(NOTE: Image is of the author, about 1975, in Selleck’s Cave near Carlisle. The initials “T.N.M” and the date 1844 are visible to his right.)
Thomas Alfred McFail (1828-1854) is remembered in the local history books for an untimely death. The location and circumstances of his death remain a mystery.
A mathematics and natural sciences instructor at the short-lived Carlisle Seminary school in the heart of Schoharie County’s Cave Country, he is believed to have died from a fall climbing from a cave in the Loesser’s Woods area, not far southeast from the school. There are several caves and pits in Loesser’s Woods, including the entrance to the longest cave in the northeast, named McFail’s, although that may not be cave the professor died in.
That’s just part of the confusion.
There are different accounts of what happened the day the professor died. The most long-lived account is from William Roscoe’s 1882 History of Schoharie County, and unfortunately the author got the professor’s initials wrong, as well as the year he died1. And Roscoe has McFail dying in another cave, Selleck’s Cave, not far from Loesser’s Woods.
According to Roscoe, McFail died in 1853, and his middle name started with the consonant, ‘N.” thus, Prof. T. N. McFail died from that fall in Selleck’s Cave, and a year earlier.
The simplest explanation for McFail’s death is likely the most accurate, but “simple” did not appeal to some newspaper writers of the period.
The New York City-based Tribune ran the story, attributed to a correspondent. The paper included a lengthy resolution attributed to a request by the seminary’s faculty. McFail’s fellow academics expressed great remorse at losing a fellow pedagogue “who bid fair to become a bright and shining light in the great Armament of mathematical science.”
The full text of the faculty’s resolution is undecipherable in the digital reproduction of the 160-year-old newspaper.
Under the simple headline “Accidental Death of Prof. McFail,” the Tribune’s report of July 8, 1854, with minor edits, follows.
“On the July last [July 1] Prof. McFail in company with Drs. Roscoe and Mayham2, started out to make a geological exploration of several caves, situated some two or three miles from the village. In visiting the last of these, they were obliged to let themselves down two perpendicular descents of fifty feet and thirty feet respectively, by means of ropes fastened above.
“This they accomplished in safety, as also the exploration of the cave as far as practicable—that is, about a quarter of a mile. On attempting a return Drs. R and M found no difficulty in climbing the rope at the lower descent of thirty feet; but Prof. McFail, who was of a considerably fuller habit, was unable to do the same. They then resorted to the expedient of doubling the rope, so that Prof. McFail might have something in which to rest his foot. One part of the double rope was made fast to a tree above, and up this part he climbed, while the Drs. pulled gradually on the other to keep his foot square in the sling.
“Thus, assisted he ascended some twenty feet, talking cheerfully all the while. At this point the Drs. suddenly felt that the rope had lost its weight, though there was no jerking of the rope whatever. A moment after a dull, heavy sound at the bottom of the cave-hole, and a stifled groan, told but too plainly what had happened.
“Dr. M. immediately descended to where he had fallen, while Dr. K. clambered up the other descent and summoned the neighbors. Prof. McFail was now hoisted upon blankets and taken to an adjoining house. Here he lay in great pain for nearly three hours, dying a few minutes before 7 o’clock p.m. He was sensible for only a very short time after his fall. The injuries were mostly internal and were supposed to be principally concussion of the brain and laceration of the liver.
“Thus, had fallen in the prime of life one whose memory will be fondly cherished by all who knew him.”
The Troy Daily Times ran a slightly different version of the story, which they in turn picked up from the Albany Journal of July 5. This time, he died nearly instantly, and left a stricken widow. They also eliminated his first name.
Headlined “Fatal Accident – Death of Prof. McFail,” the paper reported:
“A party of the students belonging to the Carlisle (Schoharie co.) Seminary, accompanied by Prof. Alfred McFail and others, proceeded on Saturday last to explore the celebrated Cave, located a few miles from the Seminary. They had closed their explorations and were returning when the accident occurred which resulted in the death of the Professor.
“It happened in this wise: The party had been in a pit of some hundred feet deep, and all had ascended by means of pully ropes, except Mr. McF. He was ascending, and had nearly reached the platform, when, by some means, he slipped from the rope seat and fell to the bottom of the cave.
“On being approached, he was found senseless, and died in a few minutes. He was a gentleman of rare endowments, well beloved by the students, and highly respected by all.
“He leaves a stricken wife to mourn his sudden departure.”
O, LET ME REST’
The July 18, 1854, Syracuse Daily Sentinel had a love of poetry, and shared the news of Prof. McFail’s death by publishing an anonymous mourner’s ode allegedly based on what the write claimed were the deceased’s final words, “O, Let Me Rest.”
It was one of several tributes in verse in the paper that day. The digital reproduction of the 160-year-old paper made the ode to Prof. McFail unreadable.
The paper’s introduction follows:
“The sad and untimely death of the late Prof. McFail, of Carlisle Seminary, has created a deep feeling of gloominess throughout that institution, and caused all who were acquainted with his situation in life, and with the melancholy circumstances attending his death, to drop a tear of sorrow to his memory.
“We learn that the Professor was an orphan in the world at the time of his death, and was universally beloved, admired, and respected. At the time he met with the accident which so suddenly deprived him of life, he said to those kind friends who had hastened to his relief, and who were about to raise his mangled and bleeding remains from the cold and ragged stones, ” O let me rest.”
“This sad and pitiful expression, made by one then in the agonies of death, and who accompanied the request with such an imploring look, touched deeply the hearts of all those present; it has suggested the lines which we publish below.
“They were sent us for publication by a Lady who knew the Prof, well, and whose kind heart seems to have sympathized with the afflicted, and to have learned “to melt at others in woe.”
(The undecipherable poem followed.)
NOT SELLECK’S CAVE?
In 1965, when the National Speleological Society accepted ownership of the McFail’s Cave property, it became the first cave in the country to be owned by the organization. Continuing discoveries since then have expanded the known length of the cave to nearly seven miles, making it the longest cave in the Northeastern United States.
In a 2005 address describing the importance of the NSS’s management of the cave3, society member Fred Stone, Ph.D. offered this: “Professor McFail entered a pit known locally as the “Ice Hole” on July 1, 1854, and was climbing a rope to the surface when he slipped, fell back into the pit, broke his neck, and died. The pit was filled with logs.
“It is believed this is the pit now known as McFail’s Hole.” But Stone adds a twist; “a nearby pit, “Wick’s Hole” (seen from below) is full of large, suspended logs which totally block the pit, so it might have been the original Ice Hole.”
It has long been believed the professor carved his initials in Selleck’s Cave, something considered vandalism today. It’s not easy to carve into limestone with a pocket-knife, and the scratching in the stone reads, “T.N.M. -1844.” (Getting the middle initial wrong). While the potential is there to connect several of the caves in the Carlisle area to McFail’s, no one believes this is the cave in which McFail perished.
Also, McFail would have been 16 in 1844 and living in western New York. And the Carlisle Seminary had not been built at that time4.
Like the mysteries surrounding the circumstances of his death, there is little is known of the life of Prof. McFail. He was born in 1828 in Pike, in western New York, and was a graduate of Genessee College in 1852. He served as principal at the Union School, Scottsville, NY, from 1852-3, and then became professor of mathematics and natural science at the Carlisle Seminary, 1853-4.
The Carlisle Grove Seminary was also short lived. Opened in 1853, it was destroyed by fire in 1865, according to the historical marker near the site.
A great NSS website describes the cave preserve named for the professor, its history, and management, along with some great underground photos here: McFails Cave Nature Preserve
1 I was among those perpetuating the error, citing Roscoe’s account in 2021’s Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure and Enterprise in NY’s Cave County. To date, no one has called me out on it.
2 These are two other professors at the Carlisle Seminary. Dr. Roscoe is not believed to be related to the historian, William Roscoe.
3 McFail’s Cave, the Beginning of NSS Cave Ownership and Development of a Model for Interactive Cave Management, by Fred D. Stone, PhD (NSS member number 6015) Hawaii Community College, Hilo, HI.
4 We’re not sure how the initials in Selleck’s Cave became identified with Prof. McFail. They were first recorded only as “T.N.M.” by explorer Arthur VanVoris in 1929 in Lesser Caves of Schoharie County. However, they are identified as McFail’s initials in a 1960s-era guide to the caves of Schoharie County.