Memorials › Frank Drvol

Frank Drvol

1877 – 6 Jun 1903

Birth1877
Death6 Jun 1903
CemeterySaints Peter and Paul Cemetery
Krakow , Nance County , Nebraska , USA
Added byShirley (Bruhn) Martys on 08 Sep 2011
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67242527

Bio

Born in Austrian Poland, the son of John and Sophia (Klyszcz) Drvol. Married Sophia Dudek on November 7, 1900 at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Krakow, Nebr. ''''''''''''''' The following obituary was provided by Jeff Henry (# 51455295). The News-Journal (Fullerton, Nebr.), June 11, 1903, p. 5, col. 4 The first serious wreck that has occurred on this branch of the Union Pacific happened Saturday morning a few feet from the Beaver Bridge near Genoa, when a train, of cattle which the Hord Cattle Co. was shipping for export, ran into a hand car containing four section men and the foreman. Frank Duvol and John Mikis were killed, Stevens badly injured, Chas. Wrubel one arm slightly bruised while the foreman, W. Caldwell, who formerly lived here, escaped injury. The accident occurred at 7:15 in the morning during a heavy fog. The section crew had just started out to work, unconscious that there was an extra on the road, and knowing that the regular train was not due for sometime, they kept no special lookout. The first intimation of danger was when Caldwell saw the engine loom up ahead of them and only about a hundred feet away. He jumped and called to the others to do the same but only Wrubel was able to jump in time to save himself. Stevens jumped just as the train struck and was thrown several feet into the air. The other two men who were pumping the car with their backs to the train had not time to get off at all and were stuck by the engine, killing Duvol outright and injuring Mikis so that he died in a few minutes. Caldwell testified that the hand car was going at the rate of about twelve miles an hour, and Homer Compton, the conductor on the freight said the speed of the train was a little better than twenty five miles an hour, so that but a couple of seconds elapsed form the time that Caldwell saw the train until the collision occurred. The accident was not the fault of either crew and was most certainly not a case of intoxication, as was reported about town. Ed Lindell came up on the morning train and took down Coroner Wad Johnson and Attorney Kemp to hold an inquest over the bodies of Duvol and Mikis. The jury decided that the accident was caused by the negligence of the rail road company in allowing the section crew to go out in a dense fog with out reporting extras to them. '''''''''''''' The Genoa Times, June 12, 1903, p. 4, col. 1 A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT. Frank Duvol and John Mikis Meet Death – Wm. Steel Injured. Life is uncertain. This was never more forcibly illustrated than b the accident which occurred Saturday morning near Genoa in which Frank Duvol and John Mikis were killed and Wm. Steel badly injured. Saturday morning, shortly after midnight, a special came up from Columbus and pushed up the Spalding branch to pick up some loaded cattle cars. The section crew on the Spalding line, composed of Walt Caldwell, foreman, Chas. Wrubel, Frank Duvol, John Mikis and Wm. Steel were not aware that the special had passed through during the night and was liable to return at any time. About 7 o'clock the crew got out of their hand car and started up the track. There was a heavy fog overhanging the valley and it was impossible to see more than three car lengths in advance. The crew had crossed the bridge over the Beaver and had gone only a short distance when the special appeared through the fog. Caldwell and Wrubel, who were facing the on-coming train, yelled to the others to jump as they leaped from the car. As the train was only about 90 feet away when discovered and running at the rate of 25 miles an hour, it struck the hand car before the remaining occupants realized what had happened. The car was lifted into the air and dashed to pieces. John Mikis was dead when the train crew reached him. His breast was crushed in and his left hand nearly severed from the wrist. Wm. Steel was thrown into the air as high as the smoke stack and landed on his feet several rods away, breaking one of his legs in the fall and receiving an ugly looking cut across his head. Frank Duvol lived about one hour after the accident. His left leg was broken in three places and his skull crushed. Conductor Compton and Engineer Coleridge, in charge of the special, pulled into town immediately after the accident and called upon Dr. Davis. A coach was backed down to the scene of the accident and the dead and injured brought to town. In the meantime headquarters in Omaha had been notified of the accident and orders received to send the injured to the hospital. The body of Mikis was taken to the undertaking rooms of Benj. Person, and preparations made to depart with Duvol and Steel, but before the train pulled out, the former breathed his last, and the body was taken to Person's and laid by the side of his companion. The authorities in Fullerton were notified of the accident. Coroner Johnson, accompanied by County Attorney Kemp, Sheriff Davis and a stenographer, arrived on the noon train for the purpose of holding an inquest. A jury composed of W. J. Irwin, Pete Horton, G. Willson, W. M. Long, Chas. Wright and F. H. Young was summoned. After hearing the testimony of several witnesses the jury returned a verdict which, in substance, charges the railway company with being responsible for the accident for failing to notify the section crew that a special was expected. Funeral services over the remains of John Mikis and Frank Duvol were held in the Catholic church across the river Sunday afternoon. The former leaves a wife and two children, and the latter a wife and one child. Wm. Steel, the injured man, has a wife and five children. Sunday night word was received from Omaha that he was resting easy and would undoubtedly recover. __ Notice of Nebraska, Nance County At an inquest holden at Genoa, in said county, on the 6th day of June, 1903, before me, F. W. Johnson, Coroner of said county, upon the bodies of John Mikis and Frank Duvol lying dead, by the jurors whose names are hereto subscribed, the said jurors upon their oath do say that the said John Mikis and Frank Duvol came to their death by injuries received in the collision of a handcar and an "extra" Union Pacific train, No. 1035, at about three-quarters of a mile southwest of Genoa, Nance county, Nebraska, on June 6, 1903, at about 7:15 o'clock a.m., and that the accident occurred through the negligence of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and not feloniously. In testimony whereof, the said jurors have hereunto set their hands this day and year aforesaid, Attest: W. J. Irwin, Foreman. W. C. Long. F. H. Young. R. E. Horton. C. R. Wright. G. Willson. F. W. JOHNSON, Coroner.

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