Joseph LaBeau
Born: c. 1880
Died: April 8, 1922
Married: Ida LaBeau
Children: five
Joseph LaBeau and his friend Arthur Strough were killed in a tragic car accident on a foggy night in 1922. Some news accounts gave Joseph's last name as "LeBeau" and his friend's first name as "Edwin."
Lake Placid News, April 14, 1922
TWO MEN DIE IN AUTO ACCIDENT
BOTH VICTIMS RESIDENTS OF SARANAC LAKE
NO KNOWN CAUSE FOR TRAGEDY
Arthur Strough Burned to Death Under Car—Joseph LeBeau, Extricated From Wreckage, Dies in General Hospital Two Hours After Accident —Two Women and Child Thrown From Car As It Rolls Over Bank.
Two men are dead, and their widows are suffering from shock, the result of an automobile accident which occurred at seven thirty o'clock Sunday evening on the Bloomingdale road near the dirt highway leading to Trudeau Sanitorium, Saranac Lake. The dead are Arthur Strough and Joseph LeBeau, both of Saranac Lake. The former was burned to death beneath the overturned car, and LeBeau died at the General Hospital, Saranac Lake, two hours after the accident.
The wives of the dead, and Henry Finnegan, police officer, among: the first to arrive on the scene, were forced to watch the struggles of LeBeau to extricate himself from the wreckage, unable to help the victim, pinned under the machine, which had broken into flames upon overturning. Later upon the arrival of rescuers, the man was dragged from beneath the automobile, and together with Mrs. Strough, Mrs. LeBeau, and the three year old child of the latter, was rushed to Saranac Lake.
As Mrs. Strough was carried into the apartment of her daughter in the Post office block she screamed, "My God, Daddy is burned to death under the car!"
This was the first intimation the rescuers had that a second man was in the wreckage. They hurried back to the scene. In the meanwhile the body of Strough had been discovered by Deputy Sheriff A. Bernard and the members of the fire department when the machine had been turned over. Strough's body was burned beyond recognition.
The women of the party cannot give a cause for the accident. It is believed that the fog confused the driver, who mistaking a dark blotch ahead for the road, drove the car over the bank. Mrs. Strough, Mrs. LeBeau and the LeBeau child who were occupying the rear seat were thrown from the car as it went over the bank, and were uninjured. However, they are still suffering from shock. There is no truth in the report that the LeBeau child has died since the accident.
The funeral of Arthur Strough was held Tuesday morning from the Methodist Episcopal church, Saranac Lake, services being conducted by Rev. E. B. Brownell, pastor. The body was removed to Dolgeville, the former home of the deceased, for burial. Strough was 54 years old.
The body of Joseph LeBeau was laid to rest in Pine Ridge cemetery, Saranac Lake, Wednesday morning. Services were at St. Bernard's Roman Catholic church, and conducted by Rev. E. R. Gallagher, assistant pastor. Both funerals were in charge of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the men having been carpenters by trade and members of that order.
LeBeau, who was 42 years of age, is survived by his parents, wife and five children, six sisters and two brothers. Strough, besides his widow, leaves four children.
Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, June 7, 1923
BARRY OBTAINS ENABLING ACT IN DAMAGE ACTIONS
Two Women Seek to Recover For Deaths of Husbands In Auto Crash
Governor Smith has signed enabling acts allowing the court of claims to acquire jurisdiction in the actions brought by Anna A. Strought and Ida LaBeau, both of Saranac Lake, as administrators of the estate of their respective husbands, Edwin Strough and Joseph LaBeau, who met their death in an auto accident on the state highway while traveling from Saranac Lake to Bloomingdale on the evening of April 8, 1922.
The enabling acts were necessary because in 1922 an amendment was passed to the highway law providing that the state would not be liable for accidents on the state highways between May 1 and November 15 of each year.
The law took effect March 30, eight days before LaBeau and Strough were killed and 22 days prior to May 1 at which time the amendment would not be effective.
It was contended before Governor Smith and his counsel, James L. Parsons by James J. Barry of Schenectady, a native of Willsboro, attorney for the claimants, that the cause of the accident was the failure to erect proper guard rails to protect the traveling public and that such being the fact, it was a constructural defect known to the state employes for over 12 years, the road having been built in 1911. It was a foggy night and both claimants were riding in the rear seat, their husbands being in the front and Strough, an expert auto mechanic, was at the wheel. By a freak of fate when the auto fell over the embankment, it overturned partly in the river. LaBeau was caught beneath the rear end of the car and was drowned while Strough was burned to death when the motor exploded. The two women were only slightly injured but both were immersed in the waters of Saranac River. The bill was introduced in the senate by Senator William T. Burne of Albany and by Assemblyman Fred L. Porter of Essex county in the assembly. The accident occurred in Assemblyman Porter's district. Each woman was left with five children. It is anticipated by their counsel that the court of claims will make substantial awards for their losses. Lieut-Gov. Lunn lent his services in having the bills passed and also advised Governor Smith that he thought the claims were equitable.