SeanPaulMurphyVille: My Family: The Back River Tragedy

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

My Family: The Back River Tragedy

There are some events that reverberate through a family for generations. One of those events in my Rosenberger family was the death of my 2nd great-uncle John Rosenberger and his son George in a holiday tragedy.

My grandmother Rita Rosenberger Pollock always fondly recalled her uncle John, the brother of her father George, even decades after his death. She remembered visiting his house at Christmas. She said Uncle John took all of the furniture out of his living room during the holidays and set up a wonderful Christmas garden with tracks and trolleys he built himself. He topped it off with an artificial Christmas tree rotating on a stand that played music.

John sounded like he was quite a guy! Sadly, he would leave this world while still a young man, taking his twelve-year-old son with him. On 17 July 1927, a family trip would turn into a terrible disaster.

Here's the story.....

The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Monday, July 18, 1927:

SEVEN DROWNED, 3 RESCUED IN NEARBY WATERS

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3 Die, Woman And Baby Saved As Boat Capsizes In Back River

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YOUTH, 19, DRAGS GIRL FROM PATAPSCO

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George W. Jones, 18, Loses Life While Swimming In Quarry Hole.

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Four persons, including a man and his son, were drowned, and a woman, a 10-year-old girl and a baby were rescued yesterday in three bathing accidents in and near Baltimore. Three other persons lost their lives in Anne Arundel county waters.

Three of the persons were drowned and the woman and baby were rescued after a rowboat had capsized about 200 yards from shore while a party of Baltimoreans was swimming in Back river. In another accident a youth lost his life while swimming with several companions in an abandoned quarry at Cherry Hill, Brooklyn.

Youth Saves Little Girl.

The little girl was rescued from the Patapsco river by a youth, 19 years old, who ran more than 200 yards to the end of a wharf, dived into twelve feet of water and saved the child after she had fallen from the wharf.

John V. Hennegan,* a law student who was graduated from Calvert Hall in 1926, affected the rescue. When the accident occurred he was playing ball on the lawn at Thompson's Sea Girt House, Twelfth avenue and Seventeenth street, which is conducted by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. August Hennegan, 2708 Oak street.

Dorothy Orwig, of the 500 block South Milton avenue, fell from the wharf while playing with several other children. She sank and the other children ran screaming to the house.

Young Hennegan, fully clothed, dropped his bat and dashed to the end of the wharf more than 200 yards away, plunged into the water and seized the struggling child. In a few moments he had pulled her to safety. She was taken to the shore of George Davis, where she had been visiting, and soon recovered.

Three Die As Boat Capsizes.

Three other victims were drowned at Triple Union Park, a Back river shore about a mile north of the Sparrows Point line, when fifteen persons were clinging to a rowboat which capsized. A man and his wife rescued a woman, while a small baby was placed in a life preserver and taken to shore.

The dead are:

John Rosenberg [sic], 40 years old, 2000 block East Preston street.

George Rosenberg [sic], 12 years old, 2000 block East Preston street.

Mrs Mary Worthman, 21 years old, 2000 block Ellsworth street.

All were members of a party of Baltimoreans visiting at the shore owned by George Worthman, father-in-law of the drowned woman.

Woman Is Rescued.

Mrs. John Williams, 2000 block Ellsworth street, was rescued by Mr. and Mrs. James A. Hunt, 2000 block Ellsworth street, who brought her to shore while other members of the party were making unsuccessful efforts to find the bodies of the three victims.

A detail of police from Essex recovered the bodies in nine feet of water.

Drowns In Quarry Hole.

George Washington Jones, 18 years old, 1217 Durst street, drowned in sixty feet of water while he and several companions were swimming in Blue Pond, a pool in an old quarry at Cherry Hill.

James Foster, 15 years old, a Sun carrier, finally brought the body to the surface after several dives. Foster had attempted to save Jones' life, but failed. Jones was taken to the South Baltimore General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and the body was sent to the morgue. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Florence Keamp.

Imagine the excitement the Rosenberger family felt that day. They would escape the sweltering heat of crowded East Baltimore for a Sunday afternoon at the beach. Their host, George Worthman, who owned the riverside property, was a neighborhood friend. He was a grocer who lived at 2027 Ellsworth Street, which was located across an alley almost directly behind the Rosenberger house. They took the Sparrow's Point trolley line out to Back river and walked the final mile with their friends. No doubt they carried a picnic lunch with them and the air was filled with laughter. Obviously, they got carried away that afternoon. Fifteen of them, including Uncle John, his twelve-year-old son George and Worthman's daughter-in-law Mary, piled into a rowboat that capsized in nine feet of water....

Here's another account of the incident:

Lead article from The Baltimore America on July 18, 1927:

2 SONS DROWN WITH FATHERS;

THREE PERISH IN BACK RIVER

- - - - -

Washington Contractor Dives to Succor Sinking Boy,

But Both Die in Herring Bay.

- - - - -

South Baltimore Quarry Hole, Herald Harbor

Also Claim Victims; Four Baltimoreans.

- - - - -

Merry swimming parties in Baltimore, Back River, Herring Bay and Herald Harbor ended in tragedy late yesterday, when seven persons were drowned.

Four of those who met their deaths in Maryland waters were Baltimoreans. The others were residents of Washington.

Two fathers were drowned with their sons, and all of those who went to watery graves died while members of their families looked on in horror.

BOAT SPILLS THREE.

Three were drowned when a boat capsized in Back river off Triple Union Park. There were:

Mrs. Mary Wortman, twenty-seven, 2040 Ellsworth street.

John Rosenberger, thirty-five, 2020 East Preston street.

George Rosenberger, twelve, son of John Rosenberger.

A youth was drowned while swimming in "Blue Pond," on Cherry Hill, South Baltimore. He was George W. Jones, eighteen, Cherry Hill.

All of the bodies of the Baltimore victims were recovered within a short space of time, with the exception of the boy, George Rosenberger. His body was not found until late last night.

Here's 2020 East Preston street today.
It is the house with the pink curtains.

BAY SWALLOWS TWO.

Two of the Washingtonians, a father and son, were drowned off Owings Beach, Herald Bay, twenty miles from Annapolis. There were: Roland Johnson, forty a contractor, 7524 Fourteenth street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and Frederick Johnson, twenty-one, his son.

The other Washington resident drowned in Maryland was a fourteen-year-old boy. He met his death in Herald Harbor, near Annapolis, shortly after six o'clock. He was Abie Gilman, fourteen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gilman, 318 Buchannan street, Northwest, Washington.

Mrs. Wortman was the daughter-in-law of George Wortman, who purchased a shore in Triple Union Park just four months ago. She and her husband with the Rosenberger family were guests of the elder Wortman yesterday.

DIVE FROM BOAT.

The woman, with Rosenberger and his son, were members of a party of about fifteen who were diving from a small rowboat about 200 yards off shore. Several of the party clung to one side of the boat, causing it to upset.

Mrs. Wortman and the father and son disappeared under the water. While efforts were made to rescue them, others aided several members of the party who could not swim. A baby in the party was tossed into the water when the boat turned over. It was rescued by two men in a motorboat.

Mrs. John Williams, 2031 Ellsworth street, was about to sink when she was pulled to shore by James A. Hunt, 2022 Ellsworth street. A number of persons on shore who saw the mishap rushed in motor boats and skiffs to aid in the rescue.

DRAG FOR BODIES.

Patrolmen J. Wesley Hughes, James Lawson, Fred Peters and James W. Guy of the Essex Police Station hurried to the scene to drag for the bodies. Rosenberger and Mrs. Wortman were found immediately.

The 2000 block of Ellsworth Avenue today,
where the Worthman family once lived.

This sad tale was one of the first stories my grandmother Rita told me about when I began doing the Rosenberger family tree. It still resonated deeply with her seventy years later. Needless to say, John's immediate family was even more shaken. John's son Elmer told me that his older brother Leo, who was seventeen at the time, was so overwhelmed by survivor guilt that he grabbed a gun when they got home and attempted to kill himself. This disaster probably affected his family in ways they probably couldn't fully comprehend themselves.

To me, the tragedy is further compounded by the fact that no photograph of John remains today. His son Elmer told me that he remembered seeing a small one of his father, ironically dressed in a bathing suit, but it has been lost. I feel sorry that his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have no visual reference for him.

Here's his death notice:

ROSENBERGER. -- Suddenly, on July 17, 1927, JOHN G., beloved husband of Annie Rosenberger (nee Schwindel).

Funeral from his late residence, 2020 East Preston street, on Wednesday, July 20, at 8:30 o'clock; thence to St. James' Church, where a Requiem Mass will be said at 9 o'clock.

The deaths of John and his son George created a financial crisis within the family as well. There was no money to put markers above their graves in Holy Redeemer Cemetery. That's sad. Still, their graves may be unmarked, but they were not unmourned. Or forgotten.

May they rest in peace.

ADDENDUM:

Ann Rosenberger Patek, granddaughter of John Rosenberger, added these comments when I posted the blog to Facebook:

"Sean, Thank you for sharing this story. If I may elaborate based on what my father, John's son, shared with us. My grandfather was a carpenter by trade and was asked to go on this boat on which he had worked. It was a celebration of sorts. My grandfather did not really want to go, as he couldn't swim. My Uncles, Leo and George, accompanied him. The boat could only go so far towards the shore. They had small life boats for those who couldn't swim to take them to shore, which the 3 of them took. Others on the warm July day decided to swim to shore, but it was farther then they thought, and when they realized they couldn't make it, they hung onto the small life boats. When so many did, the boat capsized. My grandfather couldn't swim, nor could my Uncle George. My Uncle Leo could a little and at one point had his brother by his belt loop but lost him. A very tragic day indeed. My dad never wanted my brother, sister and I around water without him or my mother. Of course we understood why. Ironically my dad joined the Navy and served in WW II and the Korean War."

News item about Elmer in the Navy

Ann's daughter, Rachel Kathleen, the great-granddaughter of John Rosenberger, added these comments about her grandfather Elmer.

"Thank you for sharing this story. I know how much it shaped my Pop-Pop's life. He was often very nervous when any of us took trips, etc. but we always said, "He had a good reason to be," and we always made sure to call him...multiple times.

My Pop-Pop's faith always amazed me. Even after that tragedy he was still so faithful in God. He never wavered.

He had a lot of amazing qualities, but what I always appreciated the most was that he was always focused on helping other people...family, friends, neighbors, strangers. Anytime he could do something for them, he would. When you mentioned the financial stress his family endured during this time, it reminded me that my Pop-Pop, who was very sharp, stopped going to school after eighth grade. He stopped so he could send his younger brother Jimmy to school. That was probably one of the first of so many countless acts of selflessness that he did. Even with just an eighth grade education, he could do math in his head faster than most people I knew."

Elmer and wife Mary

*John V. Hennegan, the hero who saved the little girl, died on June 7, 1990. Here's his obituary:

John V. Hennegan

Worked for state

John V. Hennegan, a retired field investigator for the Maryland Department of Employment Security, died of a heart attack June 17 at Arlington Hospital in Arlington, Va.

Mr. Hennegan, who was 81 and had lived in McLean, Va., since last year, was the last of the Hennegan family to run Thompson's Sea Girt House restaurant in Baltimore.

A Baltimorean for most of his life, he attended Calvert Hall College for grade school and high school, graduating in 1926. He was voted Calvert Hall Man of the year in 1986 and was a past president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.

He loved horses and often visited the Pimlico racetrack. He was secretary of the American Trainers Association, an organization of horse trainers, from 1965 to 1985.

He is survived by his wife, the former Doris Bannister of Baltimore; a son, John B. Hennegan, Baltimore; and two daughters, Beverly Oremland and Pamela Moore, both of Baltimore.

A graveside service was held for Mr. Hennegan June 21 at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the Christian Brothers Development Fund, P.O. Box 20089, Baltimore, Md. 21284.

Click here for more of my genealogical blogs:

My Family: Christmas 1967

My Family: My Granddaughter Emma Renee Schwalm

My Family: The Diaries of Mary Elizabeth McLane, Part 1
My Family: The Back River Tragedy

My Family: My Three Nuns
My Family: The Murder of Adam G. Robertson
My Family: Uncle Buzzy and The Boys In Company B
My Family: 1st Lieutenant Charles Edward Farber, KIA
My Family: Cousin Tillie's Balcony
My Family: The Public Suicide of Carl "Ernie" Stark
My Family: The Public Suicide of Frank Kostohryz
My Family: Mary Marshall Mirfin, Hero
My Family: Rita Cecilia Rosenberger Protani Pollock
My Family: Vincent Klima and the Spanish Influenza
My Family: A Festival of Fathers
My Family: The Honorable George Farber
My Family: A Celebration of Mothers
My Family: The Mystery of Frank John Murphy
My Family: Kristina Bednar Kostohryz
My Family: Great-Grandmom Assunta's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined.

Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:

Chapter 1 - A Photograph

Chapter 2 - My Death

Chapter 3 - Childhood

Chapter 4 - Saved!

Chapter 5 - The Promise

Chapter 6 - The Mission

Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished
Chapter 15 - Quarter To Midnight

Be sure to check out my novel Chapel Street. It tells the story of a young man straddling the line between sanity and madness while battling a demonic entity that has driven his family members to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.

You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Watch the book trailer: