LIGHTNING STRIKES
Death on Third Street – On Aug. 27, 1888, during the lunch break at the Upper Third Street spoke factory in Frenchtown, Oliver T. Brink had finished eating and was waiting for the signal to get back to work. He was only 22, but he had worked for J.B. Lyons and Bro. on the factory's second floor for six years. He and wife, Mame, had a child.
Brink was sitting on the curb under a big maple tree with John T. Chamberlain and watching a couple of men pitch and catch a baseball. D.M. Everitt called to Chamberlain, who got up and joined Everitt 20 feet away, when out of an almost cloudless sky a lightning bolt struck the tree, giving Brink a grievous shock. Everitt and Chamberlain felt the jolt, but were unharmed, and the tree was undamaged. But Brink died after drawing a few more breaths.
He was described as reliable and industrious, and “one of our most promising young men,” by the Star. Editor William Sipes, a member of the Methodist Church that happened to be next door to the factory, couldn't help but add, “His sudden death should be a warning… to all to be ready whenever the summons may come.”
Brink was the son of Aaron and Mary A. Brink, and his wife was the daughter of O.W. Race, professional teacher of penmanship, of all things. About the accompanying photo: The maple in the photo is probably about where the original maple was, but I'm told it wasn't there 60 years ago.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"
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