Earl Walter Bedard (1901 - 1924)

Born 1901 in Amasa, Iron Co, MI

Ancestors

Died 5 Feb 1924 at about age 23 in Nulford Mine, Crosby, Crow Wing Co, MN

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Biography

Earl was married to young Beatrice McMahan, who was widowed at the age of 19. They had no children.

Sources

• Birth year of 1901 from tombstone at Hematite Cemetery, Iron County, Michigan. Also says "Husband"

• DEATH NOTICE Iron River Reporter Feb 8 1924 "2 Iron Co. Men In Crosby Flood: Earl Bedard and Capt. Crellin Both Former Residents; Bedard of Amasa"

Two Iron county men were counted in the list of 42 miners who perished at the Milford mine of Crosby, Minnesota on Tuesday, when the bottom of a pond 150 feet from the mine shaft dropped, flooding the mine. They are Earl Bedard, son of Fred Bedard of Amasa, and Capt. Evan Crellin, a nephew of W. J. Johns of Iron River, and a former resident of Crystal Falls. The dead are: [list follows] Caught in the lower levels of the small mine, only seven of the crew of 49 were able to gain the safety of a skip and ascend to the surface. Like rats in a trap their comrades died, suffocated by the slimy water that gushed through the workings, ascending the shaft and spouting out of the top within 15 minutes. The rush of water is believed to have come from a surface pond 150 feet from the mine shaft. The pond is normally about 20 feet deep and at its widest point is a quarter of a mile wide. While the death list is complete, officials of the company had not completed a check up on their books and their records did not show the age or positive residence of the victims or whether they were married or single. VICTIMS YOUNG MEN Most of the victims were young man, many of them said to be married, and most of the children that took up the sorrowful vigil with their mothers were tiny youngsters, clutching in wonderment at their mothers skirts, awed by the thing that had made them orphans. While a number of the men were foreigners, by far the greater number were naturalized Americans or American-born and all were experienced miners, working in an old mine deemed entirely safe. MISHAP AFTER 3 P.M. The accident came with death-like suddenness shortly after 3 clock. In the lower levels, working in groups in accordance with their usual custom, were the miners, nearing the close of the day's operations. Stretching toward the bed of the near pond was the mine shaft, which presumably took the first onslaught of rushing waters. Those of the crew who were nearby probably were instantly killed as their bodies were engulfed in the muddy waters rushing and roaring into the drift. EQUIPMENT RUSHED Mine officials rushed pumping equipment to the scene at once. Probably 30 days will be consumed in the task of emptying the mine, it was pointed out, when widows and orphans of the miners will receive the bodies of their loved ones.

*Minnesota Death Certificate Index Bedard, Earl Walter Certificate Number: 1924-MN-003298 Death: February 5, 1924 County of Death: Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States