On November 14, 1897 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain was born to Louis, a barber born in Canada & Ellen E. (Kenefick), born in Taunton.
On September 10, 1918 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain filed his WWI Draft registration. He was a single 20 year old student at St. Samuel College, Montreal. He indicated Louis, his father, of 6 E Broadway , Taunton was his nearest living relative. He was described as medium height with a slender build, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Joseph claimed no disqualifying conditions.
Died at Bellevue Hospital, NY, NY of Terminal Pneumonia. (According to Kathleen Fountain #49268879, Joseph's grandchild, he died from complications due to injuries he received when a *military plane crashed into the Empire State Building where he was working. He was the father of 5 young children, and his wife was the first person to successfully sue the US Federal Government.)
[*At approximately 8:55 a.m., on Saturday July 28, 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25 Bomber took off from Bedford, Massachusetts en route to Newark, New Jersey with three passengers aboard. (Levy, Mathys, Salvadori and Mathys 2002). Around 9:30 a.m., the plane was flying over New York City in a dense fog and at 9:40 a.m., crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. The plane, as seen in Figure 1, weighed approximately ten tons and was flying at 250 miles per hour during impact. One engine continued through the 79th floor, exited out the other side of the Empire State Building and fell through the roof of a neighboring building. The other engine went down an elevator shaft in the building. The gasoline of the B-25 Bomber caught fire on impact and was deemed the cause of 11 of the 14 deaths that resulted from this incident. The other three deaths were from the members aboard this plane who died upon impact. No major structural damage was done to the Empire State Building.]
∼Joseph Fountain, 47 yrs old, 20 Metropolitan Oval, the Bronx, New York.
Times Herald (Olean, New York) Saturday July 28, 1945
Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building
New York - A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant spectacular burst flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan.
Two hours later police reported at least nineteen dead. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the twelve-story Waldorf building on Thirty-Third Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers some of them presumably members of the plane's crew of five.
DISASTER PREVENTED
Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster. The 78th floor was unoccupied, on the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Services of the National Council Welfare Council, several persons were killed. Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.
On September 10, 1918 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain filed his WWI Draft registration. He was a single 20 year old student at St. Samuel College, Montreal. He indicated Louis, his father, of 6 E Broadway , Taunton was his nearest living relative. He was described as medium height with a slender build, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Joseph claimed no disqualifying conditions.
Died at Bellevue Hospital, NY, NY of Terminal Pneumonia. (According to Kathleen Fountain #49268879, Joseph's grandchild, he died from complications due to injuries he received when a *military plane crashed into the Empire State Building where he was working. He was the father of 5 young children, and his wife was the first person to successfully sue the US Federal Government.)
[*At approximately 8:55 a.m., on Saturday July 28, 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25 Bomber took off from Bedford, Massachusetts en route to Newark, New Jersey with three passengers aboard. (Levy, Mathys, Salvadori and Mathys 2002). Around 9:30 a.m., the plane was flying over New York City in a dense fog and at 9:40 a.m., crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. The plane, as seen in Figure 1, weighed approximately ten tons and was flying at 250 miles per hour during impact. One engine continued through the 79th floor, exited out the other side of the Empire State Building and fell through the roof of a neighboring building. The other engine went down an elevator shaft in the building. The gasoline of the B-25 Bomber caught fire on impact and was deemed the cause of 11 of the 14 deaths that resulted from this incident. The other three deaths were from the members aboard this plane who died upon impact. No major structural damage was done to the Empire State Building.]
∼Joseph Fountain, 47 yrs old, 20 Metropolitan Oval, the Bronx, New York.
Times Herald (Olean, New York) Saturday July 28, 1945
Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building
New York - A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant spectacular burst flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan.
Two hours later police reported at least nineteen dead. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the twelve-story Waldorf building on Thirty-Third Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers some of them presumably members of the plane's crew of five.
DISASTER PREVENTED
Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster. The 78th floor was unoccupied, on the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Services of the National Council Welfare Council, several persons were killed. Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.
On November 14, 1897 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain was born to Louis, a barber born in Canada & Ellen E. (Kenefick), born in Taunton.
On September 10, 1918 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain filed his WWI Draft registration. He was a single 20 year old student at St. Samuel College, Montreal. He indicated Louis, his father, of 6 E Broadway , Taunton was his nearest living relative. He was described as medium height with a slender build, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Joseph claimed no disqualifying conditions.
Died at Bellevue Hospital, NY, NY of Terminal Pneumonia. (According to Kathleen Fountain #49268879, Joseph's grandchild, he died from complications due to injuries he received when a *military plane crashed into the Empire State Building where he was working. He was the father of 5 young children, and his wife was the first person to successfully sue the US Federal Government.)
[*At approximately 8:55 a.m., on Saturday July 28, 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25 Bomber took off from Bedford, Massachusetts en route to Newark, New Jersey with three passengers aboard. (Levy, Mathys, Salvadori and Mathys 2002). Around 9:30 a.m., the plane was flying over New York City in a dense fog and at 9:40 a.m., crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. The plane, as seen in Figure 1, weighed approximately ten tons and was flying at 250 miles per hour during impact. One engine continued through the 79th floor, exited out the other side of the Empire State Building and fell through the roof of a neighboring building. The other engine went down an elevator shaft in the building. The gasoline of the B-25 Bomber caught fire on impact and was deemed the cause of 11 of the 14 deaths that resulted from this incident. The other three deaths were from the members aboard this plane who died upon impact. No major structural damage was done to the Empire State Building.]
∼Joseph Fountain, 47 yrs old, 20 Metropolitan Oval, the Bronx, New York.
Times Herald (Olean, New York) Saturday July 28, 1945
Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building
New York - A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant spectacular burst flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan.
Two hours later police reported at least nineteen dead. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the twelve-story Waldorf building on Thirty-Third Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers some of them presumably members of the plane's crew of five.
DISASTER PREVENTED
Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster. The 78th floor was unoccupied, on the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Services of the National Council Welfare Council, several persons were killed. Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.
On September 10, 1918 in Taunton, MA, Joseph Cleophas Fountain filed his WWI Draft registration. He was a single 20 year old student at St. Samuel College, Montreal. He indicated Louis, his father, of 6 E Broadway , Taunton was his nearest living relative. He was described as medium height with a slender build, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Joseph claimed no disqualifying conditions.
Died at Bellevue Hospital, NY, NY of Terminal Pneumonia. (According to Kathleen Fountain #49268879, Joseph's grandchild, he died from complications due to injuries he received when a *military plane crashed into the Empire State Building where he was working. He was the father of 5 young children, and his wife was the first person to successfully sue the US Federal Government.)
[*At approximately 8:55 a.m., on Saturday July 28, 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25 Bomber took off from Bedford, Massachusetts en route to Newark, New Jersey with three passengers aboard. (Levy, Mathys, Salvadori and Mathys 2002). Around 9:30 a.m., the plane was flying over New York City in a dense fog and at 9:40 a.m., crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. The plane, as seen in Figure 1, weighed approximately ten tons and was flying at 250 miles per hour during impact. One engine continued through the 79th floor, exited out the other side of the Empire State Building and fell through the roof of a neighboring building. The other engine went down an elevator shaft in the building. The gasoline of the B-25 Bomber caught fire on impact and was deemed the cause of 11 of the 14 deaths that resulted from this incident. The other three deaths were from the members aboard this plane who died upon impact. No major structural damage was done to the Empire State Building.]
∼Joseph Fountain, 47 yrs old, 20 Metropolitan Oval, the Bronx, New York.
Times Herald (Olean, New York) Saturday July 28, 1945
Nineteen Persons Die As Bomber, Lost In Fog, Crashes Empire State Building
New York - A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant spectacular burst flame. The explosion rocked midtown Manhattan.
Two hours later police reported at least nineteen dead. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the twelve-story Waldorf building on Thirty-Third Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers some of them presumably members of the plane's crew of five.
DISASTER PREVENTED
Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster. The 78th floor was unoccupied, on the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Services of the National Council Welfare Council, several persons were killed. Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.
Family Members
Siblings
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Edwidge Fountain
1877–1878
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Ellen Veronica "Nellie" Fountain Doherty
1879–1965
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Mary Elizabeth Fountain
1881–1970
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Thomas Francis Fountain
1884–1893
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Louis Joseph Fountain
1886–1965
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William Richard Fountain Sr
1888–1956
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Catherine C Fountain Carr Saint
1890–1962
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Esther Frances Fountain
1895–1956
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Augusta Rose Fountain Flanagan
1899–1978
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