Book Review The Cave Electricians Widow - The Tragedy at Howe Caverns Dramatic Courtroom Fight for Justice

COBLESKILL — Local journalist and Mountain Eagle alum Dana Cudmore has carved out a niche after decades in the news business writing about the history of Howe Caverns. He currently serves on the board of the Cave Museum.

Cudmore’s most recent volume touches on a theme in Underground Empires, the death of two employees in Howe Caverns, less than a year after the attraction’s grand reopening.

The author’s interest is more than just academic or journalistic. He was a guide for the Caverns in the 1970s, and opens the book with a question he received frequently. “Anybody ever die down here?”

Cudmore has been able to find (and in some cases correct) contemporary news coverage of the event. He also received considerable assistance from a number of figures involved with the caverns and local history, including Jefferson’s Historian Kevin Berner.

Owen Wallis, aged 27, and John J. Sagendorf, aged 45, perished near the entrance of Howe Caverns’ lodge. The two men died of asphyxiation due to blasting at the nearby North American Cement Company, which operated around the clock to crush limestone to make it into Portland Cement mix. The two deceased men showed signs of death by gas. The two were cousins and Sagendorf spent part of his youth exploring the caves.

That Thursday, started with a blast at the quarry right before sunrise and ended in the tragedy. Cudmore describes the death scene as “clouded in a grey mist” that could “raise the hairs on the back of rescuers’ necks and give rise to frightening superstitious whispers and rumors of vengeful spirits, curses, evil spirits, and incantations.”

Much of the book centers on the aftermath of the tragic deaths. Wallis’ widow Martha fought an uphill battle against the North American Cement Company for accountability. The quarry that likely caused the two men’s death was the largest employer in the county. 

The determination that the deaths were caused by nitrous oxide disputed earlier assertions from the cement company about the death of the men. District Attorney Sharon Mauhs said that the caverns’ air was “pure and uncontaminated” and that the gas that killed Wallis and Sagendorf “came from the explosion and seeped in through crevices.” Despite that, the district attorney said that his office would not pursue criminal charges against the Cement Company.

The two men’s widows, Martha Wallis and Mabel Sagendorf refused to let the matter go. Sagendorf accused the company of negligence and nuisance and sued in Schoharie County court. Wallis filed suit in Schenectady County. The company rejected all allegations and cited six safety awards, including one for a “perfect record” at the Howes Cave plant.

Read the book to find out what happened!

Howe Caverns reopened on May 8, 1930, and crowds returned. On the one-year anniversary of the Caverns’ grand opening on May 26, 1930, a ceremony for the deceased men was held and tourists again flooded the site.

Cudmore doesn’t generally describe himself as a local historian, but his effort to recount Martha Wallis’ struggle for justice has produced a work worthy of Schoharie County history.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared in the Schoharie County Historical Review. Join the Schoharie County Historical Society to receive it: https://theoldstonefort.org/become-a-member/

Find out more about the book and purchase here: https://www.nysbooks.com/20700-2/