Rescues from a well - 1901

- Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

All's well that ends well. One of a sundry of items from the 1901 Valley Falls New Era, July 27, 1901, included the following near-tragedy story:

"The well on Mr. Grigsby's place, in the ravine west of Frazier Avenue, has not been furnishing a sufficient supply of water, and he concluded to have it dug a few feet deeper. A man named Thomas was employed to assist him in the work, and on Monday evening they put in a heavy blast before quitting work. Tuesday morning, Mr. Grigsby went down the well and Mrs. Grigsby expected to haul up some of the stones, while wating for Mr. Thomas. Mr. Grigsby had been in the well but a few minutes when his wife saw him reel and fall over as if dead.

She began screaming for help, and the first to arrive was Rev. Braden, the Methodist minister, who went down and attempted to take the rope off the bucket to tie around Grigsby, but, before he could do so, he too, was overcome by the gas and fell across Grigsby. Rev. Braden's boy next went down to rescue his father, but he could not untie the rope and called for a knife with which to cut it. He then fastened the rope around his father and he was drawn up. The other end of the rope was sent down, but the boy began to feel the effects of the gas before he could rescue Grigsby, and was so far gone that he could not tie it around himself, but managed to wrap it around one arm and one leg in such a way that he was drawn to the top where he was caught by Alex Midghall just in time to keep him from falling back into the well.

Mr. Thomas then went down and rescued Mr. Grigsby and, after a great deal of hurried work by physicians, all three of the victims were brought back to life. It was a very close call for all of them, and the excitement was intense for a short time."