A Workplace Accident John Anderson's Fall from the High Bridge
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RAMSEY COUNTY “Abide with Me” Grace Craig Stork, 1916 Rebecca A. Ebnet-Mavencamp —Page 10 HıstoryA Publication of the Ramsey County Historical Society Fall 2016 Volume 51, Number 3 A Workplace Accident John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge John T. Sielaff, page 3 Towering above the Mississippi River flood plain, St. Paul’s Smith Avenue High Bridge, seen here in a 1905 postcard, connected the city’s oldest residential neighborhood, West Seventh Street, with its newest at the time, Cherokee Heights, or the Upper West Side. John Anderson, a painter working on the bridge in 1902, fell and survived the accident. His story tells us much about the dangers in the workplace then and now. Photo by the Detroit Photographic Company, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY RAMSEY COUNTY President Chad Roberts Founding Editor (1964–2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor Hıstory John M. Lindley Volume 51, Number 3 Fall 2016 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON JANUARY 25, 2016: James Miller Preserving our past, informing our present, inspiring our future Chair Jo Anne Driscoll First Vice Chair Carl Kuhrmeyer C O N T E N T S Second Vice Chair Susan McNeely 3 A Workplace Accident Secretary Kenneth H. Johnson John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge Treasurer John T. Sielaff William B. Frels Immediate Past Chair 10 “Abide with Me” Anne Cowie, Cheryl Dickson, Mari Oyanagi Grace Craig Stork, 1916 Eggum, Thomas Fabel, Martin Fallon, Rebecca A. Ebnet-Mavencamp John Guthmann, Susan Handley, Richard B. Heydinger, Jr., Janine Joseph, Sandy Kiernat, Judy Kishel, David Kristal, Robert W. Mairs, 18 “Production for Victory”: Father Kevin M. McDonough, Nancy W. The Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant in World War II McKillips, Lisa Dickinson Michaux, Jonathan H. Morgan, Robert Muschewske, Brian McMahon Chad Roberts, Roxanne Sands, James A. Stolpestad, Susan Vento, Jerry Woelfel. 25 Growing Up in St. Paul EDITORIAL BOARD Streetcars: A Way of Life Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, Thomas H. DeAnne Marie Cherry Boyd, John Diers, Martin Fallon, John Guthmann, Lisa L. Heinrich, John M. Lindley, Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Greg Mackey, James Miller, John Milton, Laurie M. Murphy, Robert Muschewske, Paul D. Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H. Cowie Jr. Nelson, Jay Pfaender, David Riehle, Chad and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon Roberts, Steve Trimble, Mary Lethert Wingerd. HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD William Fallon, William Finney, George A Message from the Editorial Board Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, James Reagan. n this issue, we are reminded how workplace conditions in Ramsey County reflect RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Isocial and political realities. Brian McMahon gives us a look at St. Paul’s Ford As- Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt, chair sembly Plant during World War II, when the facility was retooled for the war effort. Commissioner Toni Carter Commissioner Blake Huffman Many workers, including women, were hired to manufacture parts for Pratt & Whitney Commissioner Jim McDonough airplane engines and the M-8 armored car. John Sielaff details the story of John An- Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire derson, a painter who suffered severe injuries in a fall when he was painting the High Commissioner Rafael Ortega Commissioner Janice Rettman Bridge in 1902. In the days before Workers’ Compensation was enacted in Minnesota, Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, Anderson’s legal claim against his employer took a convoluted journey through the Ramsey County court system. Rebecca Ebnet-Mavencamp shares a social history of the Stork family, Ramsey County History is published quarterly who lived on Cleveland Avenue. Although Clinton Stork worked at the H.B. Fuller by the Ramsey County Historical Society, 323 Company, this story concentrates on family, especially the debilitating illness of Grace Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. Paul, MN 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in U.S.A. Copy- Stork, examined through compassionate diary entries of her daughter. right © 2016, Ramsey County His torical So ciety. As a final note, don’t forget we have podcasts available too. Paul Nelson has a won- ISSN Number 0485-9758. All rights reserved. derful interview with former Mayor George Latimer, and his latest podcast takes a look No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written at one of our earliest and most interesting settlers, Harriet Bishop. Check them out at permission from the publisher. The Society www.rchs.com. assumes no responsibility for statements made by contributors. Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: Anne Cowie [email protected]; web site address: www.rchs.com Chair, Editorial Board 2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY A Workplace Accident John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge John T. Sielaff n May 20, 1902, John Anderson, a painter working as part of a crew in 1898 when that ship made a famous repainting the St. Paul High Bridge, fell 125 feet into the Mississippi 14,000-mile voyage from the West to River. Miraculously, though both legs and his hip were broken and his East coast to join the Atlantic fleet at O the outset of the Spanish-American War. forehead was cut open as he hit the bridges’ footing, he survived the fall and The Oregon participated in the Battle was able to swim to safety. Local newspapers dramatized the story, adding of Santiago, Cuba, on July 3, 1898, details, some of which later proved false. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported where the Spanish navy suffered a deci- that, as Anderson stepped over a can of paint on a plank that was suspended sive defeat. There are, in fact, two John under the bridge, the board broke. The St. Paul Globe repeated the broken- Andersons found on the crew list for the plank story and added that it appeared that the painter was preparing to “take Oregon at that time, one a sailmaker and one a seaman.2 the water in the accepted sailor fashion” but a strong wind blew him off course and he hit an iron girder on the way down, as well as the stone pier at the bot- John Anderson’s Origins tom of the bridge. Born in February of 1874, Anderson had first gone to sea at the age of 14. He joined Surfacing immediately, Anderson started out, Anderson told his rescuers that his the U.S. Navy in September of 1895, and swimming for shore as his fellow paint- mother was not to be informed. She had between then and his discharge in October ers began shouting to men on the bank recently been hospitalized, and he was 1901, he had been stationed in ports the 1 to rescue their comrade. A swift current afraid the shock would kill her. world over including the Brooklyn Naval carried him 100 yards down river while Both the Pioneer Press and the Globe Yard, Australia, San Francisco, Hong several rowboats were launched, and he stated that Anderson was 28 years old and Kong, and Shanghai. was pulled out of the water just before had been a sailor in the U.S. Navy, serv- In 1900 Anderson saw action dur- his strength gave out. Before passing ing aboard the battleship U.S.S. Oregon ing the Philippine-American War and he is found in the 1900 U.S. Census in Manila Bay on board the U.S.S. Culgoa, a refrigerator ship responsible for sup- plying the U.S. Army in the Philippines with beef from Australia.3 Working at sea and in high places had, perhaps, prepared him better than his fellow painters for the accident, and he “was considered to be the coolest head at his business on the job.”4 The Globe also reported that Anderson lived at 616 Maryland Avenue with his mother, and that he had been visited in the hospital by his stepfather, George Nelson. The 1902 St. Paul City Directory listed John Anderson and George Nelson, both painters, living at that address. George Nelson, born in Sweden in 1848, is found in the 1900 U.S. and 1905 Minnesota In early May 1902, the Pioneer Press published an article about the men who were painting censuses, but Anderson was not part of the High Bridge which included this photo of John Anderson, number 4, along with three of his his household in those years. Anderson fellow workers. After Anderson’s accident and his remarkable rescue from the river, the news- paper reprinted the photo on May 21st along with a long account of the incident. Photo cour- claimed that he had only been in Minnesota tesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. for four months prior to the accident. RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 3 This 1889 photo taken from the Upper Levee flats on the north side of the Mississippi shows how the High Bridge rises at a continuous 4% grade. Photo by the Northwestern Photo Company, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. Anderson’s mother, Emma Nelson, was provided insurance either on a voluntary what was needed for funeral expenses. born in Sweden in 1849 and, according to or compulsory basis, with the cost passed Many local unions were close-knit groups the 1900 Census, had emigrated in 1895. on by an unpopular 1½ or 2 per cent as- of friends and also sponsored fundraisers Although John Anderson claimed in his sessment. Participation in such insurance to benefit the families of deceased mem- 1900 Census listing that he was born in also required the employee to waive the bers.