Augustus Pittman, one of three loggers killed in a tragic accident in 1959, is seen in this undated photo.
Less than two months before police officer Const. William Moss was killed in Badger while trying to maintain peace during the bitter labour dispute, three loggers were killed in a tragic accident in Norris Point.
The three were among a group of 20 loggers returning from a walkout staged by the loggers’ union in Deer Lake.
Payne’s grandfather, Augustus Pittman, was one of them. He was pinned under the undercarriage of a three-tonne truck that slipped off the ferry ramp in Norris Point and plunged into the icy waters of Bonne Bay on Jan. 27, 1959.
According to news reports at the time, a ramp cable broke, causing the ramp to give way under the truck as it was being unloaded from the ferry after having crossed the bay from Woody Point.
Mr. Pittman, who was 39 and the father of nine — including one daughter yet to be born, could not be freed in time and drowned.
Another man, 37-year-old Leslie Hiscock, could not escape the cab of the truck and also drowned. He left behind his wife and three children.
The third man, 22-year-old bachelor Arthur Maynard, was crushed to death when the big truck rolled back against the ferry.
Mr. Pittman was from Rocky Harbour, while Mr. Hiscock and Mr. Maynard were both from Norris Point.
Everyone else escaped without injury, although several other men were thrown into the frigid waters during the accident.
On April 28, as part of this year’s Day of Mourning service, Mr. Pittman’s name will be added to the Worker’s Monument for those killed in the workplace, located on Mill Road in Corner Brook. The Corner Brook and District Labour Council has yet to get permission from the families of Mr. Hiscock and Mr. Maynard to have their names included, but they too will be remembered during the service.
For Payne, the remembrance in a public fashion will mean a lot because the deaths of these three men faded from the public’s thoughts when the Badger Riot happened a short time later.
“I’ve always been really interested in family history and I think it is important for my grandfather to be remembered,” she said. “This will be bittersweet because I’ve wanted him to be recognized for a long time.”
Payne, whose mom is no longer alive, has taken it upon herself to record interviews with all eight of her mother’s siblings about what it was like growing up without their dad. She plans to pass on those interviews to her own children.
From what she can gather about him, her grandfather was a kind and generous soul.
“He owned a store in Corner Brook and apparently gave away more stuff than he sold,” she said.
Payne and other members of her family plan to attend the Day of Mourning ceremony in Corner Brook later this month. Because weather has tended to be inclement for the event when held at the monument itself in recent years, the ceremony will take pace inside St. John the Evangelist Cathedral on Main Street.
A display of all the names engraved at the monument site will be present for the ceremony.
After April 28, Payne said she may look into having some sort of monument in Norris Point to honour all three of the men who died.
