Courage comes in many forms. For Williamsburg farmer Collins Graves (1840-1910) it came on May 16, 1874. His selfless breakneck horse and buggy ride through the center of Williamsburg, Skinnerville, and into Haydenville to warn his fellow townspeople of the destructive, burgeoning water coursing down the Mill River, from the failed water-power reservoir dam, three miles above was an act of courage. The catastrophic failure of the dam on the Mill River took 139 lives. It would have taken hundreds more without Graves’ heroic efforts to forewarn his neighbors despite the danger to himself. With his few-minute warning, people made for the nearest high ground—escaping with their lives as they watched the mountain of water destroy their homes, places of work and entire villages.
Graves was one of four local men to receive a medal for “Humanity” and “Courage”—the two sentiments engraved above and below his name on the front of the medal, struck by Tiffany & Company. The back of the 1.75-inch medal shows Graves racing his buggy ahead of the flood. The image is surrounded by the inscription “Mill River Reservoir Disaster – May 16th, 1874.”
Collins Graves’ medal has a permanent home in the Meekins Library’s Local History Collection, together with other May 16, 1874 Mill River Disaster books and materials. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist. #throwbackthursday; #tbt.
Posted to Facebook 5/16/2023
