Unfinished: Emma Kiendzior’s Story
*This story first appeared on the Time Machine as "Dangerous Work"
In the autumn of 1927, fifteen-year-old Emma Kiendzior of Westfield, Massachusetts, was beginning a new chapter in her young life. She lived with her parents at 34 Otis Street and was well-known in town, especially during the summers, when she worked at Tekoa Country Club.
When the club’s season ended, Emma accepted work in neighboring Southwick as a maid for local Selectman Albert Johnson and his wife. She had been in their household less than a week when tragedy struck.
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| Emma Kiendzior |
On the evening of Monday, October 24, Emma was telling a story to the Johnsons’ fourteen-year-old son, Wallace Claybourne Johnson, as she washed dishes in the family kitchen. Wallace, who had been out hunting the previous Saturday and was preparing for another trip, had laid his tools on the kitchen floor to clean and adjust his rifle. Believing it to be unloaded, he picked it up, and as he sighted the weapon, it suddenly discharged—just as Emma bent forward.
The bullet struck the back of Emma’s head above the right ear, deflected, and exited near her nose. She collapsed to the floor as blood poured out of both sides of her head.
A doctor was summoned at once, but despite his efforts, Emma died about twenty minutes after his arrival. The medical examiner declared the shooting accidental. Her body was taken to the undertaking rooms of the Lambson Furniture Company.
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| Club House at Tekoa Country Club - circa 1920 |
On November 3, Westfield District Court Judge Willis S. Kellogg conducted an inquest into Emma’s death. The judge filed his findings the following day. In his report, Judge Kellogg stated that Emma “came to her death as a result of accidental and unintentional shooting.” The court found evidence that it was probable that Emma, in the line of her domestic duties, put the rifle away, and in doing so, she may have accidentally cocked it. (After hunting, Wallace left the gun lying across a chair. The court could not determine if Wallace left it cocked or if Emma accidentally did so when she put it away.)
Emma’s death deeply shocked both Westfield and Southwick. Yet the matter did not end there. On January 9, 1928, her father filed two wrongful death suits of $10,000 each—one against Wallace for the fatal shot, and another against Wallace’s father, charging negligence for furnishing a gun to a boy under the age of fifteen.
Sadly, the grief may have been too great for Emma’s father. He died shortly after filing the wrongful death suits. On March 7, 1928, the court assigned an administrator de bonis non, and the cases went to trial in November, although the outcome is unclear.
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Edited Out/Author’s Additional Research Notes
Some sources say Emma was 14 when she died. However, this appears to be incorrect.
Emma’s middle name was Mary. (Emma’s brother’s wife’s name was Emma)
Emma was buried in Westfield.
Emma’s father was born in a divided Poland (under Imperial Russia's rule). He was an unemployed threadmaker in 1921. Emma’s mother remarried on October 19, 1929.
Emma’s father sometimes wrote their name as Kendzior. However, Kiendzior appears on the family plot, and some younger members of the family used this spelling. There are also other variations of the name. In addition to modifying their last name, some family members altered their first name before boarding passenger ships for a new life in America. (e.g., Jan changed his name to John).
Wallace graduated from Westfield High School in 1930. In 1932, he enrolled in college,where he specialized in aeronautical engineering.
Albert Johnson owned the large tobacco barn in the center of town - a well-known Southwick landmark. He put an addition on the barn in 1929, making it even bigger. Between November 17, 1929 and March 8, 1930 Johnson’s tobacco packing operation assorted and cased 335 tons of tobacco in the massive barn, where some 130 people worked, including 42 sorters.
Albert’s new car was wrecked in an accident in 1929.
Emma’s brother found the body of a missing woman while fishing in 1938.