Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice

By Bob Cudmore

More than 2,000 people died on May 31, 1889, when the South Fork Dam collapsed at Lake Conemaugh sending a wall of water and debris into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, already experiencing flooding from the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers. 

Six weeks later, a flood struck Johnstown, New York along the Cayadutta Creek.  The story of the local Johnstown flood is part of the exhibit “Once Upon a Time in Johnstown” at the Fulton County Museum to mark the 250th anniversary of Johnstown’s founding.

Joan Loveday, Fulton County Historical Society president, said in early July of 1889,  “After heavy rains, the Cayadutta Creek raised eight feet in 30 minutes and the creek banks and foundations were rapidly inundated as hundreds of people gathered along the creek and bridges to watch the flood.

“Police tried in vain to move sightseers from the water's edge, when many people were dumped into the raging current. Five men died.  Four dams and seven bridges were destroyed.  Factories and skin mills along the creek were severely damaged.”

The New York Times printed this account on July 11, “This city is slowly relieving itself of the terror which came down upon it with the flood yesterday, and…wonders at the strange coincidence of name and tragedy with that of the unhappy town in Pennsylvania.” 

ORGINAL GALLOWS  

Also a part of the Johnstown exhibit at the museum is the original gallows used for hangings at the old Fulton County jail.

Loveday said, “When the Johnstown jail was renovated, I believe then Fulton County Historian Lou Decker brought the gallows to the museum and it has been in the basement.  I am told it was on display once before.  The gallows is a huge wooden beam with a hook on it.  Due to the weight of it, we have it suspended on two old glove machines covered with fabric.”

Another exhibit, featuring famous Johnstown women, tells the story of Elizabeth Van Valkenburg, born in 1799, the only woman to be hanged on the gallows on display at the museum.

Loveday said, “A very poor judge of husbands, Elizabeth chose drunkards who were child and wife beaters and non-supporters, who made her and her children's lives miserable.  After the death of her first husband who died of stomach problems, she was remarried in six months to John Van Valkenburg in 1834.

“To remedy the abuse of this husband, Elizabeth laced John's brandy with arsenic, which of course made him ill.  Suspicions were raised and when Elizabeth heard she was wanted for questioning she was found hiding in the foundation of a Kingsboro home.  She was escorted home for the night.  She ran off again with the sheriff in hot pursuit and hid in the loft of a barn.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth fell through the hay hole in the loft and broke her hip.

“When John died, Elizabeth was incarcerated in the old Johnstown jail for almost a year.  At her trial she was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.  When she signed a full confession, she confessed to killing her first husband as well. Since Elizabeth was unable to stand, the gallows had to be modified to hang her in a chair. This hanging took place January 24, 1846.  Elizabeth is buried without a headstone in the Colonial Cemetery in Johnstown.

“Sympathy ran high for poor Elizabeth, who in 1845 would have had no rights to her children or possessions, had she left her husband.  It is a sad story, but part of Johnstown's history.”

The Fulton County Museum, 237 Kingsboro Avenue in Gloversville is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  No admission is charged but donations are appreciated. 

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