from Cumberland to Georgetown, a tow-path trek of 184 miles. Mary Mouse verifies his memories and adds some of her own. Vivid yet to her are the sunsets over the dam as seen from the porch of her home and dramatic is her mind's picture of the break-up of ice on the river, with huge pieces going over the falls. She is still amazed by the remembered phenomenon of large trees going over the dam, being caught in the powerful undertow that threw them back to the falls again and again for as long as four days, and left them denuded of all limbs and branches. But the most outstanding recollection for both is that of May 1, 1903, when Harry unintentionally rode over the dam and Mary, horrified, watched from her porch.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Mary Jane Sterling Mouse's memorial?
Mary Jane Sterling Mouse's memorial is located at: Greenlawn Cemetery, Williamsport, Washington County, USA.
When did Mary Jane Sterling Mouse death?
Mary Jane Sterling Mouse death on 30 Aug 1974 in Williamsport, Washington County, Maryland, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Mary Jane Sterling Mouse's memorial?
Latitude: 39.5922012
Longitude: -77.8125000

Family Members:

Parent

Siblings

Norman Benjamin “Jack” Sterling

(1891 - 1963)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Greenlawn Cemetery
Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5922012, -77.8125000

2. Rehobeth United Methodist Church Cemetery
Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5981660, -77.8205850

3. Saint Augustine's Graveyard
Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5997009, -77.8206024

4. River View Cemetery
Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5980606, -77.8247681

5. Friend's Family Cemetery
Williamsport, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6029110, -77.8225990

6. Fountain Rock Cemetery
Saint James, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5753990, -77.7587110

7. B'nai Abraham Cemetery
Halfway, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6186200, -77.7621000

8. African-American Cemetery
Halfway, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6185500, -77.7619600

9. Meadow View Mennonite Church Cemetery
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5937500, -77.7472000

10. Pinesburg Mennonite Church Cemetery
Pinesburg, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6299500, -77.8609300

11. Harmony Cemetery
Marlowe, Berkeley County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5868988, -77.8814011

12. Andrew Summers Graveyard
Huyett, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6517600, -77.7999300

13. Hagerstown Mennonite Fellowship Cemetery
Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6560000, -77.7977800

14. Conococheague Church Cemetery
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6560130, -77.7977910

15. Old Falling Waters Cemetery
Falling Waters, Berkeley County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5618350, -77.8900070

16. Cedar Lawn Memorial Park
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6509600, -77.7567300

17. Saint Marks Episcopal Church Cemetery
Lappans, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5508003, -77.7341995

18. Mount Tabor Cemetery
Broadfording, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6686000, -77.8053000

19. Washington Confederate Cemetery
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6286545, -77.7248306

20. Rose Hill Cemetery
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6316900, -77.7229100

21. Funkstown Cemetery
Funkstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6077995, -77.7106018

22. Crowl Cemetery
Bedington, Berkeley County, USA
Coordinate: 39.5291867, -77.8816979

23. Saint Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery
Clear Spring, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6587200, -77.8806500

24. Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
Hagerstown, Washington County, USA
Coordinate: 39.6382019, -77.7184099