TUTTLES CROSSING

Inscription

TUTTLES CROSSING
ON FEBRUARY 25, 1900, SMITH
FAMILY CARRIAGE STRUCK HERE
BY LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD
PASSENGER TRAIN. TWO OF SEVEN
FAMILY MEMBERS SURVIVED.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022

On Feb. 25, 1900, while returning home from visiting friends, the Smith family carriage was struck by a passenger train at the railroad intersection known as “Tuttles Crossing” in Farmington, NY. Mr. Porter Smith and one of his sons, Gardner, were severely injured; however, his wife Amy and their four other children, Miranda, Catherine, Albert, and Glee, did not survive the accident.

Following his recovery, Porter Smith successfully sued the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company for negligence and damages in a series of trials between 1900 and 1904. The March 2, 1900 edition of The Victor Herald claimed that the train was known as the “midnight express” and was travelling at high speeds. Although the Smith family took precautions while crossing the tracks, the train did not signal its approach near the crossing. This and countless other preventable accidents throughout the United States later inspired the safety measures, such as gates, flashing lights, and bells, that we have at railroad crossings today.