John Fenn

John Fenn

Quick Facts

Significance:

Johnstown business owner

Place of Birth:

Bavaria, Germany

Date of Birth:

1854

Place of Death:

Johnstown,

Date of Death:

May 31, 1889

Place of Burial:

Southmont, Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Cemetery Name:

Grandview Cemetery

"Say good-bye for me to my family!" -John Fenn

John Fenn was 35 years old when he died in the Johnstown Flood. Fenn was a tinsmith who owned a shop on Washington Street. Fenn, his wife Anna and their seven children lived on Locust Street. They were members of St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Locust Street. 

On the day of the flood, John was helping neighbors move items out of the reach of the rising water. By the afternoon, the water was two feet higher than the pavement in front of his house. He went out for supplies. On his way back, the floodwaters struck Johnstown. He was two doors away from his house when a piece of timber hit him on the head and he went under the water. He told a neighbor; "Say good-bye for me to my family!"

His seven children died in the flood. His wife Anna, was the only survivor. John's body was identified on November 11, 1889, by a button Anna had sewn on his collar on the day of the flood. He is buried in the Fenn family plot at Grandview Cemetery with Anna and their children Bismark and Genevieve. The five other Fenn children were never identified.