Valley Girl Views: Mrs. Anthony Armstrong Enveloped in Blazing Oil, 1909

In 1909, Mrs Kate [Griffey Armstrong] fell through the attic floor of Armstrong's store, while retrieving boards for a customer. The oil lamp she had been carrying exploded, catching her clothing on fire. The panicked woman ran outside, screaming for help, as her clothing was completely consumed by flames. She died the early the next morning.

Anthony Armstrong, in front of his store in Allenwood

Anthony Armstrong was born in Milton on August 17 1852. At the age of 15 [1867], he went to Allenwood, where he was employed in the store of his brother in law, H.B. Allen. In 1881 Andrew married Katherine Griffey, daughter of Benjamin Griffey who operated the woolen mills in White Deer. [Note - Helen Fairchild later lived in Griffey's Millinery Mansion, the same home where Kate would have once lived,]

Mr. & Mrs Anthony Armstrong operated a mercantile store in the location that had been Arbuckle's store, just south of Allens store. Anthony was elected postmaster on two different occasions.

On June 25, 1908, Armstrong's store was robbed

In February of 1909, Anthony was in Lewisburg, where he stopped in at the newspaper office to comment on the Industrial boom coming to Allenwood, "in the shape of a factory for manufacturing a new steam valve"

Mr & Mrs Armstrong attended the races at Brook Park in late September 1909

On November 2 1909, in the afternoon, Mrs. Armstrong was tending the store, when W. A. Norton, who was building a coal house, came in for supplies.

Mrs. Armstrong went to the attic to retrieve some boards, carrying a lighted lamp in her hand. "while stepping from joist to joist over a part of the attic that was not covered with a floor, she made a misstep and fell through the plastered ceiling to the room below, a distance of eight or nine feet. "

The fall caused the oil lamp she had been carrying to explode. The blazing oil splattered the woman's clothing, and the carpeting, "and in an instant she was a mass of seething flames from head to foot."

Mr. Norton ran to her aid, but before he could find anything to smother the flames, Mrs. Armstrong ran out into the yard, screaming for help. Dr Traux of Wasontown was passing the Armstrong home at the time, and he quickly ran to extinguish the flames.

The clothing was entirely burned from her body, with the exception of her shoes. She was badly burned from head to ankles. Dr Persing of Allenwood, and two additional physicians, did all they could to relieve her suffering, but they were unable to save her life.

She died at 3am on Wednesday morning, roughly 12 hours after the accident had occurred.

The flames in the building were extinguished before they did too much damage.

Kate [Griffey] Armstrong was "aged about 55 years" at the time of her death. She was survived by her husband, a daughter, and two sons.

Anthony Armstrong remarried on October 11 1911, to Jeanette "Janet" Foresman. Anthony dropped dead of a heart attack on the porch of his store in 1924, at the age of 71.

===============