On This Day: Coroner holds inquest on Kirchner’s death

A coroner’s jury met On This Day in 1881 to determine an official cause of death for John Kirchner. Kirchner had been found lying on the side of the track, horribly wounded, on Saturday, 29 October. He died of those injuries on Monday, the 31^st.

He was discovered by a cartman, John Gorman, who came to dump a load of dirt. It is believed that Kirchner was struck on the head by a passing train. Kirchner is described as a “steady industrious workman.”

Source

Lancaster Daily Intelligencer. (Lancaster, PA), 4 November 1881. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.

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