Cohoes: Trouble, and a drowning, between Locks 15 and 16

 August 1870    The New York Times

Cohoes: Hobbled Skirt Caused Her Death

 August 1911

According to Wikipedia, a hobbled skirt was a ladies skirt with a narrow hem that could impede the wearer's ability to walk. It was called a "hobble skirt" because it seemed to hobble any woman as she walked. The hobble skirt fashion trend peaked between 1908 and 1914.

Arthur Mylott's Champlain Canal Childhood in Waterford, New York

 

Whitehall: Drownings in the rivers, locks and canals 1919

 From the Whitehall Times, 4 September 1919

Accidental death around the canals and waterways were very common.  In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, safety was an afterthought and there were no laws or regulations requiring safeguards for children and adults.

Cohoes: Drownings in the rivers, locks and canals

 

News of the search for Daniel Benoit off Van Schaick Island in Cohoes

The Times Record 25 October 1955

In 1912 Canoe Upset; Boy Drowned

Spring flooding in the Mettowee River can be especially dangerous.  Almost one hundred years ago, in June 1912, Willard Mylott son of George L. and Mary E. Wilson Mylott, drowned in the raging waters.  Willard was a twin but his twin brother, Willis, died in infancy.  Willard's brother, Richard, survived the ordeal in the river.

The Mettowee River, Washington County, NY in Early Springtime