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Obituary · primary-source record

Edward Riffley

Killed by trains at a railroad station crossing — Spanish war veteran and fire company foreman of Oakdale; date and newspaper not recorded

Editorially verified

At-a-glance facts

Record type

Obituary

Place of death

the death trap at the railroad station here (the newspaper's town, not named)

Inscription transcription

The death trap at the railroad station here added another victim to its long list on Saturday evening. Edward RIFFLEY of Oakdale went to the station to take the 10 o'clock train for home. As he was about to cross the four tracks to reach the station a freight train passed on the North track and before it had passed the 10:43 passenger Eastbound pulled into the station. As soon as he could pass behind the freight he hastened toward his own train when a fast express on the main track going East struck him and carried him about 50 feet throwing him on the West-bound main track. At the same instant almost, a fast West-bound train on this track caught him and dragged him back nearly to the crossing again.

It was a most horrible accident, and the body was mangled beyond recognition. The remains were interred in the Oakdale cemetery on Monday. Mr. RIFFLEY was a highly respected citizen, a veteran of the Spanish war, foreman of the Oakdale volunteer fire company, a member of the RIFFLEY contracting and building firm. Two brothers survive, George of Oakdale and Will of San Diego, Cal.

The original submission preserves neither the newspaper name, its date, nor the state in which Oakdale and the station lie; the clipping says only that he was killed 'on Saturday evening'. No death date — not even a year — can be determined from the submission, so the record is undated (his description as 'a veteran of the Spanish war' places the death after 1898). The station where he died is described only as 'the railroad station here', i.e. the newspaper's own town, which is not named.

People named in this record

  • Edward RiffleySubject
  • GeorgeMentioned
  • WillMentioned

Record submitted by

From the Ancestors at Rest archive

Source & citation

Source type
Transcription only
Provenance
From the Ancestors at Rest archive — founded 2004 by Brian and substantially built out across two decades by Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy.
Transcribed by
Ancestors at Rest archive — original contributor not recorded.
Last verified
2026-07-06
Permalink
/records/obituaries/riffley-edward/
Image vs transcription
Transcription only — no clipping image preserved with this record

Citation: Obituary of Edward Riffley of Oakdale, killed by trains at a railroad station crossing on a Saturday evening; newspaper name and date not preserved. Preserved in the Ancestors at Rest archive. (https://ancestorsatrest.com/records/obituaries/riffley-edward/ : accessed [your access date]).

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