Today, I sat in on Thomas MacEntee's live Webinar on "Finding Ancestors Amid the Rubble of Disaster and Misfortune". This was a great learning experience. He talked about many websites that I had not yet thought to check, for information on some of the disasters my ancestors may have experienced in their lifetimes ( such as epidemics, tornadoes, floods, etc). Primarily, my focus today was to look for information concerning train wrecks that my paternal grandfather might have been involved in.
As I have detailed in previous entries on this Blog, my grandfather John P Harrison was a career railroad employee with the FRISCO (St. Louis- San Francisco) railway in Missouri, from 1892 to 1935 , when he retired at age 70. He spent 43 years as a FRISCO employee, beginning as a Fireman and later being promoted to Engineer on the Iron Mountain Route out of Desoto, Missouri. He later worked routes out of St. Louis and Chaffee, Missouri as an Engineer, and then finally retired in the capacity of Crossing Watchman in his final years with the railroad. I have a copy of my grandfather's journal-ledger book, in which he made a few succinct entries about his career with the Frisco. One entry had always puzzled me, in which he wrote about being "taken out of service" for a period in 1922 "on charges", and then later being "reinstated with full seniority rights" in 1923. This seemed to allude to an accident of some sort that he may have been involved in, and I had heard oral stories from an elderly aunt alluding to this as well. I wanted more information on what could have happened. Alas, both my grandfather and my aunt, as well as that entire generation of my family, are now gone...so I am unable to ask them for further details on this incident. I had searched the web for quite a while looking for articles that might pertain to railroad accident incidents that could have possibly involved my grandfather, to no avail. None of the articles that I had come across regarding FRISCO train wrecks seemed to quite fit my grandfather's scenario as to location/ time/ details.
The Webinar I participated in today led me to a site called GenDisasters, at www3.gendisasters.com . On that site, I found a listing of historic railroad accidents in Missouri. With a little further digging on that page,I found copies of two newspaper articles which had been posted concerning FRISCO wrecks that I believe may very well have involved my grandfather, in particular one that occurred in 1922.
Since railroads were the primary mode of transportation in that era, train wrecks were a very big deal and stories of them were often carried by out-of-area newspapers, much like the AP service transmits stories of national interest today. I have located some historical photos of FRISCO train wrecks which I have obtained permission to share, and found articles from two newspapers archives that I had not thought to check, posted by users of the GenDisasters website, which likely connect to my grandfather.
Here is the first relevant newspaper article I found posted on the GenDisasters website:
Arcadia, MO Train Wreck, Sept 1905
"WRECK ON THE IRON MOUNTAIN
Two Train Men Killed and Fifteen Passengers Injured.
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 17.--The fast passenger train for the southwest, which left St. Louis last night over the Iron Mountain route, was wrecked today near Arcadia, Mo. According to reports received here two train men were killed and 15 passengers injured. The wreck is said to have been caused by the train, which was unusually long, leaving the rails at a sharp curve, the engine turning over down an embankment. Three of the forward cars left the rails but only one of these was badly damaged.
Idaho Statesman, Boise, ID 18 Sept 1905"
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"Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!"
And, here are the second and third article, which I believe could be concerning the incident involving my grandfather in 1922 that he wrote about in his journal (note the two slightly different versions of the same incident). He was not killed in the wreck, nor do I know for certain that he was injured, though apparently there were deaths and injuries:
Horine, MO Train Wreck, Aug 1922
"ENGINEMEN DEAD FROM COLLISION
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 16.--An engineer and a fireman were killed today in a collision of two St. Louis-San Francisco passenger trains at Horine, Mo., thirty-five miles southwest of here.
The trains were running between St. Louis and Tennessee points and were the fastest and most up-to-date trains on the Frisco service.
About twenty persons were injured in the wreck.
Reno Evening Gazette, Reno, NV 16 Aug 1922"
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"FIREMAN AND AN ENGINEER ARE INJURED TODAY IN A FRISCO WRECK.
St. Louis, Aug. 16.--A fireman and an engineer were injured when two Frisco trains met in a head-on collision at Horine, Mo., near here today, according to information received at train headquarters.
Train No. 801 crashed into No. 806, the advices said.
Both engine and mail cars were derailed, the other coaches remaining on the track. No passengers were injured.
A relief train was dispatched from St. Louis.
The Chillicothe Constitution, Chillicothe, MO 16 Aug 1922"
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"Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!"
While the above articles do not mention my grandfather by name, I now have more information concerning dates and locations to search for further records. Unfortunately, since my grandfather retired from the FRISCO just before they began retaining and archiving employee records, I do not have the benefit of his employee or retirement records to refer to. All I have to go by is his journal. John P. Harrison was a man of few words concerning what he wrote in that journal. Most entries consisted merely of a short entries pertaining to the most important events in his life, such as the births of his children, family illnesses and deaths, and a very brief record of the most important dates of his career with the FRISCO. It is clear that the FRISCO was a very important part of his life. One of his final entries in the journal simply reads, "God Bless The Frisco".
