Victor Roman, 1885-1906

Headstone GPS Coordinates: Burial location unknown. 

Birth: July 1885, Princeton, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota

Death: 6 June 1906, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: None.

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None

Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards.

The SCRP team was able to add another name – Victor Roman – to the Seabeck Cemetery burial list, thanks to his family, who reached out to us. There is no marker for Victor in the cemetery, and no death record exists for him in Washington. Victor was one of many who lost their lives working in the logging industry. Even today, with advanced technologies and safety measures, the timber trade remains one of the most dangerous professions—underscoring just how hazardous it was in Victor’s time.

Victor Roman was born in July 1885 in Princeton, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, to Swedish immigrants Andrew Roman and Carrie Anderson. He grew up on the family farm with his eight siblings, surrounded by fellow Swedish immigrants who had come to the United States seeking fertile land and the chance to build a new life.

On June 21, 1905, at the age of 19, Victor was listed as a day laborer on his father’s farm, but he was eager to explore new horizons. He traveled west to Washington State and found work felling trees. The vast evergreen forests of western Washington must have been awe-inspiring to him, though he may not have realized how unpredictable—and deadly—it could be to bring down centuries-old giants.

In July 1906, as Victor would have been celebrating his 21st birthday, his parents instead received the devastating news of his death. The details were published in The Princeton Union on July 5, 1906:

“Killed by Falling Tree.
Particulars of the death of Victor Romand have just been received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Roman. The young man was employed in the woods at Sebeck, Washington. On June 7 he was engaged with others in felling a tree six feet in diameter and a couple of hundred feet high. It appears that this tree in falling became fastened in the tops of another one and that Mr. Roman, while attempting to extricate it, was crushed by its sudden and unexpected dislodgment. His remains were buried in Sebeck.
Victor Roman was raised in Princeton and had been in Washington about sixteen months at the time of his death.”

This article, published in Princeton, Minnesota, is the only record of Victor’s passing. He left behind no mention in Washington newspapers, no death certificate, and no entry in county death records. The SCRP is deeply grateful to Victor’s family for sharing this article, allowing us to honor his memory at Seabeck Cemetery and to remember the sacrifices made by lumbermen who built this community.