Tragic Accident Which Took the Life of Four Members of the Henrichsen Family in 1924

A tragic accident took the lives of six Sandusky residents on the morning of June 19, 1924 in Genoa, Ohio. Emil Henrichsen's mother, wife, and two young sons were riding in an automobile with Andrew and Josephine Petersen on the morning of June 19th. They were en route to the home of Mrs. Frank Nims, a relative who lived in Curtice, Ohio. They group had planned to celebrate the 71st birthday of Mrs. Mary Henrichsen, and also the wedding anniversary of Gladys and Emil Henrichsen. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen were the aunt and uncle of Emil Henrichsen.

Andrew Petersen was the driver of the automobile. He was unfamiliar with the roads in the Genoa area, and he did not see the railway crossing. A Lake Shore Electric interurban car hit the Petersen vehicle with full force. Gladys, Mary, Robert, and Richard Henrichsen all died in the accident, as did the driver and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Petersen. Funeral services for Mrs. Mary Henrichsen, wife of Samuel Henrichsen; and Mrs. Gladys Henrichsen, and her two young sons, were held at the home of Emil Henrichsen on Saturday, June 21, 1924. Burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

The inscription on Mary's tombstone, pictured below, is hidden by lichen. It reads:

Mother
Mary B. Ritz
Wife of S. Henrichsen
1853-1924
















The tombstone inscription of the wife and children of Emil Henrichsen, who were all buried in a single grave reads:

Mother
Gladys Henrichsen
1900-1924

Richard - 2 years 5 month
Robert - 10 month















It is almost unimaginable how grief stricken the two Henrichsen men must have been, Samuel and Emil having lost their wives and the two little boys they must have loved so dearly. Sadly, Samuel Henrichsen would take his own life in 1930, his life never being the same after losing so many family members. Emil Henrichsen went on to remarry, and he lived until 1975. He and his second wife, Bertha Henrichsen, were buried near his first wife Gladys, and his two little boys, Richard and Robert, in Section 93 of Oakland Cemetery.













The funerals of Andrew and Josephine Petersen were also held on June 21, 1924. They were also buried at Oakland Cemetery. Several newspaper clippings about this accident, and the funerals of the six Sanduskians who perished are found in the 1924 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK at the Sandusky Library.