On a Saturday evening in July 1931, three youths of Hegins Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, were walking home from a picnic, when they were struck across from the Hegins Township High School by an auto operated by a drunk driver, aged 17. The vehicle had no license plates, the driver had no license, and the car’s breaks were inoperable. Two of the victims met their death either instantly or within minutes of being struck. The third youth suffered a concussion in addition to other injuries and remained unconscious in the Pottsville Hospital until the Wednesday following being struck. After a Coroner’s Inquest, the driver, Peter Gincerowski, of Pitman, Schuylkill County, was charged with murder, and committed to the Schuylkill County Prison awaiting judgment in the juvenile court system. He was convicted and sentenced to a term in the Reformatory.
The girls who died were members of well-known families in Valley View and Hegins, as was the boy who was seriously injured.
The story is told here through some of the available news articles, mainly from the local and regional press.
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From the Elizabethville Echo, July 16, 1931:
TWO DEAD; ONE INJURED WHEN AUTO PLOWS INTO PEDESTRIANS
Two are dead, one seriously injured and Peter Gincerowski, 17, of Pitman, driver, has been charged withy murder, as the result of an automobile accident between Valley View and Hegins, at 10:15 o’clock Saturday evening.
The dead are Miss Leona Holdeman, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Holdeman of Hegins and Miss Margaret Erdman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Erdman of Valley View.
Carl Lubold, 20, of Lamberton near Hegins, was severely bruised and received lacerations. He was taken to the Pottsville Hospital, but returned home this week, quite fully recovered from his injuries.
The young people had returned from a day’s outing and picnic and were walking along the highway, accompanying Miss Erdman to her home in Valley View when the accident occurred. Lubold was found clinging to the bumper of the car when it had been brought to a stop, his body wedged between the fender and body of the car. The three were taken to the office of Dr. Sausser in Valley View. The physician stated his belief that the Erdman girl was killed instantly. Miss Holdeman died shortly after being taken to the physician’s office.
Gincerowski is a former resident of Minersville and only recently secured employment at Pitman. He is being held in the Schuylkill County Jail at Pottsville, without bail, charged with operating a car without adequate braking facilities; driving without a license, driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and this week a charge of murder was brought by the district attorney of Schuylkill County.
Funeral services for Miss Holdeman were held Wednesday morning and for Miss Erdman, Wednesday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Amon Lichty, pastor of the Hegins Lutheran Church. Interment was made in the Hegins Cemetery.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, the West Schuylkill Press, and the Pine Grove Herald, July 17, 1931:
DRUNKEN DRIVER KILLS TWO GIRLS AND INJURES MAN
Two Girls Killed; Youth Seriously Injured by Intoxicated Driver
Two girls were killed and the youth with them was seriously injured about 10 o’clock Saturday night, when they were struck by an automobile, the driver of which was said to be intoxicated.
The dead girls are Miss Margaret Erdman, aged eighteen, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Erdman, of Valley View. She suffered a fractured skull, fractured legs, internal injuries and died instantly. Her companion, Miss Leona Holdeman, aged eighteen, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Holdeman of Hegins, also suffered a fractured skull and died a few minutes after reaching the office of Dr. I. E. Sausser, of Valley View, where she was taken immediately after the accident. She was thrown about seventy-five feet by the impact. The youth who was with them, Carl Lubold, aged twenty of Hegins, was wedged between the bumper and radiator of the automobile and was dragged more than a hundred feet. He is a patient at the Pottsville Hospital, where his condition is said to be serious.
The accident occurred in front of the new Hegins Township High School as Miss Erdman and Lubold, were were sweethearts were escorting Miss Holdeman to her home after all had attended a picnic.
Peter Gincerowski, seventeen, of Pitman, was the driver and was committed to the county jail after having been pronounced intoxicated by Dr. Sausser.
The two girls, chums and schoolmates for many years, were members of Mrs. James Schrope‘s Sunday School class of the Lutheran Church, and with other members of the class had spent the day at a picnic of Carsonia Park Reading. They dispersed at Hegins and Leona, who lived at the western end of Hegins, started to walk home with Margaret, who lived at the Eastern end of Valley View.
They were met by Carl Lubold and the three of them started for the Erdman home in Valley View. They passed the Holdeman home on their way, and not far from there the accident occurred.
According to witnesses, the three were struck from the rear by the car traveling in the same direction.
Another car, occupied by Ralph Swalm, William Herb and Earl Williams, came along shortly after the accident happened. The girls were picked up and rushed to the office of Dr. Sauser, where the one girl was pronounced dead, and the other found to be dying.
Due to the condition of their faces, cover with blood and dirt and the excitement, there were not recognized for possibly 20 minutes, and then they were recognized by the doctor and his wife, and their families sent for.
A car following the Swalm car, found Lubold unconscious, and holding onto the bumper of the death car, and he was also removed to the doctor’s office.
Lubold was removed to his home after receiving treatment in the doctor’s office, and on Sunday afternoon, removed to the Pottsville Hospital, where he i suffering with concussion of the brain, extensive abrasions and lacerations of the body, and possible fractures, although the X-rays taken so far have failed to reveal any fractures.
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From the Mt. Carmel Item, July 13, 1931:
TWO GIRLS KILLED BY AN ALLEGED RECKLESS DRIVER
YOUTH AND TWO GILRS WERE WALKING ALONG STATE HIGHWAY
ALLEGED DRUNKEN DRIVER IN PRISON
CARL LUBOLD WAS CRITICALLY INJURED; WAS DRAGGED 150 FEET
As the result of having been struck by an alleged drunken driver on Saturday evening at 10:15 o’clock along the Hegins to Valley View Highway, Leona Holderman, aged 18 years, of Hegins, and Margaret Erdman, also 18 years of age, of Valley View, are dead and Carl Lubold, aged 20 years, of Hegins is suffering from concussion of the brain and two broken legs. The both girls were killed instantly.
According to the story given out by the authorities, the two girls and Lubold were walking toward Valley View when a car, going in the same direction as they were traveling struck them from the rear. The Erdman girl was found where she was struck while the Holdeman girl was found 75 feet from that point, with Lubold being found where the automobile was stopped 150 feet from the scene of the accident, holding on to the bumper unconscious.
Patrolman Arthur Ditchfield of the Schuylkill Detail of the Highway Patrol was assigned to the case and upon arrival at the scene took into custody Peter Ginceroswki, aged 17 years of Pitman and a former Minersville resident, whom alleged was the only occupant of the car. When questioned by Patrolmen Ditchfield, Gincerowski gave out a story that he was not driving the car that struck the trio, but that he was a passenger in it.
However, upon further questioning, Gincerowski finally admitted he was the driver of the death car, which was operated on the highway without license plates, is understood to have told police and that he did not have an operator’s license, and that he had been operating the machine since he bought it on July 4th. He giving his reason for not having license plates as being due to him having bought the car with a bad check and the person from whom the purchase was made, failed or refused to assist him in obtaining the plates.
The car was also without brakes, this fact was admitted to by the defendant, who said he drove it since the day he bought it. He was taken to the office of Dr. Sausser, Deputy Coroner of Valley View, and pronounced as being under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Patrolmen Ditchfield then committed him to Schuylkill County Prison to await a hearing on Monday. Several empty bottles smelling of liquor were found in the car and confiscated by Patrolman Ditchfield. Gincerowski will be charged on two counts of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, and with having operated his motor car without registration plates, without a driver’s licenses and with having been a drunken driver.
On Sunday afternoon Lubold was removed to the Pottsville Hospital where his condition is reported as being fair.
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From the Lykens Standard, July 17, 1931:
TWO VALLEY VIEW GIRLS KILLED BY MOTORIST, SATURDAY NIGHT
COMPANION IN POTTSVILLE HOSPITAL
Two girls were instantly killed and a boy seriously injured Saturday night between Hegins and Valley View, in western Schuylkill County, when struck by a car driven, motor patrolman said, by Peter Gincerowski, 17, Pitman.
The girls were Laura Holderman, 18, Hegins, and Margaret Erdman, 18, Valley View. Carl Lubold, 20 Hegins, had his head badly cut and both legs broken, He was taken to the Pottsville Hospital.
Motor Patrolmen said Gincerowski admitted he was the driver of the car after first saying he was a passenger. He was lodged in jail charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, driving without a license, driving an unlicensed car, and driving while intoxicated.
The Erdman girl’s body was found where police believe all three were struck, while that of the Holderman girl apparently had been carried seventy-five feet farther. Lubold was found unconscious, clinging to the front bumper of the car.
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From the Mt. Carmel Item, July 14, 1931:
FACES CHARGE OF MURDER
Peter Cincerowski, 17, of Pitman, driver of the automobile which killed Margaret Erdman, 17, and Leona Holderman, 18, both of Valley View, along the highway between Hegins and Valley View, today faced a charge of murder, preferred against him by the District Attorney’s office at Pottsville. Gincerowski is alleged to have been intoxicated when he struck the two girls.
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From the Elizabethville Echo, August 13, 1931:
DRIVER BLAMED FOR DEATHS OF TWO GIRLS
After hearing the testimony presented, a coroner’s jury held Peter Gincerowski, responsible for the deaths of Miss Margaret Erdman and Miss Leona Holderman, as the result of an automobile accident on the highway between Hegins and Valley View, July 11th [1931].
The jury impaneled by the Schuylkill County Coroner, rendered the following verdict: “Misses Margaret Erdman and Leona Holderman came to their deaths on July 11th, on the State Road, between Hegins and Valley View, being struck by a car that was recklessly and carelessly driven by Peter Gincerowski, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor,”
Miss Holderman, 18, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Holderman of Hegins and Miss Erdman was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Erdman, of Valley View. Carl Lubold, 20, the girls’ escort was also injured but has since recovered. Lubold and Miss Hoffman were walking along the highway, accompanying the Erdman girl to her home in Valley View after having returned from an outing and picnic that day.
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From the Harrisburg Evening News, July 13, 1931:
NAB MOTORIST IN DEATH OF 2
International News Service
POTTSVILLE, July 13 [1931] — Charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, driving without a licenses, driving an unlicensed car, and driving while intoxicated, Peter Gincerowski, 17, of Pitman, was held by police here today in connection with the death of two 18-year-old girls and injury of a companion.
Gincerowski, according to State highway patrolmen, was the driver of the car which struck Leona Holderman, Margaret Erdman, and Carl Lubold, 20, as the trio walked along the highway between Valley View and Hegins. Both girls were instantly killed and Lubold was seriously injured.
Highway patrolmen, who arrested Gincerowski, said the youth admitted he was driving the car, after first stating he was a passenger in it.
Lubold was brought to a hospital here, where doctors said today his condition is critical.
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From the Pottsville Republican, August 5, 1931:
INQUEST INTO DEATH OF TWO
HOLD DRIVER ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATHS OF TWO GIRLS
MANY WITNESSES HEARD
Deputy Coroner I. E. Strausser, of Valley View, conducted an inquest into the deaths of Leona Holderman, of Hegins, and Margaret Erdman, of Valley View, on Tuesday evening, at the Valley View Fire House.
The jury brought in the following verdict, that Margaret Erdman and Leona Holdeman came to their deaths from injuries received on Saturday night, July the 11th [1931], while walking along the highway between Hegins and Valley View, in Hegins Township, when struck by the car driven carelessly and negligently by Peter Gincerowski, who was drunk and intoxicated.
Deputy District Attorney R. A. Freiler, of Pottsville, and County Detective John Ferns represented the county, and County Coroner Dr. Theodore Fegley, of Tremont, assisted with the investigation.
The jury was composed of these members: Robert Bossler, J. M. Bolton, George Thomas, and Franklin Schreppler, of Valley View; and L. F. Bressler and C. Huntzinger, of Hegins.
Patrolman Arthur Ditchfield, of the State Highway Patrol, who investigated the accident and arrested the driver of the death car, Peter Gincerowski, was the prosecutor and testified at length.
There were a number of eye witnesses there, including Michael Chervanak, of Hegins, R. F. D., who is employed as a farm hand, and who accompanied Gincerowski the night of the fatality; Carl Lubold, the boy who was accompanying the girls home, and who was seriously injured in the mishap; William Herb, Ralph Swalm and Earl Williams, who appeared on the scene immediately after the accidents; and Robert Dunkleberger and Leo Campbell, whose car was nearly struck by the Gincerowski car prior to the accident.
Dunkelberger and Campbell testified that they were driving along the Hegins-Valley View highway on Saturday evening, July the 11th, when the car driven by Ginerowski passed them and nearly struck them. This happened about a quarter of a mile east of the spot where the girls were killed a few minutes later.
Lubold, the boy who was injured and a patient in the Pottsville Hospital for several weeks, in testifying said that he and the two girls were walking home. He was on the roadside with Leona Holderman in the middle and Margaret Erdman on the inside.
He does not recall anything except that he heard a car approaching from the rear and stepped behind the girls to give the car plenty of space. They were walking along the right side of the road three abreast, and his stepping back to allow the car to pass, is the last thing he remembered until he regained consciousness in the Pottsville Hospital on the following Wednesday. Although semi-conscious at the time he suffered with amnesia until Wednesday.
According to Mike Cherranak, following the crash he jumped from the car and ran home and was found later by the state highway patrolmen.
The story of Gincerowski, who was not present at the inquest is that he attended a wedding celebration in Deep Creek and was returning home when he struck the girls. He denied that he was the driver of the car when questioned by the patrolmen and later when being taken back to Deep Creek in order to identify the driver he broke down and confessed. The four, Bossler, Thomas, Bolton and Schreppler appeared on the scene right after the accident and removed the girls to the doctor’s office where Margaret was pronounced dead and Leona died about 15 minutes later.
Gincerowski was given a hearing and held on charges of murder and committed to the county prison.
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From the Elizabethville Echo, October 8, 1931:
MOTORIST SENTENCED IN DEATH OF TWO GIRLS
Peter Cincerowski, 17, of Pitman, was sentenced to the reformatory when he appeared before the Schuylkill County Court last Thursday. He was charged with the involuntary manslaughter of Miss Leona Holdeman of Hegins and Miss Margaret Erdman of Valley View.
On Saturday evening, July 11th [1931], the two girls were walking along the highway between Hegins and Valley View, with Carl Lubold as an escort. Gincerowski was the driver of a car which plowed into the pedestrians, killing Miss Erdman outright, fatally injuring Miss Holdeman and seriously injuring Lubold, who has recovered since the accident. Gincerowski is a former resident of Minersville but had been employed at Pitman at the time of the accident.
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Article from Newspapers.com.
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