LIVERMORE FALLS — A North Jay man wants to install a granite bench as a memorial to his great-aunt, who was killed in a collision between a rail car and a horse-drawn wagon Oct. 28, 1921.

Cora Labbe of North Jay was killed instantly when the horse-draw wagon she was driving wa hit by a rail car in Livermore Falls on Oct. 28, 1921. Submitted photo

Sam Howes, 31, was volunteering at the state archives in 2012 when he wondered if there was information there about the death of his great-aunt, Cora Labbe. He found a Public Utilities Commission file and records from Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington, where lawsuits were filed in the accident.

Cora Labbe, 17, of North Jay was driving a horse-drawn wagon up Bridge Street/Route 4 with her sister and mother as passengers. Labbe’s sister Isabelle, 10, was sitting between her and their mother, Cordelia, according to the archives.

The wagon had turned from Water Street on to Bridge Street, where the train station was located, as Central Maine Railroad Co. was shifting rail cars from one track to another and one of the cars hit them, the archives revealed.

Labbe was killed instantly, dragged about 40 feet and pinned under a rail car. Her sister and mother were seriously injured.

The horse was also killed, according to the archives.

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Howes said the 1922 Jay High School yearbook,  The Clavis, was dedicated to Cora Labbe.

Howes, a genealogist, historian and state archivist, asked selectmen June 29 if he could install the memorial bench near the site. Selectmen agreed it could go in the Water Street area, as long as it didn’t interfere with the snowmobile trail or right of way.

Howes’ great-great-grandfather, Alphonse, father of Cora and Isabelle, worked at the North Jay Quarry, he said. The granite he has in mind for the bench will hopefully come from that quarry, he said.

He plans to install it closer to Oct. 28, the 100th anniversary of her death.


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