The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a Pennsylvania corporation that operated an exclusive and secretive retreat at a mountain lake in St. Michael, Pennsylvania, near the community of South Fork. Its members were more than 50 extremely wealthy industrialists and their families. Most were based in Pittsburgh, the center of steel and related industries.
The club owned the South Fork Dam and an associated reservoir. The earthen dam failed on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood that killed more than 2,200 people downstream. An estimated 14.3 million tons of water from Lake Conemaugh were released, wreaking devastation along the valley of South Fork Creek and the Little Conemaugh River and the dozen miles downstream to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States.
It was the worst disaster in U.S. history at the time. Relief efforts were among the first major actions of Clara Barton and her newly organized American Red Cross.
The club was found to have neglected maintenance on the earthen dam and performed some ill-advised alterations. Despite some years of claims and litigation, the club and its members were never found to be liable for monetary damages. The corporation was disbanded in 1904. Its real estate was sold by the local sheriff at public auction, largely to satisfy a mortgage on the large clubhouse.
The club, the flood and later investigations have continued to be subject of studies, commemoration, and cultural works. A Johnstown Flood National Memorial was created. In addition, in 1986 the remaining buildings of the club and associated property were designated as a National Historic Landmark District, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Club and dam history
In the late 19th century, Pittsburgh was the center of industry and had many extremely wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen. In 1880, entrepreneur Benjamin Franklin Ruff suggested organizing a club to establish an exclusive mountain retreat as a center of summer recreation for members. He and Henry Clay Frick established the club in 1881.
Ruff had previously bought property that he offered for sale to the club, promoting the idea to Henry Clay Frick, a friend and among the wealthy elite group of men who controlled Pittsburgh's steel, rail and other industries. The newly organized club purchased property including an old dam and abandoned reservoir from Ruff. He had purchased it from former Congressman John Reilly (D-PA).
The reservoir behind the dam was named as Lake Conemaugh by the club. It was about long, approximately wide, and deep near the dam. The lake had a perimeter of and could hold 14.3 million tons of water. When the water was "up" in the spring, the lake covered more than . The South Fork Dam was high and long.
Despite being both well-designed and well-built when new, it failed for the first time in 1862. A history of negligent maintenance and alterations were later believed to have contributed to its failure on May 31, 1889. Between 1881 when the club was opened and 1889, this dam frequently sprang leaks and was patched, mostly with mud and straw.
Dam flaws
Before closing on Ruff's purchase, Congressman Reilly had had crucial discharge pipes removed and sold for their value as scrap metal. There was no longer a practical way to lower the level of water behind the dam should repairs be indicated.
Ruff, although not a civil engineer, had a background that included being a railroad tunnel contractor. He had supervised repairs to the dam. But these did not include a successful resolution of the inability to discharge the water and substantially lower the lake for repair purposes.
The five cast iron discharge pipes, each with an inside diameter of two feet, had previously allowed a controlled release of water. When the initial renovation was completed under Ruff's oversight, it became impossible to drain the lake to repair the dam properly, as the dam and lake area were modified to suit recreational interests.
Most significantly, in order to provide a carriageway across the dam, the top was leveled off, lowering it. The dam was only a few feet higher than the water level at its lowest point. To compound the problem, the club owners and managers had erected fish screens across the mouth of the spillway. Although that was intended to keep water from accumulating to the point of straining the dam, the spillway screens became clogged with debris, restricting the outflow of water."How America’s Most Powerful Men Caused America’s Deadliest Flood" by Erin Blakemore, History.com, Aug 11, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
Daniel Johnson Morrell became a member of the club to observe the state of the dam under its stewardship. He campaigned to club officials, especially to Ruff, its co-founder, regarding the safety of the dam. Morrell insisted on inspections of the dam's breastwork both by his own engineers (including John Fulton), and by those of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Morrell's warnings went unheeded. His offer to do repairs, partially at his own expense, was rejected by club president Benjamin F. Ruff (who died two years before the flood). Morrell joined the club to further express his concerns, but died four years before the flood he had labored to prevent.Johnstown’s Flood of 1889: Power Over Truth and The Science Behind the Disaster, by Neil M. Coleman, Springer, 2018, page 185. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
The dam had not failed completely since 1862. Notwithstanding leaks and other warning signs, the flawed dam held the waters of Lake Conemaugh back until disaster struck in May 1889. The president of the club at the time of the flood was Colonel Elias Unger. The founding entrepreneur, Benjamin F. Ruff, had died several years earlier, and Unger had been on the job only a short time.
The American Society of Civil Engineers launched an investigation of the South Fork Dam breach immediately after the flood. However, according to modern research conducted by, among others, University of Pittsburgh instructor Neil M. Coleman,"Historic Challenge: Study Contests Cause of Dam Breach That Led to 1889 Flood", University of Pittsburgh Johnstown. Retrieved June 14, 2019. the report was delayed, subverted, and whitewashed, before being released two years after the disaster.
Coleman published a book that gave details of the 21st-century investigation, its participating engineers, and the science behind the 1889 flood, titled Johnstown's Flood of 1889 - Power Over Truth and the Science Behind the Disaster (2018).
Club members The sixteen charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, including Henry Clay Frick who assembled them in November 1879, were Benjamin Ruff, T. H. Sweat, Charles J. Clarke, Thomas Clark, Walter F. Fundenberg, Howard Hartley, Henry C. Yeager, J. B. White, E. A. Myers, C. C. Hussey, D. R. Euwer (as spelled below), C. A. Carpenter, W. L. Dunn, W. L. McClintock, and A. V. Holmes.Court of Common Pleas. Charter of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, 17 November 1879, pg 7. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/acacc-jtf/id/4958 . (Accessed September 29, 2018.)
Alphabetically, a complete listing of club membership included:
Edward Jay Allen – helped to organize the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company D. W. C Bidwell – owner of a mining industry explosives supply company James W. Brown – member of the 58th United States Congress, president of the Colonial Steel Company, and secretary and treasurer for Hussey, Howe and Company, Steel Works, Ltd. Hilary B. Brunot – attorney in Pittsburgh John Caldwell, Jr. – treasurer of the Philadelphia Company Andrew Carnegie – Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur and a major philanthropist C.A. Carpenter – freight agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad John Weakley Chalfant – president of People's National Bank, associated with steel tubing manufacturer Spang, Chalfant and Company George H. Christy – attorney in Pittsburgh Thomas Clark Charles John Clarke – founder of Pittsburgh-based transportation company Clarke and Company, father of Louis Clarke Louis Semple Clarke – co-founder of the Autocar Company and developer of the first porcelain-insulated spark plugs A. C. Crawford William T. Dunn – owner of the building supply company William T. Dunn and Company Cyrus Elder (1833-1912); prominent attorney; chief counsel for the Cambria Iron Company; author; civil leader; sole Johnstown resident club member, who had acquired Daniel Johnson Morrell's membership upon his death; flood survivor Daniel R. Euwer – lumber dealer for Euwer and Brothers John King Ewing – involved with real estate through Ewing and Byers Aaron S. French – founder of A. French Spring Company, manufacturer of steel springs for railroad cars Henry Clay Frick – successful American industrialist and art patron Walter Franklin Fundenburg – dentist A. G. Harmes – manufacturer of machinery through his Harmes Machinery Depot John A. Harper –assistant cashier of the Bank of Pittsburgh, president of Western Pennsylvania Hospital Howard Hartley – manufacturer of leather products and rubber belts through Hartley Brothers Henry Holdship – co-founder of the Art Society of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Americus Vespecius Holmes – vice-president of Dollar Bank Durbin Horne – president of retail company Joseph Horne and Company George Franklin Huff – member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1884 to 1888, member of the 52nd United States Congress, the 54th United States Congress, and the 58th United States Congress and the three succeeding Congresses Christopher Curtis Hussey – Hussey, Howe and Company, steel manufacturers Harriet Augusta Byram Hussey – wife of C.C. Hussey, elected as the club's only female member following her husband's death in 1884 Lewis Irwin Philander Chase Knox – American lawyer and politician who served as US Attorney General, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and, lastly, as Secretary of State from 1909 to 1913 Frank B. Laughlin – secretary of the Solar Carbon and Manufacturing Company John Jacob Lawrence – paint and color manufacturer, partner of Moses Suydam John George Alexander Leishman – worked in various executive positions at Carnegie Steel Company, served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Turkey from 1899–1901 Jesse H. Lippincott – associated with the Banner Baking Powder firm Sylvester Stephen Marvin – in the cracker business, founding S. S. Marvin Co., centerpiece to the organization of the National Biscuit Company) Frank T., Oliver, and Walter L. McClintock – associated with O. McClintock and Company, a mercantile house James S. McCord – owner of the wholesale hatters McCord and Company James McGregor W. A. McIntosh (president of the New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Company; father of Burr McIntosh and Nancy McIntosh) H. Sellers McKee – president of the First National Bank of Birmingham, founder of Jeannette, Pennsylvania Andrew W. Mellon – American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and art collector; US Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921, until February 12, 1932 Reuben Miller – Miller, Metcalf and Perkin, Crescent Steel Works Maxwell K. Moorhead – son of James K. Moorhead Daniel Johnson Morrell – general manager of the Cambria Iron Company, member of the 40th United States Congress (and 41st United States Congresses, 1867-1871 (R-PA) William Mullens Edwin A. Meyers – Myers, Shinkle and Company H. P. Patton – associated with the window glass manufacturer A. and D. H. Chambers Duncan Clinch Phillips – window glass millionaire, father of Duncan Phillips Henry Phipps, Jr. – chairman of Carnegie Brothers and Company entrepreneur and major philanthropist Robert Pitcairn – Scottish-American railroad executive who headed the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 19th century D. W. Ranking – physician