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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>The Political Graveyard: Politicians Killed by Earthquake or Volcano</title> <meta name="description" content="A database of political history and cemeteries, with brief biographical entries for 320,919 U.S. political figures, living and dead, from the 1700s to the present."> <meta name="keywords" content="political biography history genealogy cemeteries politics candidates congress senators legislators governors politicians biographies ancestors mayors birthplace geography elections"> <meta name="author" content="Lawrence Kestenbaum"> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-7383562-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'https://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFDD" text="#000000" link="#cc0000" alink="#ff0000" vlink="#760000"> <style type="text/css"> p {font-family:georgia,garamond,serif} td {font-family:georgia,garamond,serif} A:link {text-decoration: none} A:visited {text-decoration: none} A:active {text-decoration: none} A:hover {text-decoration: underline} </style> <p align=center style="font-size:28pt; font-family:garamond,serif"> <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">PoliticalGraveyard.com</span><br> <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/index.html" border=0> <img src="https://politicalgraveyard.com/images/tpgmain6.gif" width=450 height=216 border=0 alt="The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History"></a><br> Politicians Killed by Earthquake or Volcano</p> <table width=100%> <td align="center" valign="center"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td></table> <table width=100%><tr><td valign="top"> <h4><b>Very incomplete list!</b></h4> <p><i>in chronological order</i></p> <table align="left" cellpadding=5> <tr><td width=82 align="right" valign="top"><img src="https://politicalgraveyard.com/thumb/877/23.56.jpg" width=70 height=101 border=0 alt="Thomas Prentiss"></td><td valign="top"><img src="rd.gif" width=13 height=13> <b>Thomas Theodore Prentis (1844-1902)</b> — also known as <b>Thomas T. Prentis</b> — Born in Waitsfield, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/VT/WA-born.html">Washington County</a>, Vt., <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1844/06-17.html">June 17, 1844</a>. Served in the Union Army during the Civil War; U.S. Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/SH-consuls.html ">Seychelles</a>, 1871-80; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/MS-consuls.html ">Port Louis</a>, 1880-94; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/ME-consuls.html ">St. Pierre</a>, 1900-02, died in office 1902. Killed in the <b>volcanic eruption</b> of Mount Pelée, when a fast-moving cloud of ash and hot gases <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/fire.html">burned</a> about eight square miles, killing an estimated 30,000 people, in St. Pierre, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/ME-died.html">Martinique</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1902/05-08.html">May 8, 1902</a> (age <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/age/57.html">57 years, 325 days</a>). Interment <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/ME-buried.html# ">somewhere</a> in Fort-de-France, Martinique. <table width=100% align="left"><tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>Relatives:</i> Son of Joseph Comstock Prentis and Lydia Cerinthia (Chandler) Prentis; married, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1873/12-16.html">December 16, 1873</a>, to Clara Louisa Frye; first cousin seven times removed of <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/witherspoon-woldanski.html#539.20.10">Roger Wolcott</a>; second cousin five times removed of <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/griswold.html#429.16.41">Matthew Griswold</a>; third cousin thrice removed of <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/cohn-cokayne.html#034.25.81">Joshua Coit</a>; fourth cousin once removed of <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ede-edlin.html#769.07.63">David Edgerton</a>.</span></td></tr> <tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <i>Political families:</i> <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-0001.html">Kellogg-Adams-Seymour-Chapin family</a> of Connecticut and New York; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-0082.html">Weeks-Bigelow-Andrew-Upham family</a>; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-0421.html">Wolcott-Griswold-Packwood-Brandegee family</a> of Connecticut; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-0624.html">Hosmer-Griswold-Parsons family</a> of Middletown, Connecticut (subsets of the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001.html">Four Thousand Related Politicians</a>).</span></td></tr> <tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>Image source:</i> Cincinnati Enquirer, May 12, 1902</span></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td width=82 align="right" valign="top"> </td><td valign="top"><img src="rd.gif" width=13 height=13> <b>Joseph Henry Peirce (1870-1908)</b> — also known as <b>Joseph H. Peirce</b> — Born in Messina, Sicily, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/IT-born.html">Italy</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1870/11-06.html">November 6, 1870</a>. U.S. Vice & Deputy Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/IT-consuls.html ">Messina</a>, 1900-06; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/occ/newspaper.html">newspaper correspondent</a>. He and his family were among about 80,000 people killed during an <b>earthquake</b> and <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/drowning.html">tsunami</a>, specifically, when his house <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/collapse.html">collapsed</a>, in Messina, Sicily, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/IT-died.html">Italy</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1908/12-28.html">December 28, 1908</a> (age <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/age/38.html">38 years, 52 days</a>). Burial location unknown. </td></tr> <tr><td width=82 align="right" valign="top"> </td><td valign="top"><img src="rd.gif" width=13 height=13> <b>Arthur Sanford Cheney (1869-1908)</b> — also known as <b>Arthur S. Cheney</b> — of Connecticut. Born in Joliet, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/IL/WI-born.html">Will County</a>, Ill., <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1869/10-04.html">October 4, 1869</a>. <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/occ/physician.html">Physician</a>; U.S. Vice Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/EZ-consuls.html ">Reichenberg</a>, 1906-07; U.S. Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/IT-consuls.html ">Messina</a>, 1907-08, died in office 1908. He and his wife were among about 80,000 people killed during the Messina <b>Earthquake</b>, specifically, when the U.S. consulate building <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/collapse.html">collapsed</a>, in Messina, Sicily, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/IT-died.html">Italy</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1908/12-28.html">December 28, 1908</a> (age <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/age/39.html">39 years, 85 days</a>). Interment at <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CT/NH-buried.html#cms00758">Evergreen Cemetery</a>, New Haven, Conn. <table width=100% align="left"><tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>Relatives:</i> Son of Benjamin Hicks Cheney and Sarah (Austin) Cheney; married <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1895/">1895</a> to Laura A. Pfeiffer.</span></td></tr> <tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>See also</i> <a href="https://findagrave.com/memorial/136987818">Find-A-Grave memorial</a></span></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td width=82 align="right" valign="top"> </td><td valign="top"><img src="rd.gif" width=13 height=13> <b>Max David Kirjassoff (1888-1923)</b> — also known as <b>Max D. Kirjassoff</b> — of Waterbury, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CT/NH-lived.html">New Haven County</a>, Conn. Born in St. Petersburg, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/RU-born.html">Russia</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1888/03-02.html">March 2, 1888</a>. U.S. Vice Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-consuls.html ">Yokohama</a>, as of 1916; U.S. Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/TW-consuls.html ">Taihoku</a>, as of 1917-19; <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/CH-consuls.html ">Dairen</a>, as of 1921; U.S. Consul General in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-consuls.html ">Yokohama</a>, 1922-23, died in office 1923. <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/group/jewish.html">Jewish</a>. One of more than 100,000 people killed during the Great Kanto <b>Earthquake</b>, probably in the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/collapse.html">collapse</a> of the consulate building or the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/fire.html">fire</a> that followed, in Yokohama, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-died.html">Japan</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1923/09-01.html">September 1, 1923</a> (age <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/age/35.html">35 years, 183 days</a>). Interment at <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-buried.html# ">Negishi Foreign Cemetery</a>, Yokohama, Japan. <table width=100% align="left"><tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>See also</i> <a href="https://findagrave.com/memorial/145598170">Find-A-Grave memorial</a></span></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td width=82 align="right" valign="top"> </td><td valign="top"><img src="rd.gif" width=13 height=13> <b>Paul E. Jenks (c.1863-1923)</b> — of Brooklyn, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NY/KI-lived.html">Kings County</a>, N.Y. Born about 1863. U.S. Vice Consul in <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-consuls.html ">Yokohama</a>, 1917-23, died in office 1923. One of more than 100,000 people killed during the Great Kanto <b>Earthquake</b>, probably in the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/collapse.html">collapse</a> of the consulate building or the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/fire.html">fire</a> that followed, in Yokohama, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/ZZ/JP-died.html">Japan</a>, <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/chrono/1923/09-01.html">September 1, 1923</a> (age <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/age/60.html">about 60 years</a>). Burial location unknown. <table width=100% align="left"><tr><td width=20> </td> <td width=26 valign="top"><img src="hand.gif" width=26 height=17></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><i>Relatives:</i> Brother of <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/jenkinson-jenning.html#343.66.88">Almet Francis Jenks</a>.</span></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="center"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td></tr></table> <table width=100%> <td align="center" valign="center"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td></table> <table width=100%> <tr><td align="center"><span style="font-size:20pt;"> <span style="font-family:garamond,serif"> <i>"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."</i></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:8pt;">Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872</span></td> <td><a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/"> <img src="https://politicalgraveyard.com/images/tpgsub.gif" width=450 height=71 align="right" border=0 alt="The Political Graveyard"></a></td></tr></table> <br clear="all"> <table width=100% cellpadding=2> <tr><td colspan=3><span style="font-size:10pt;"> <b><a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/index.html">The Political Graveyard</a></b> is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 320,919 politicians, living and dead.</span></td></tr> <tr><td colspan=3><span style="font-size:8pt;"> </span></td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> The coverage of this site includes (1) the President, Vice President, members of Congress, elected state and territorial officeholders in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories; and the chief elected official, typically the mayor, of qualifying municipalities; (2) candidates at election, including primaries, for any of the above; (3) all federal judges and all state appellate judges; (4) certain federal officials, including the federal cabinet, diplomatic chiefs of mission, consuls, U.S. district attorneys, collectors of customs and internal revenue, members of major federal commissions; and political appointee (pre-1969) postmasters of qualifying communities; (5) state and national political party officials, including delegates, alternate delegates, and other participants in national party nominating conventions; (6) Americans who served as "honorary" consuls for other nations before 1950. Note: municipalities or communities "qualify", for Political Graveyard purposes, if they have at least half a million person-years of history, inclusive of predecessor, successor, and merged entities.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> The listings are <b>incomplete</b>; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is <b>not</b> guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> The official URL for this page is: <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/earthquake.html">https://politicalgraveyard.com/death/earthquake.html</a>.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td width=32 align="right" valign="top"> </td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size:8pt;"> <img src="rd.gif" width=10 height=10> If you are searching for a specific named individual, try the <a href="https://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html">alphabetical index of politicians</a>.</span></td> <td width=100 align="right" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan=3 align="left" valign="top"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> <b>Copyright notices:</b> (1) Facts are not subject to copyright; see <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/499_US_340.htm">Feist v. Rural Telephone</a>. (2) Politician portraits displayed on this site are 70-pixel-wide monochrome thumbnail images, which I believe to constitute <b>fair use</b> under applicable copyright law. Where possible, each image is linked to its online source. However, requests from owners of copyrighted images to delete them from this site are honored. (3) Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2023 Lawrence Kestenbaum. (4) This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/">Creative Commons License</a>.</span></td></tr> <tr><td colspan=3 align="left" valign="top"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> <b>Site information:</b> The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by <b>Lawrence Kestenbaum</b>, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. — The mailing address is <b>The Political Graveyard, P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106.</b> — This site is hosted by <b><a href="https://www.hdl.com">HDL</a></b>. — The Political Graveyard opened on <b>July 1, 1996</b>; the last full revision was done on <b>March 8, 2023</b>. </span></td></tr> </table> <hr> <table align="center" cellpadding=5><tr> <td align="center" valign="center"> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" border="0" src="https://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights.gif" width=88 height=31></a></td> <td align="center" valign="center"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/politicalgraveyard" target="_TOP" title="The Political Graveyard"><img src="https://badge.facebook.com/badge/40475596932.4982.1015512377.png" width="120" height="84" style="border: 0px;" /></a></td> <td align="center" valign="center"><a href="https://www.twitter.com/polgraveyard"> <img src="https://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_us-a.png" border=0 alt="Follow polgraveyard on Twitter"/></a></td> <td align="center" valign="center"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=thepoliticalg-20&path=subst/home/home.html"> <img src="https://politicalgraveyard.com/images/a150X70b.gif" border=0 alt="[Amazon.com]" align="center"></a></td> </tr></table> </body> </html>