I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on website the
FindAGrave.I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I was wandering through the expanse of Baltimore Cemetery and happened upon the grave of Walter Ross Jester. I had to stop. To me, there is nothing more tragic than the loss of a young child -- all the promise of life cut short before it barely began. Three-year-old Walter was someone's beloved son. His parents wrote on his stone that he was gone, but not forgotten. I wanted to remember the little boy too.
Here's his heart-breaking story....
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 24 November 1935, Sun:
BOY, 3, KILLED ON WAY FROM CANDY STORE
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Thrown Under Wheels Of Trolley
While Running Across Street
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OPERATOR UNAWARE THERE WAS ACCIDENT
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Witness Says Child Hit Side Of Car Turning Corner
An after-dinner Journey to a neighborhood candy store ended fatally for a three-and-a-half-year-old boy early last night when the child was killed instantly by a street car as he ran across the street on the way home. The boy was Walter Jester, Jr., of 2412 Sisson street. The accident occurred on the northeast corner of Pratt and Exeter streets, and the motorman sped on apparently unaware that the boy had been hit.
Was Visiting Grandparents
According to police, the boy was visiting with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Jester, at the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Jester, who live at 214 East Pratt street. After dinner the child said he wanted some candy, and was told he could go to a confectionary store half a block away. With the candy in his hand, the child started to run across Exeter street on the way back to his grandparents, when a westbound Pratt street car swung into Exeter street.
Thrown Under Wheels
According to Julio Curleo, of 126 South Exeter street, who was standing on the corner, the boy ran into the side of the street car and was thrown beneath the wheels. Curleo called a municipal ambulance and the child was taken to the Mercy Hospital, where physicians said the boy's head had been crushed and that he was dead on arrival. Eastern district police and Baltimore Transit officials, under the direction of Lieut. Allen D. Crone and Sergt. Louis Cohen, immediately began a check of street cars which might have struck the child, and about 11 P.M. Thomas A. Dunn, said to be the motorman of the trolley which hit the boy, was placed under technical arrest.
Car Finally Identified
Dunn, who is 40 years old and who lives at 2625 Francis street, told police he did not recall having struck anyone. It was said that seven street cars passed the corner at about the time young Jester was killed. Dunn's car, of the Pikesville line, was finally identified by a mark. The motorman was charged with causing the boy's death and was released for a hearing at 9 P.M. tomorrow night before Dr. Irvin B. Wallace, Central district coroner.
Critically Injured By Truck
Earlier yesterday evening an 8-year-old boy, playing in the 300 block Albemarle street, was critically hurt when a truck backed out of a lumber yard and ran over him. The injured boy was Jerry Pellone,* of 909 Trinity street. Police said the truck was driven by Peter J. Paghughi, 29 years old, of the 800 block Eastern avenue.
Paghughi told police he had noticed some children playing marbles in the street a short time before he left the lumber yard and that he supposed the Pellone boy had stepped behind the truck just as it backed into the street. The wheels passed over the boy's chest,
At the Johns Hopkins Hospital, it was said the boy was suffering from internal injuries and possible fracture of the legs.
What a horrible tragedy! After a nice dinner and evening with his extended family, little Walter is struck dead after a being given the special treat of going to the candy store. The injuries seemed horrendous. I am sure no member of that family every forgot that day.
To make matters even more tragic, read the caption of the photo which accompanied the story:
Little Walter must have been enjoying a very happy day. In addition to the visit to his grandparents and the candy store, he had just been given a new coat which was proudly photographed by his parents. I suspect the words on his tombstone were true. He was obviously a "Beloved Son."
I don't know how his parents survived the tragedy, especially since his mother
Bernice "Beatrice" Jester was only nineteen-years-old at the time.
Here's the results of the inquest:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 26 November 1935, Tue:
Motorman Of Trolley That Hit Boy Exonerated
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Testimony At Inquest Shows 3-Year-Old
Walter Jester, Jr., Ran Into Side Of Car
Thomas A. Dunn**, motorman of a street car that killed 3-year-old Walter Jester, Jr., on Saturday night as the child returned home from a candy store, last night was exonerated in an inquest conducted by Dr. Irvin B. Wallace, Central district coroner.
The accident occurred at Pratt and Exeter streets. Police said the child ran into the side of the street car as it turned the corner, and the motorman, unaware of the accident, continued on.
The child was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Jester, of 2412 Sisson street. He was visiting his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Jester, of 914 East Pratt street, on the day of the accident.
That verdict wasn't too surprising. Aside from the hit and run aspect, poor Walter's death seemed entirely accidental. This story was another reminder how dangerous the street cars used to be. Two of my previous subjects, Hyman Greenberg and
James Zacharski, were also street car fatalities.
 |
| The intersection of Pratt and Exeter streets today. |
As I said earlier, I don't know how a couple survives a tragedy like this one. But they did. Walter's father,
Walter Charles Jester, Sr., lived until 24 July 1984, when he died at the age of seventy-five. Walter's mother, known alternately in the records as either Bernice or Beatrice died on 20 October 1990 at the age of seventy-four.
Here's a picture of her in the newspaper in 1947 answering the question whether men or women make the worse backseat drivers:
She's right, of course.
From some cursory genealogical research, I think Walter still might have a few surviving siblings. I suspect they were too young to remember him personally, but I hope they are keeping his memory alive. I'm doing my bit here.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....
*Jerry Pellone survived his injuries. He is mentioned in the following newspaper story from 18 October 1937:
The accident apparently had no ill effects on his health. I believe his family moved to New York where he became a professional boxer under the name Tony Pellone. He was a serious contender. Here's a picture of him:
**Motorman Thomas A. Dunn died in 1965. Here's his obituary:
Grave Tales:
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Learn more about the book, click
Here.
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An IntroductionThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The HouseThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is UsThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, ArrivalThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, MethodologyThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's TaleThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
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