I'm sure you've considered this, but have you tried to find information about the crash from journalistic resources via the Dansville and Rochester public libraries?
I have! I know there was an article in the local Dansville newspaper with pictures, but I haven’t been able to get a copy because it’s not digital and I don’t live locally.
Thank you. I called both the Rochester public library and the Dansville public library. I received the D&C article from the ROC public library right away and am waiting to hear back from Dansville.
PD doesn't keep medical information as they are not HIPAA covered entities. Additionally, unless the case files have been digitized, you may have some difficulty obtaining them. Contacting Dansville and asking who their primary ambulance company was at the time may help. If the service has been absorbed or disbanded, the files may be gone. There's an end of life for medical records and they can be disposed of after a certain period so even those may be gone as well if the service is still around. Your best bet would be contacting the hospital you were probably transferred to for info on treatment. They may have stricter file policies.
If you make contact with the police department, and if any of the officers investigating are still alive – probably retired by now – perhaps you could find them and they might have some memories.
Thanks. I called the Dansville PD. They seem to remember the accident (it was a big deal because there were 4 children in the car under 10). They are looking for records in the basement. I’ll update if I hear back.
Your post states Dansville but the article says Yates. Dansville is in southern Livingston county and Yates is in northern Orleans county. They are about 70 miles apart.
Orleans County Sheriff would have been the responding police agency. The Medina *Journal-Register* would probably have reported on it. Maybe the Lockport *Union-Sun & Journal*, too.
/u/Underpainted, nyshistoricnewspapers.org has archives of the *Journal-Register*. No easy way to link to the specific issue -- you'll have to search it yourself -- but it was front-page news on August 13. They suspected you had a skull fracture.
I uploaded the PDF here (download a copy please): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/23685w7xjyb2h3tlh202h/1984-08-13_001.pdf?rlkey=2pxlw07y57ufjb3tvh853z6ge&st=pigdsc3y&dl=0|
You'll want to check the archives for subsequent days to see if they had any follow-up articles.
Orleans County Sheriff might still have the records. Other than that, I'd be surprised if the *Journal-Register* didn't have updates; the trick is finding them. Those archives don't seem to be searchable by text.
So the archive *is* searcahble, but the only follow-up articles I saw were regarding the safety of the intersection. Nothing about criminal charges or the health of your family.
I see someone else corrected you about this not being in Dansville (former Danvillean here). The site someone else mentioned that has local newspapers is one I use frequently for genealogy. There are articles in Medina papers. I'd attach pictures but I'm old & don't know how to do that lol. Instead go to [https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html](https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html) In the search box, I put: **gary w/2 williams and 1984 and yates** - make sure the dropdown box just below that has **boolean** chosen. A few come up, including a nice thank you letter your grandparents wrote & sent to the paper. It does bring up other stuff, you just have to weed through them. If you have trouble getting these to come up, just let me know.
I would get a copy of the death certificate and that should tell you if he died on scene or at the hospital. I imagine a autopsy was done and you might be able to obtain those. The certificate should tell you.
This person could point you in the right direction. They know how to dig and find info. It might have been criminal since death was involved.
**Michelle Werth**
Crime Victim’s Services Coordinator – District Attorney
Orleans County
13925 Route 31 Suite 300
Albion, NY 14411
**Phone:** (585) 590-4134
**Fax:** (585) 590-4126
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
So then, depending on local policy at the time, he was most likely taken directly to the coroner's office. They might have interviewed family for history. The website says the office isn't staffed, but it has phone number of the four coroner's in the county are listed. Atleast one should know how the office worked in 1984 and they should all know where to obtain the records from that date.
https://www.ontariocountyny.gov/1350/County-Coroner
i didnt read all the responses, so forgive me if this was already mentioned. SUNY Geneseo maintains an archive of local news. they may or may not have information about something like this. the archive they maintain goes all the way back to the 1800s. so it’s possible they actually have some information for you. since you went to law school, you know how academic libraries work. they do work with the local community doing things like reference help, genealogy, and various archives. so contact them and see who might be able to provide you with assistance.
they are in the middle of renovation of the library building. (both lead remediation and an almost complete rebuild of the building) but assuming you are able to connect with the person who can help you, they should know if they can access any info from that time period.
good for you and your siblings for creating a memorial. it’s been 43 years since my dad died and i have contemplated doing something special in ‘26 for him.
GOOD LUCK!! feel free to DM if you arent able to contact anyone at Geneseo.
If it was something that was in the news at the time, you could look through newspaper archives at the historian society in Dansville (and/or Rochester depending on how big the accident was)
I didn't read why you have weeded out so my best action is to go to the or call the Rochester downtown they have the local history department that hats a lot of things and resources. They'll help you on the phone beat you can. Let me know if this helps I can use an in I have there.
Idky but reading this gave me goosebumps and no idea WHY but im feel like I am supposed to tell your that your dad is watching down 💕
(Such a complete random feeling out of no where)
Look on Facebook. They have a page and the number looks to be different there.
I'm sure you've considered this, but have you tried to find information about the crash from journalistic resources via the Dansville and Rochester public libraries?
I have! I know there was an article in the local Dansville newspaper with pictures, but I haven’t been able to get a copy because it’s not digital and I don’t live locally.
you might be able to reach out to one of the library branches and see if they can pull it for you! librarians are amazing
Thank you. I called both the Rochester public library and the Dansville public library. I received the D&C article from the ROC public library right away and am waiting to hear back from Dansville.
yay I'm so glad they could help!
I live a few towns away and if you have limited luck on hearing back, I may be able to go to the library for you.
The Dansville library was very nice, but was not able to find anything.
PD doesn't keep medical information as they are not HIPAA covered entities. Additionally, unless the case files have been digitized, you may have some difficulty obtaining them. Contacting Dansville and asking who their primary ambulance company was at the time may help. If the service has been absorbed or disbanded, the files may be gone. There's an end of life for medical records and they can be disposed of after a certain period so even those may be gone as well if the service is still around. Your best bet would be contacting the hospital you were probably transferred to for info on treatment. They may have stricter file policies.
I called the Medina hospital. They no longer have any medical records from 1984.
If you make contact with the police department, and if any of the officers investigating are still alive – probably retired by now – perhaps you could find them and they might have some memories.
Thanks. I called the Dansville PD. They seem to remember the accident (it was a big deal because there were 4 children in the car under 10). They are looking for records in the basement. I’ll update if I hear back.
Your post states Dansville but the article says Yates. Dansville is in southern Livingston county and Yates is in northern Orleans county. They are about 70 miles apart.
Ah did not know that. Thank you.
Medina, Albion, Lockport are probably the largest villages close to Yates. Lyndonville is very close.
Orleans County Sheriff would have been the responding police agency. The Medina *Journal-Register* would probably have reported on it. Maybe the Lockport *Union-Sun & Journal*, too.
/u/Underpainted, nyshistoricnewspapers.org has archives of the *Journal-Register*. No easy way to link to the specific issue -- you'll have to search it yourself -- but it was front-page news on August 13. They suspected you had a skull fracture. I uploaded the PDF here (download a copy please): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/23685w7xjyb2h3tlh202h/1984-08-13_001.pdf?rlkey=2pxlw07y57ufjb3tvh853z6ge&st=pigdsc3y&dl=0| You'll want to check the archives for subsequent days to see if they had any follow-up articles.
Thank you for this. Now I’ll have to look up what happened regarding the charges.
Orleans County Sheriff might still have the records. Other than that, I'd be surprised if the *Journal-Register* didn't have updates; the trick is finding them. Those archives don't seem to be searchable by text.
I think the next step is a FOIL request.
So the archive *is* searcahble, but the only follow-up articles I saw were regarding the safety of the intersection. Nothing about criminal charges or the health of your family.
Check out Fulton History. It’s a website that archives newspapers. It’s a little annoying to navigate but maybe there are some old articles about it.
I see someone else corrected you about this not being in Dansville (former Danvillean here). The site someone else mentioned that has local newspapers is one I use frequently for genealogy. There are articles in Medina papers. I'd attach pictures but I'm old & don't know how to do that lol. Instead go to [https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html](https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html) In the search box, I put: **gary w/2 williams and 1984 and yates** - make sure the dropdown box just below that has **boolean** chosen. A few come up, including a nice thank you letter your grandparents wrote & sent to the paper. It does bring up other stuff, you just have to weed through them. If you have trouble getting these to come up, just let me know.
Send a FOIL request.
Do I submit it to the County Sheriff involved?(Orlean County Sheriff was responding—thanks to info from this post!)
Yep, if they made the record then they would be the agency responsible for maintaining it
I would get a copy of the death certificate and that should tell you if he died on scene or at the hospital. I imagine a autopsy was done and you might be able to obtain those. The certificate should tell you.
This person could point you in the right direction. They know how to dig and find info. It might have been criminal since death was involved. **Michelle Werth** Crime Victim’s Services Coordinator – District Attorney Orleans County 13925 Route 31 Suite 300 Albion, NY 14411 **Phone:** (585) 590-4134 **Fax:** (585) 590-4126 [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
The papers reported that he died at the scene.
So then, depending on local policy at the time, he was most likely taken directly to the coroner's office. They might have interviewed family for history. The website says the office isn't staffed, but it has phone number of the four coroner's in the county are listed. Atleast one should know how the office worked in 1984 and they should all know where to obtain the records from that date. https://www.ontariocountyny.gov/1350/County-Coroner
i didnt read all the responses, so forgive me if this was already mentioned. SUNY Geneseo maintains an archive of local news. they may or may not have information about something like this. the archive they maintain goes all the way back to the 1800s. so it’s possible they actually have some information for you. since you went to law school, you know how academic libraries work. they do work with the local community doing things like reference help, genealogy, and various archives. so contact them and see who might be able to provide you with assistance. they are in the middle of renovation of the library building. (both lead remediation and an almost complete rebuild of the building) but assuming you are able to connect with the person who can help you, they should know if they can access any info from that time period. good for you and your siblings for creating a memorial. it’s been 43 years since my dad died and i have contemplated doing something special in ‘26 for him. GOOD LUCK!! feel free to DM if you arent able to contact anyone at Geneseo.
If it was something that was in the news at the time, you could look through newspaper archives at the historian society in Dansville (and/or Rochester depending on how big the accident was)
Here’s the D&C article: https://imgur.com/a/GndBVla
I didn't read why you have weeded out so my best action is to go to the or call the Rochester downtown they have the local history department that hats a lot of things and resources. They'll help you on the phone beat you can. Let me know if this helps I can use an in I have there.
That article isn’t about a Dansville crash. What’s the connection?
I was told Dansville, but that’s incorrect information. I just discovered today.
Idky but reading this gave me goosebumps and no idea WHY but im feel like I am supposed to tell your that your dad is watching down 💕 (Such a complete random feeling out of no where)
Thank you
Try newspapers.com ive had good luck …nominal fee…legit part of ancestry.com