The US Navy dirigible, Shenandoah, was bound from Lakehurst, NJ to St Louis on September 3, 1925 when it crashed in a storm near Caldwell, Ohio. The commander of the airship was Zachary Lansdowne, a native of Greenville, Ohio. 14 crew were killed and 2 were injured. Commander Lansdowne's wife reportedly said that the Commander's mother lives in Greenville, Ohio, not far from the crash. She believed he had planned to circle her house. A dispatch orginating from Dayton, Ohio said: "Betty Ross Lansdowne arose early this morning, happy in the thought that she would see her boy today. There came the news that there had been an accident... Mrs. Lansdowne collapsed. Tonight her life handgs by a thread." (New York Times, Sept 4, 1925).

rich r