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Donald Valentine Dorr

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Donald Valentine Dorr

Birth
Hugo, Washington County, Minnesota, USA
Death
10 Oct 1917 (aged 19)
Hugo, Washington County, Minnesota, USA
Burial
White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA
Plot
Dorr family plot just west inside main gate
Memorial ID
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Losing Don was so very hard on everyone. So very difficult. Sadness would not leave. Older brother George had been dead just two years last month, killed in an auto accident, and now youngest brother Donald was killed in a violent collision that occurred right on the farm. It was a tangled, awful, horrible scene. The women heard the crash from the house.

In those days the north south train track that paralleled Hwy 61 ran on the east-side of the highway creating a track crossing when entering or leaving the Dorr farm. In 1917 all traffic in and out of the Dorr farm had to cross the tracks to get to White Bear Lake, MN.

On a Thursday morning in October, Don was in the kitchen with his mother Ellen, married sister Frances Benson and younger sister Marie. The three women saw him gather his things for his trip to town and mother cautioned him to be careful with the tracks, "Its foggy this morning." she mentioned as he walked out the door. "OK ma." he said as he disappeared into the murky morning fog about 9 am. He stepped into his buggy and trotted his horse down the long driveway to the crossing.

Don's horse and buggy were hit by an unseen train.

Seventy-five years later, Marie would still not talk of that day. It was too painful.

Don was dead.

written by Gregory Dorr
Losing Don was so very hard on everyone. So very difficult. Sadness would not leave. Older brother George had been dead just two years last month, killed in an auto accident, and now youngest brother Donald was killed in a violent collision that occurred right on the farm. It was a tangled, awful, horrible scene. The women heard the crash from the house.

In those days the north south train track that paralleled Hwy 61 ran on the east-side of the highway creating a track crossing when entering or leaving the Dorr farm. In 1917 all traffic in and out of the Dorr farm had to cross the tracks to get to White Bear Lake, MN.

On a Thursday morning in October, Don was in the kitchen with his mother Ellen, married sister Frances Benson and younger sister Marie. The three women saw him gather his things for his trip to town and mother cautioned him to be careful with the tracks, "Its foggy this morning." she mentioned as he walked out the door. "OK ma." he said as he disappeared into the murky morning fog about 9 am. He stepped into his buggy and trotted his horse down the long driveway to the crossing.

Don's horse and buggy were hit by an unseen train.

Seventy-five years later, Marie would still not talk of that day. It was too painful.

Don was dead.

written by Gregory Dorr

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