On November 10, 1906, at Cheever House, 157 Main Street, Andover, Massachusetts -- a boarding house for P.A. students -- C. Edmond Riggs ('10) of Emporia, Kansas, shot J. Creighton Tracy ('09) of Mount Vernon, New York, with what was ruled to have been a "purely" accidental discharge of his revolver. The night before, Riggs had lent the revolver to a day student. Named only Hilton in The Phillips Bulletin, he reportedly told Riggs he dreaded the dark walk home through the woods to Canobie, New Hampshire, a distance of nearly 13 miles. The following morning, the Bulletin states, when Riggs and Tracy entered Riggs's room, the revolver was lying on a table, where Hilton apparently left it. The tragedy occurred when Riggs reached for it with one hand while with the other hand he began to retrieve from his pocket the key he needed to unlock the drawer of the desk in which he kept the weapon. "In some unaccountable way," the Bulletin states, "the revolver was discharged."
A quick internet search reveals that Tracy, age sixteen, was buried close to his family home, in New Rochelle, New York, while Riggs, who died six years later at age twenty-three, was buried in Emporia. There's no way for me to learn the cause of Riggs's death, but he and Tracy were described in the Bulletin as "warm friends and constant companions."
A quick internet search reveals that Tracy, age sixteen, was buried close to his family home, in New Rochelle, New York, while Riggs, who died six years later at age twenty-three, was buried in Emporia. There's no way for me to learn the cause of Riggs's death, but he and Tracy were described in the Bulletin as "warm friends and constant companions."