What a disaster!

I expected a dry set-of-facts type of book. But “The Ashtabula Disaster” by Rev. Stephen D. Peet in 1877 was not that at all! Because of visiting the grave site and the historic marker I knew the facts. In Ashtabula, Ohio ninety-two people of 159 perished in a train crash. In a terrible blizzard as the train crossed a bridge, the bridge collapsed and dropped seventy feet into the gorge. Many died from the fall, from drowning, from fire, and from robbers.

I love watching trains and riding in trains. Seeing the grave site of the unknown dead and hearing a train whistle in the distance as I gazed upon the site, I had to know more. I borrowed the book from the library and read. Chapter by chapter I was immersed into the life train, the survivors, the dead, the robbers, and those who helped. What a marvelous read about one of the world’s ten worst technology disasters.

The songwriter Phillip Paul Bliss and his wife died in this crash. He was a gospel songwriter who wrote “It Is Well With My Soul”. Now when I sing that song I will remember how the songwriter survived the crash but went back in to die with his wife and it was well with his soul.

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Juel A. Fitzgerald has a degree in English and is a Toastmaster trained public speaker, loves to travel, walk long distances with friends, and is a driving instructor for teens. She writes in four blogs and is the author of “Lives of a Gem! God’s Treasured Possession”, “Bible Trek: Reading the Bible in Thirteen Weeks”, and “The Twelve: Fishers of Men”.

These are her four blogs:

©2020-2022 Juel’s Creations, LLC

Published by Juel A. Fitzgerald

It is God's plan for me to encourage women to do all for God’s glory, live on His schedule, and pray Big.

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