Trouble Times Two - Garrett Floyd, husband of Catharine Baragwanath

Garrett Floyd was married to Catharine Hichens Baragwanath (Aunt Kate) in 1887. The following is the account of his harrowing experience in a huge windstorm that swept through the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey areas. From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday morning 28 Dec 1895.

News of New Jersey THE STORM'S HAVOC ACROSS THE RIVER Heavy damage to the Pennslvania Railroad shops at Pavonia WIND TOSSED A WATCHMAN Roofs Ripped Off Rows of Houses in Camden and Stockton [Paragraph 4] A Watchman Hurt The watchmen's station at the State street crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad was carried a distance of 100 feet. Garrett Floyd, the watchman, was injured about the head by the building falling on him. As the cabin overturned a red-hot stove fell on the injured man. Charles White, of Matawan, was carried with the building, and had it not been for his presence Floyd would have met a fearful death as White lifted the stove from him as he lay in an unconscious condition.

Catharine Baragwanath-Aunt Kate-(1855-1934) married Garrett Floyd (1835-1902) in 1887. They never had children together, though Garrett had been married previously and had children by his first wife, Sarah. Aunt Kate’s husband worked as a gatekeeper on the Pennsylvania Railroad in Stockton (Camden, New Jersey.) I shared a story above about a terrible storm that swept up his watchman’s cabin, knocking him out, and landing a red-hot stove on top of his unconscious body. Fortunately another watchman was in the cabin at the time and lifted off the stove, saving Garrett’s life. Apparently this occupation was rife with danger because just a year later, in 1896, tragedy struck again! According to both the Philadelphia Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer newspapers, some “hoodlums” were interfering with the railroad gate, and when Garrett spoke to them, one of the “toughs” dealt him a severe blow to the face, rendering him unconscious. Though he was in considerable pain for a few weeks, he eventually began to heal. Two months later though, the joint in his jaw began to swell and grow stiff. Before long, his jaw had locked closed. He had been taking milk through a tube, made possible by a few missing teeth from the original encounter, but was declining since he couldn’t receive enough nourishment. Though treated at several hospitals in Philadelphia and Camden, all that could be ascertained was that his jaw had actually been broken by the blow to the face. Finally, a Camden physician was willing to perform an operation to free up his jaw. That, sadly is all we know!! Two newspapers were happy to report on this oddity, but neither bothered to report on the outcome. He did live until 1902 so I think we can assume the operation was at least partially a success.