Joseph J. Klodt

KLODT

Posted By: Volunteer-Betty Hootman
Date: 5/2/2012 at 11:12:12

KLODT DIES IN EXPLOSION
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FORMER OTTUMWAN VICTIM OF ACCIDENT
IN OIL FIELD OF WYOMING

Newcastle, Wyo., newspapers, received by Mrs. Caroline Klodt, 1014 clinton avenue, give the details of the death of her son, Joseph J. Klodt, near Newcastle on the afternoon of February 7. Mr. Klodt was a former Ottumwan.

Escaping gas that had accumulated in an outside cave-cellar used for storing provisions at the Midwest oil camp near Newcastle ignited just as the cave was entered by the three victims of the accident, Mr. Klodt, L. A. Baldwin and Barton R. Rabun. The men had gone into the cave presumably to look over some of the supplies with the idea of making a purchase.

The exact cause of the explosion will never be known, probably. There were gas pipes entering the cave and one had a jet which was kept burning in order to keep the cave warm enough to prevent the provisions from freezing. Whether the gas pressure became so low that the flame went out and the gas coming in later filled the room or whether there was a leaking pipe or joint is hard to determine. Some one of the three men is supposed to have struck a match and ignited the gas in the room.

The blast was so strong that Baldwin’s body was blown out into the street. The entire roof of the cave, made of boards and then covered to a considerable depth with soil and a large quantity of snow on top of that, was lifted and fell back on the bodies of Klodt and Rabun. Two hours and a half were consumed in Excavating in the debris to find the bodies.

Joe Klodt was exceptionally well known in Newcastle and that part of Wyoming. He had done much to put Newcastle and Weston county to the front of the livestock business. Since the discovery of the Osage oil fields he had been interested in the development of the field and his private property lying within that area. At the same time of his death he was secretary of the Newcastle Oil company.

His immediate family consists of his widow and a son. His funeral was held last Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Burial was made in Newcastle.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Scrapbook A, page 365, Keosauqua Public Library; Keosauqua, IA