Harris Twins of Unadilla Forks Drown in Unadilla River

Utica Observer Dispatch

2/24/1933

(Please visit my web site at: http://home.roadrunner.com/~Unadillaforks if you are interested in the history of Unadilla Forks, NY.)

Locked in each other’s arms, two brothers, twins, went to their death last night in the icy waters of the Unadilla River. Death of the two victims, Robert and Raymond Harris, 13, caused when the ice beneath their feet gave way and plunged them into the cold water, climaxed a trapping expedition. A companion, Earl Tooley, the same age as the victims, narrowly escaped similar fate by clinging to jagged edges of the ice until residents of the village, attracted by his cries, rushed to the scene and dragged him to safety. An hour later the frozen bodies of the Harris twins were pulled from the stream by use of grappling hooks. The tragedy occurred a short distance above the dam within the village limits.

Henry Wilcox, supervisor of the Town of Plainfield, and the first to respond to the youngster’s cries, barely pulled himself to safety as he plunged into the stream and was nearly overcome by the cold. News that Robert and Raymond, assistant ushers in the community church, and well known throughout the village, had met with an accident spread through the village as Mrs. Wilcox, living nearby, telephoned for help. Armed with lanterns and flashlights the whole village hurried to the scene and offered their assistance as with hastily procured grappling hooks efforts to recover the bodies were begun.

Members of the Baptist parish, gathered for the annual meeting, were told the tragedy and hurried tearfully to the scene, about an eighth of a mile above the dam. As Mr. Wilcox, by a supreme effort, managed to pull himself from the waters, Warren Austin, Charles Hoxie and Charles Backus, this village, hastily launched a boat and came to the rescue of Earl Tooley Jr., who barely kept his hold on the ice. He was pulled out of the water and placed under the care of Doctor Fairbank, West Winfield, who applied first aid measures and soon predicted that his patient would soon recover fully from the immersion. Mr. Wilcox was similarly treated.

Lights blinked across the darkened waters as boats were shoved off and fishing hooks and hastily made grappling irons pressed into service. The search continued for more than an hour. First it was Robert who was found, then Raymond, Mr. Hoxie, Mr. Backus and Warren Austin raising the bodies to the surface and putting them in a boat. In this they were helped by Troopers Agmer and Wright of the Edmeston Patrol.

The bodies were found in 10 or 12 feet of water, and close together. They had gone down in each other’s arms, villagers said. A jagged rim of ice marked out the tragic spot – one of the few places on the river probably at which ice, usually six inches thick at this time of the year, had melted to almost the breaking point. Soon Dr. Frank Frink, Richfield Springs, coroner arrived, and pronounced a verdict of accidental death. The bodies were placed in charge of Harold Wilcox, West Winfield, undertaker. The two boys were carriers for The Observer-Dispatch for three years, relinquishing the work last summer. They were known to hundreds of residents of this vicinity. They were the sons of Archie Harris, their mother having died when they were quite young and they had been living with their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Harris. They were in the fifth grade at the Unadilla Forks School and were members of the Sunday School of the Baptist Church. They leave, in addition to their father and grandparents, a stepmother; a sister, Pauline, and an infant half brother, Donald.