Eastern European killed in Lock 6 collapse
According to a newspaper account, the Talashkeviches next lived in Toronto before moving to Niagara about 1924 for work on the Welland Canal. Here, William and Annie made their home at 27 Ormonde Ave. in St. Catharines and raised their two daughters and two sons (Mary [Yasny], Michael Laskov, Sophie [Tatarnic] and Joseph Laskov).
This New World idyll was shattered on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 1928, just before noon, when the construction worker was crushed in the Welland Canal Lock 6 gate collapse at Thorold.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy — when it was difficult to identify the victims — Talashkevich’s wife “suffered the distress of first being informed her husband was dead, next that he had been rescued unhurt, and then again, within five minutes, receiving definite confirmation that he had been killed,” reported the next day.
The undoubtedly surreal, shocking nature of the situation for the survivors was apparent to the same reporter when, during the interview, he observed that, “the youngest a boy of five, who, mercifully unmindful of the tragedy, played happily in the yard …”
St. Barnabas Anglican Church in St. Catharines was chosen as the venue for the funeral service apparently because of its affiliation with the Orthodox rite. Talashkevich’s remains were interred at Victoria Lawn Cemetery.
In this context, it is worth noting that the official identification of “Russia” as Talashkevich’s country of origin in 1907 was unavoidably imprecise, referring to geopolitics rather than to ethnic identity. Indeed, 19 years later, relatives who came to live with the family in St. Catharines identified “Poland” as their homeland.
Ambiguous ethnic identification of incoming eastern Europeans was matched by the inconsistent Anglicization of their names. Thus while the Cyrillic version of the surname was first transliterated for Talashkevich in 1907 as “Talaschkewitz”, those who came in 1926 became “Talashkevitch”. Two years later, the victim of the gate collapse was identified as “Talashkewich” on his death certificate, but as “Talaskevitch” on his headstone at Victoria Lawn Cemetery. (His wife’s headstone 46 years later was “Talashkevich”.) He even appeared as “Talaskedick” and “Talashdewich” in press coverage after the tragedy, and as “Talaski” and “Talaskovick” in St. Catharines city directories. — This article is part of a series remembering the men whose lives were lost in the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force will unveil a memorial to the workers in the fall. To learn more or to make a donation visit www.stcatharines.ca/donate.