Research can lead you down many paths. I'm always excited to make new and interesting discoveries. But what really makes me stop and do a double-take is when I find something related to my research on or right near the date it occurred in history. I've experienced this in the past while researching for friends and clients. And it just happened again! It feels like I was meant to discover what I was looking for on this date. Let me share with you what I found. This morning, I woke up to a message from a distant cousin asking for some photos of a relative, Thomas Fuchs, the brother of my Papa, George Fuchs. It's been a while since I last researched my Fuchs line, so I decided to check Newspapers.com for any new articles. They are always adding new papers and improving their OCR software. I knew Uncle Tom owned a few local taverns, and that fact was important for the articles I found.
In the search results for "Thomas Fuchs", an article came up about two brothers who were tragically killed by gas fumes. Oliver and Carl Behrens operated a filling station in Kirkwood, Missouri. They were checking out a fuel tanker to see if there was any gas left in it. Oliver was overcome by the gas fumes and fell in headfirst. His brother went to get help before trying to climb in to save his brother. According to the newspaper articles, Carl ran to the local tavern, owned and operated by none other than Thomas Fuchs. And who else was in the tavern at that time? My Papa, George Fuchs. My Papa ran with Carl back to the filling station to help him try to get his brother out. Unfortunately, Carl was also overcome by the fumes, passing out and becoming dead weight. My Papa tried pulling him back out, but couldn't. Both Oliver and Carol succumbed to the fumes.
I can't imagine how my Papa must have felt. He was trying so hard to help. He was interviewed by police about the incident: "I could hear him coughing and gasping for breath, but I couldn't pull him up and the others because of the smallness of the opening. Suddenly I felt him grow limp and then he seemed to get heavier and heavier. Sweat ran from my arms onto his wrists and finally he slipped away. I guess I must have held on about five minutes." George Fuchs, St. Louis Post Dispatch
What a tragic loss of life—a horrible accident. My Papa did everything he could to help. To top it all off, the date of the newspaper article I found was June 3, 1937. This article was published 88 years ago yesterday, and they reported that the accident happened the night before, around 9:30pm. June 2... my Papa's 25th birthday. What are the odds that I would go looking for more information about Thomas Fuchs, my Papa's brother, today and find this article?
Carl and Oliver Behrens are both buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kirkwood, the same as my Papa. But unfortunately, their graves are unmarked. You can read the articles about the incident below.
Tries to rescue brother in tank car; Thomas & George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com
Two Brothers Killed by Gasoline Fumes; George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com
Two Brothers Die from Gas Fumes; George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu The St. Louis Star and Times (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com
