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Week 34 Prompt: Tragedy

This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Tragedy.” I wrote about this briefly ten years ago. Before writing this post, I set out to correlate all the information I had regarding the death of my great-grandfather George Rottman. Here’s what I’ve been able to glean.

There were ten newspaper clippings related to his death in my family files—I also found four additional articles. The short story is that George “fell” off a streetcar, suffered skull fractures, and died hours later. But there are various versions of what really occurred and the actual circumstances surrounding his death.

The Motorman

Motorman Andrew Bjornson was certainly involved. Witnesses reported a “scuffle” between the men and that Bjornson pushed George from the trolley. In one article, Bjornson admits as much. “Lt. Thomas G. Moore said the motorman…had admitted that he shoved George Rottman…off the front platform of his car at Pulaski rd. and Barry av.”1 Bjornson basically said that George was intoxicated and antagonized him.2 Other newspaper accounts say George simply fell of the trolley, citing no rhymer or reason. Regardless, Bjornson dragged George to the side of the road, got back on the streetcar, and continued his route.3 One witness states that the conductor was also involved.4 Police later found George in the street and took him to Belmont Hospital.

Bjornson was charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.5 But nearly two months later, Bjornson’s case was dismissed with the judge saying “there was no evidence to show that Bjornson had struck or shoved Rottman and, therefore, no proof of manslaughter.”6 Interesting…Bjornson admitted the day after the incident that he did shove George off the trolley.

Belmont Hospital

After police found George in the street, they took him to Belmont Hospital for treatment. Here’s where things get even more tragic. After being checked over by Dr. Harold Kaemerle, a University of Illinois medical school graduate who was not a licensed physician, George was declared fine, save for some cuts and bruises, and the police escorted him home.7 Hours later, George died at home. The attorney for the family insisted that Dr. Kaemerle should not have handled the case unaided.8 But it doesn’t stop there.

When his daughter Marge got word of his accident, she headed to the hospital and demanded that George be hospitalized.9 Marge was told by “a nurse” to take him to County Hospital. Marge is quoted as saying: “I insisted I had money to pay for his care…and the nurse then told me that no hospital would take him in with the kind of smell he had on his breath.”10 Wow, talk about adding insult to injury! According to the same article, “Dr. Kaemerle said he examined Rottman carefully and ‘didn’t find any signs or symptoms of injuries requiring hospitalization,’” also noting George was intoxicated.11 Really, no signs or symptoms of a skull fracture? Dr. Kaemerle was further quoted as saying: “If he had needed hospitalization, we couldn’t have hospitalized him because we didn’t have a bed in the house.”12 He further stated “if anything pointed to serious injury he would have received hospitalization for we don’t at any time jeopardize health and life.”13 Those two statements seem pretty contradictory to me. If he needed it, we didn’t have a bed, but if he needed it, we wouldn’t turn him away. Huh?

The policemen who found George and brought him to Belmont even questioned the doctor’s assessment. Officer William Twomey of the Cragin station pointed out “a slight abrasion above the right ear and bruises on the lower face and then asked the doctor why there was ‘so much blood.’” Dr. Kaemerle’s response: “it was possibly caused by loosened teeth.”14 Yet later in the same article about the inquest, Dr. Kaemerle states: “He appeared to be highly intoxicated…and was very difficult to work with on the examining table. He had only a slight discoloration of his right ear and a nose bleed. There was no sign of a skull fracture.”15 So was it loosened teeth or a nose bleed? Did they just dismiss his injuries because he was “highly intoxicated and hard to work with”? And again, no sign of a skull fracture? According to the coroner, there were three!16

The Inquest

The coroner’s inquest began on 20 February 1946, the day after George died.17 It was continued twice. First on March 8 at the request of the Chicago Surface Lines representative until they could locate the conductor.18 Second on March 19 at the request of the family’s attorney so medical records could be obtained.19 The final conclusion: George was killed in an accidental fall from a streetcar.20

Conclusion

After I sorted all of this out and put together a timeline of the events, I was able to figure out that the letter my Aunt Marge received from an attorney in 1949 (nearly three years after George’s death) had nothing to do with the motorman, as that case was brought to court and dismissed in 1946. Although the letter does not mention a defendant or the case type (it’s about paying travel expenses for a witness), I am fairly certain that the family filed some sort of case (wrongful death or malpractice perhaps?) against either Belmont Hospital or Dr. Kaemerle.

I am currently in the process of obtaining the court files for both the case against Bjornson and what I suspect is a wrongful death or malpractice claim against the hospital or the doctor. Fortunately I have a trial date, which should help in locating the latter case file (since I don’t really know who the defendant or claim type is). I want to see all of the evidence and testimony for myself (it was apparent across all the articles that liberties were taken). Plus, I want to know what the outcome of the 1949 case was. Is it what I expect it to be, and if so, did they “win”?

I also want to see if the coroner’s inquest files still exist, and if so, I want to get a copy of the file. There are so many discrepancies from the newspaper accounts regarding the initial start to the inquest and the March 8 and March 19 hearings. It goes from witnesses disputing the “just fell claim” in the initial hearing to “he just fell” as the conclusion.

The real tragedy is reading a four-page statement (likely to herself) from the time she got the call until the time George died. She noted what she observed, what the nurse and nurse’s aid said (nothing from a doctor), as well as other details. I can’t even imagine going through something like that.

  1. “Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun, 21 February 1946, p. 17, c. 3.
  2. Ibid.
  3. “Manslaughter is Charges to Car Motorman,” Chicago Tribune, 21 February 1946, p. 27, c. 3.
  4. “Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun.
  5. “Manslaughter is Charges to Car Motorman,” Chicago Tribune.
  6. “Free Motorman in Death Case,” Chicago Daily Times, 16 April 1946, final sports edition, p. 30, c. 5.
  7. “Inquest Bogged In Trolley Death” paper unknown, probably around 8 March 1946 as it’s talking about the second inquest hearing that was set for 8 March. Also, “Pushed from Trolley During Scuffle, Dies” paper unknown, probably 19 or 20 February 1946. Also, “Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun.
  8. Inquest Bogged In Trolley Death” paper unknown.
  9. “Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun. Also, handwritten account by Margaret (Rottman) Comerford, George’s daughter; privately held in author’s collection.
  10. “Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun
  11. Ibid.
  12. Ibid.
  13. Ibid.
  14. “Tell How Trolley Pilots Deserted Dying Passenger,” Chicago Times, 20 February 1946, final sports edition, p. 5, c. 3-5.
  15. Ibid.
  16. Ibid.
  17. Motorman Held in Fatal Fight on Streetcar,” Chicago Sun.
  18. Ibid.
  19. “Inquest Bogged In Trolley Death” paper unknown.
  20. “Death in Fall from Trolley Held Accident,” Chicago Tribune, 20 March 1946, p. 19, c. 2.