#drownings

11th November 1723: saw ighteen people drowned in the River Tweed near Abbotsford when a ferry boat capsized; travellers were going from Gala to the fair at Melrose.

There is sadly very little about this tragic accident online, this is straight from the history books.

A number of people proceeding from Galashiels and its neighbourhood to attend a fair at Melrose, and crossing the Tweed in a ferry-boat at Nether Barnsford, near what afterwards became Abbotsford, were thrown by the oversetting of the boat into the water, then in flood, and eighteen of them drowned.

A boy named Williamson, son of a tradesman in Galashiels, was preserved in a wonderful way. Thrown at first to the bottom of the river, he caught a man by the hair of his head, and was thus enabled to rise to the surface. There he was kept afloat by grasping, first, a bundle of lint, and then a sackful of gray cloth, letting go each in succession as it became saturated with water. Then a deal from the ‘lofting’ of the boat came near him, and he grasped it firmly below his breast. Meanwhile he was moving rapidly down the stream. there was a place where formerly a bridge had been, and where three piers yet stood in the water. It was with difficulty he got through one of the spaces, and over a cascade on the lower side of the bridge. Sometimes, thrown on his back, he was under water for thirty or forty yards, but he never let go the deal.

New recommendations to prevent child drownings from American Academy of Pediatrics – CBS News Watch CBS News Drowning remains the number one cause of death for children ages 1-4 in the United States. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics is updating its recommendations on drowning prevention. Jarred Hill reports. Source link

ConstructionThe United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) built Lake Lanier between 1950 and 1957 to provide flood control, power, and recreation. The lake was named after Georgia poet Sidney Lanier. 

OscarvilleBefore the lake was built, the area was home to a predominantly Black community called Oscarville. Many of the community's structures, including unmarked graves, were not removed when the lake was created. 

InfrastructureThe city of Atlanta found it too expensive to demolish the infrastructure at the bottom of the lake, so rooftops, home foundations, cemeteries, and the Gainesville Speedway remain virtually intact. 

DangerThe structures beneath the lake make it more dangerous for recreational activities and make it difficult for emergency services to recover bodies. 

Trail of Tears Parts of the Trail of Tears, the walk to Oklahoma, are now covered by Lake Lanier. Many people have reported seeing ghosts of natives that once walked the trail. 

In 2012, the 11-year-old son of Tameka Foster, Usher’s ex-wife, died at Lake Lanier. This year, on the 11th anniversary of her son’s death, Foster launched a petition to drain, clean, and restore the lake. Bearing in mind its history, one can only imagine what will be found if Lake Lanier is drained.

Ya'll better leave that lake alone. That lake was created with violence, bigotry and hate...not good.

Lake Lanier is a body of water covers what was once a thriving Black community called Oscarville. That community, formed during the late 1800s, was filled with successful farmers, carpenters, and blacksmiths — until Oscarville’s more than 1,000 residents were violently forced out by white Forsyth County residents.