Death At The Station

Ogden's

Historical Union Station

Photo courtesy of  Ogden Union Station

Contents

A. Dedication

B. Contents   

C.   Prologue       

1.    Firsts  

2.   Love and the Red Light  1897

3.     It happened in Threes

4.     A new Century  1900

5.     Snipes and Mills  1903

6.     Would The Real James Lynch, Please .  .

              1904 .  .  

7       1904-1913

8.     What’s in the trunk?

9.     1913-1917

10.    War and Influenza 1918-1920

11.    1920 +

12.     Odd coincidences

13. The Unknowns

Part Two

14.    The Cut Off

          Promontory

         Jackson

         Lemay

         trestle

         Bagley

15. The Rest of The Story

Death At The Station

By Robin B Westover

Prologue

     There were  thousands of  deaths along the  Transcontinental Railroad route in

the Mountain West.  The first deaths pertaining to the railroad  in Utah  were on  Oct.

6  1853, Paiute Indians attacked U.S. Army Captain John W. Gunnison and his party

of 37 soldiers and railroad surveyors near Sevier Lake, Utah. Gunnison and seven

other men were killed.(1)

      In 1865 The Union Pacific’s crew consisted of 500 or so soldiers from the civil

war, 200 or so  Ex convicts,  500-1000 freed negro slaves and 1000 or two of Irish and other immigrants . (2)

They were laying tracks, blasting through  mountains, and grating the land  along the

surveyed route from Omaha through Wyoming  and  Utah  territories .  End Point. . . .

Promontory Summit in Utah territory.  (3) These men worked hard, and played even

harder.

    

Beartown, Wyo. Territory*

 As The railroad marched rapidly across  the broad  Continent  of plain and mountain,

there was  a rough, Improvised  and temporary town at every stopping place (3)

Robert Louis Stevenson described the camps as “roaring, impromptu  cities  full of  gold,

lust and death.”(Across The Plains Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)( 4)

Only a small portion of their population had anything to do with the railroad or any

legitimate occupation.   These temporary cities of the "hangers-on", with canvas

tents, plain board shanties, and turf-hovels, followed right along with the construction

gangs. (5)

They were made up of gambling houses, saloons,  dance parlors, general stores, and the soiled doves,

‘ladies’ that would show you a good time   . . If you paid them.    Desperadoes of

every grade, the vilest of men and of women made up "hell on Wheels”.(6)  Dens of iniquity.

was what  Alexander Toponce said of the camps, “It seemed for a while as if all the

toughs in the West had gathered there.  Every form of vice was in evidence.  

Drunkenness and gambling were the mildest things they did.  It was not uncommon for

two or three men to be shot or knifed in a night.”  (6)  (7)  Henry M Stanley stated “I verily believe that there

are men here who would murder a fellow creature for five dollars. Nay, there are men

who have already done it, and who stalk abroad in daylight unwhipped of justice. Not

a day passes but a dead body is found somewhere in the vicinity with pockets rifled of

their contents. . . . “(8)

One to two thousand men, and a dozen or two women, were encamped in the make

shift shelters.  By day disgusting, by night dangerous; gambling, drinking, hurdy-gurdy

dancing and the vilest of sexual commerce; the chief business and pastime of the

hours, “it fairly festered in corruption, disorder and death.”   That was how Samuel

Bowles described  the  temporary cities that would set up for  30-60 days or so then

break down and move along with the progression of the rails.   (9)

More joined the prostitutes, gamblers, bartenders, pimps and shills*  that were in Hell

on Wheels for "big money" during the progression through Wyoming  and Utah

Territories.

The men chosen to keep the peace were called Ironmen. They would stay at the

construction sites during the week and on Saturdays they made their  way back to the

temporary cities of Hell on Wheels.   The Sunday night roundups  had familiarized,

those in charge of keeping peace, with the worst toughs and the filthiest bawds. The

raids were a foretaste of the Vigilante hangings and gun battles that would torture

every town founded along the Union Pacific in 1868‑69. The ironmen stalked in, shot

down the toughs who pulled guns, marched "the worst ones" out to the cottonwood

grove and hung them.  Once General Dodge  ” received a dispatch that a

crowd of gamblers had taken our terminal point at Julesburg and refused to obey the

local officers we had appointed over it. I wired General Casement to take back his

track force, clean the place up, and sustain the officers. When I returned to Julesburg I

asked General Casement what he had done. He replied, 'I will show you.' He took me

up to a little rise just beyond Julesburg and showed me a small graveyard, saying,

'General, they all died in their boots, but it brought peace.' "  (10)

Sunday nights the foremen moved from saloon to saloon in squads, guns ready;  Monday , it was work as

usual at sunup.(11)  

The UP’s advance westward  spawned some rough towns. Among them was Bear River City,just over the

Utah border,  Wasatch, Echo,  Ogden and Corinne.   (12) At Wasatch located just inside the Utah Territory, Union Pacific paymaster O.C, Smith recorded in his diary, 29 June 1869, “There was a man shot and hung at Wasatch tonight, Reason given, He is a Dammed Nigger.”  Violence and prejudice ran uncontrolled. (13)  Correspondent  Henry Morton Stanley wrote  "Every gambler in the Union seems to have steered his course here. Every known game under the sun is played here. Every house is a saloon and every saloon is a gambling den.”(14)

When the railroad moved on, past Echo, seven skeletons were found under a saloon, among the whiskey bottles. (15)

As for Uinta, located at the mouth of Weber canyon and about 7 miles from Ogden, it seemed every building was either a grog shop, gambling den, or what might loosely be termed a restaurant.  “Uinta in fact,” John Jaques concluded  “is one of the most repulsive looking places I ever saw"   (16)

(Corinne )

“The child is born, and her name, as you see, is Corinne.” The Salt Lake Reporter headlined the

announcement. The selection of the last town on the long line of the Union Pacific Railroad. Other camps in

the west were to be temporary construction camps.(17)

Corinne, Box Elder County, Utah, was about the most famous city west of St. Louis, and East of San

Francisco.  The boom struck the town before the railroad had reached Ogden.  Immorality ran very high in

Corinne in boom days.  They had  twenty-eight saloons and gambling houses.  Along with  crimson lights,

moral laws of decency were not observed very well.(18)  One of the observers writing to the Deseret News,

drew the conclusion that Corinne was  “fast becoming civilized, several men having been killed there already,

the last one was found in the river with four bullet holes through him and his head badly mangled.   (19)

Telegraph dated April 10, 1869:” John Barry, shot at the Promontory, removed to Brigham city and had bullet

removed by dr. Ormsby; recovering.”

Telegraph dated April 13, 1869 from Sharp & Young Camp,” On Tuesday night two men were killed two miles from here.  “Lucky Bill” shot John Berry through the arm:  Berry then shot his assailant in the abdomen and he died Yesterday.”(20)

J. H. Beadle a New York Correspondent wrote

   Nineteen saloons . . . two dance-houses amused the elegant leisure of the evening hours, and the supply of “sports” was fully equal to the requirements of a railroad town. . . At one time, the town contained eighty “nymphs du pave,” popularly known in Mountain English as “soiled doves.” (21)

A correspondent from the New York Herald, visiting Corinne in May 1869, considered Corrinne the worst town he had ever entered.  The appearance and the character of its population were frightening.  In fact he was so fearful looking at the faces of the community that instead of spending the night there as he had planned, he hired a “pine box on four wheels” and left for Brigham City, breathing a sigh of relief when Corinne was behind him.  (21)

   Uinta County, Wyoming, states in their history:

“It is believed that the cost in lives during the construction of the grade through Uinta County  (to the Utah

border) was ten men to a mile.  Often their bodies were buried, without ceremony, in the roadbeds.”  (22)

Alaxander Toppence wrote about the battle of Beartown wyo. When I still had the beef contract I was camped on the south side of the track at a sulphur spring across from Beartown. Down the track east about 600 feet was a cold water spring and there the editor of the Beartown paper had his tent.

One of the contracting firms was Cheeseborough & Magee. They had a grading contract and the toughest gang on the road. Magee was hard boiled and when a bunch of the men saw him coming they would say to each other, "Lookout, here comes Cinny," and then they would make the dirt fly.

Magee would size up the work done and if he was dissatisfied he would knock a pick off the handle and use the pick handle as a club, and knock two or three of them down. They were nearly all Irish and they seemed to think it was all right.

One day a gang of graders came to town and got drunk and raised such a row that the city marshal arrested three of them and put them in the lock-up, a little new cabin just built of green logs.

Next day the paper come out with an article saying that "Beartown had stood enough from the rowdy and criminal element and it was time to call a halt." And more just like it.

The next morning I saw about fifty of the Cheeseborough and Magee outfit coming along the track. They had read the paper. The leaders had ropes in their hands and they called out as they passed me that they were going to hang the editor.

There was a mule standing ready saddled at the door of my tent and I jumped on him and raced down to the editor's tent. The crowd got to the front door as I got to the back of the tent. I cut a long slit in the back of the tent with my knife and got him out on the mule and he escaped.

They simply ruined that printing office and you can depend on it, I did nothing to interfere further. Then they went across the grade into town. The business men locked their stores and about a dozen got together in Nuckles store with rifles to defend themselves.

The leader of the mob was a man named Tom Smith. He led them to the lock-up and they tried to liberate the prisoners. They tried to bum the jail but the logs were too green.

The mob run the town from eight o'clock to four in the afternoon, getting drunker and more dangerous all the time. About four, Smith knocked on the door of Nuckles store and when the proprietor opened the door a little and advised them to get out of town Smith shot him in the leg.

Then the shooting became general. It was a regular battle. The men with rifles barricaded in the store opened up and swept the streets. Seventeen men were killed in the mob and as many more were wounded, some of whom died.

Some people called it a massacre, but it had a good effect and just as in the case of the "Vigilantes" in Montana there was an end to the rough stuff on the Union Pacific.

The graves of those killed in the Beartown fight, are still to be seen on the south side of the Union Pacific track just east of Hilliard Station.

In regard to the Vigilantes, in the early days in Montana. I don't think they made any mistake in hanging anybody. The only mistake they made was that about fifty per cent of those whom they merely banished should have been hung instead, as quite a number of these men were finally hung on the Union Pacific road, during its construction.

I got up one morning at my camp near Beartown, Wyoming, and noticed something hanging from a tripod near the railroad track, and I walked down to see what it was. It was three of those fellows, who I knew had been banished from Montana in 1864, with a little tag pinned on their coat, which read, "Warning to the road agents." (23)

In his personal diary of the summer of 1868, surveyor A.N. Ferguson noted

45 men killed by Indians, six

drowned, one construction worker killed falling off a bridge, 10 shot dead in robberies or fights and one killed

by a stray bullet, while sitting in his tent.  ( 24)

    The Central Pacific had lost many men in the blizzards, the avalanches and the blasting with black powder and nitroglycerin  (25) at the tunnels near Donner Summit and across Nevada.    Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Chinese workers died while building the line. (26) In the tunnels, particularly the 1659 foot Summit Tunnel, it was Chinese work crews who were responsible for the blasting. The rock was so hard that only about seven to eight inches of progress were made in a day. That is, until they began to use

nitroglycerin in 1866. With the nitroglycerin, progress was made much faster, but at a greater expense of life.

Between the blasting on the cliff face and the blasting in the tunnels, numerous Chinese workers perished.

The "Central Pacific did not keep record of coolie casualties"

Work continued through the winters, which in the high Sierras were rough and cold and full of snow and blizzards. The work continued under the snow. The work crews lived like "arctic moles", only seeing daylight when they poked through new air holes and smoke vents.The engineers wrote

"In many cases, the road

between camp and work was through snow tunnels, some of them 200 feet long. The construction of retaining work in the canyons carried on through the winter. A great dome was excavated in the snow, where

the wall was to be built, and the wall stones were lowered through the shaft in the snow to the men working

inside the dome... There were many snow slides. In some cases entire camps were carried away and the bodies of the men not found until the following spring."   in one snowstorm A fully loaded work train slid off the mountain, crashing in the valley below, track and all(27)

 Both Central Pacific and Union Pacific manufactured Nitroglycerin  in log-cabin factories deep in the wilderness. Then the deadly "stuff" was carried pack-a‑back, or by mule cart, up the mountains to the bridge gangs and tunnelmen. Chinese  laborers learned to fire it by trial-and‑error methods, that maimed or killed

hundreds of them. Some of the rock cuts and tunnels still used by Union Pacific and Southern Pacific across Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California are monuments to the unknown dead of nitro's terror reign across the vanishing "Desert." ( 28)

These were the deaths that were caused by accidents, nature and each other.  This doesn’t include the 1000’s of deaths from Indian raids and plagues.  Indians were angry, the giant locomotive scared off the buffalo, elk and antelope in the native american hunting grounds.  Their attacks were swift and very deadly.  

The braves would sneak into the livestock areas and spook them so they would stampede uncontrollably  through the temporary city and camp.  With the commotion of the livestock the other warriors would ride in  from other directions on horses or run in groups carrying tomahawks, spears and using bow and arrows.  

The casualties were immense, camps were burned, heads were scalped, bodies piled up.    (29)

     As the two railroad companies advanced closer to Promontory Summit, the men from several countries came within sight of one another.  The civil war soldiers, free black slaves, Irish and Mormons   from the East working for the Union Pacific and the Chinese and Mormon camps from the West working for the Central Pacific. "Crocker's Pets" is what the Chinese were dubbed by the Irish, so named because of Charles Crocker, who recruited the 12,000+ Chinese.   The Irishmen hated the little yellow men.  When the gangs met, the Irish laid a "grave" of dynamite on the Central's tracks, and a whole crew was killed.  The Chinese wisely laid a "grave" on the Chinese line, and the fun was stopped by mutual consent.“(30)  

On may 6th, 1869 the San Francisco Evening Bulletin reported a Chinese Tong war:

A battle has occurred between two rival companies of Chinamen, several hundred in number, laborers of the See Yup and Teng Wo companies.  They have been idle at [camp} Victory,eight miles from here, for a number of days past.  The row occurred about $15 Due from one camp to the other.  After the usual braggadocio, both parties sailed in , at a given signal, armed with every conceivable weapon.  Spades were handled and crowbars, spikes, picks and infernal machines were hurled between the rank of the contestants.  Several shots were fired and everything betokened the outbreak of a riot.  At this juncture, Superintendent Strobridge with several of his men, rushed into the melee and with the assistance of the leading “Chinamen,” who were more peaceable disposed, he succeeded in separating the combatants and restoring order. . . .

The casualties include the shooting, fatally it is supposed of a Chinaman.  The ball penetrated his left side, tearing the flesh and inflicting a very ugly wound.  If this man dies, another encounter will certainly follow and much bloodshed will doubtless ensue.  Dr. Blackwood has rendered surgical attendance to the wounded man. (31)

Overworked and unused to the rigors of the climate, the Chinese died like flies when smallpox struck the camps in the winter and fall of 1868-69. Hundreds of their graves are scattered among the sage along the right of way through Nevada and western Utah.     (32)

Alex Toponce noted in his autobiography:

At Promontory after the last spike was driven,  the celebration over, and the dignitaries were gone,  the men stayed and continued to work on the rails. The UP & CP hadn't settled on the price for the line from Promontory to Ogden, so Promontory continued as the junction where travelers changed trains.  It was this way for almost a year.    During this time, only ONE man per night was killed and buried  in unmarked graves.

This was the end of the Hell on Wheels that had followed the UP west from Omaha.(33)   

But not  the end of the deaths .  The transient population of the tent cities dispersed slowly during that year,   Settling into Corinne, Ogden and other railroad towns.  Ogden had rumors of  Chinese Hatchet men  that would literally

chop up a Chinese man if he was  found not following the  ta.

The Chinese had introduced opium to the railroad workers. It’s use spread like wild fire.  Drug dens were found in the basements and dark corners of the  businesses on Ogden’s 25th street.  Brothels occupied the second floor in almost every building  down two bit street and along Washington.  While Legitimate businesses occupied the  street levels. (34)

The same year a Cholera epidemic swept the railroad camp  at Promontory due to the unsanitary conditions that spread into the water supply. Countless men were buried in mass graves.(35)

   It is difficult to estimate how many deaths there would have been during the construction of the railroad through Weber County to Promontory Summit in Box Elder County, but the above narratives let us know there were  thousands.

The Deseret News was the only newspaper  in print from 1850-1870.  The Salt Lake Tribune was established in the early 1870’s.  Ogden did not have a news paper until 1879. ( 36) News was slow to arrive,

most of the news was either word of mouth or by telegraph and not always accurate.

1sts

1869-1899

First Deaths

 Before the railroad,  Ogden Utah, was a predominantly Mormon town with a very low rate of crime.  They were nervous about the  "Gentiles" coming in and setting up shop.    What ever problems the coming of the railroad caused, they thought,  would be outweighed by the boost in the economy, jobs and being able to transport goods to and from Ogden.  They hoped to balance the bad and the good.  Mostly the "Bad" was contained to 25th street and along Wall.

In 1869, a lady was bludgeoned to death in her tent between the new Ogden Depot and the Weber River.   The men who made her brains ooze out of her head, had heard she held $300 to $400 in a locked box in her tent. They found 35 cents. They were 19 years old and wanted in 3 other states for similar crimes.(1)

Fanny Dawson and the Murder Company Committed  several murders of railroad travelers who were poisoned with arsenic, robbed, and either dumped in an alley or along the tracks of Union Station. (2)  There were other murder companies as well.

The following 3 items were all printed in the Deseret News 11/03/1869

News article states that W.B. Stevenson had died in Springville and would be brought to Ogden  the next day.  No particulars of the incident were given.

One of the first serious accidents involved an immigrant train, headed for Ogden Utah. It ran into the back of a work train that had gone off the track.   \

November 03, 1869 Deseret Evening News   

Melancholy news by telegram received this afternoon from Elder James Needham dated at Evanston, the other side of Bear River. We learn that a collision between the train on which were the emigrants whose names we published yesterday, and another had just occurred by which three persons were killed. Further particulars are not given. Immediate steps were taken on the reception of the telegram to send surgical skill to their aid. Dr.s Anderson and Richards started immediately for the scene of the accident”     (3)

It is unclear from this post in the Deseret  News Which city the  Doctors were sent from.

From a gentleman who arrived in this city [Salt Lake City] by stage last evening we glean the following in relation to the accident at Evanston yesterday.  Our informant was

on an express train traveling Westward  about two miles this side of Evanston yesterday morning between 10 and 11 when the fore wheels of the locomotive ran off the track. Signals were made to the immigrant train which was known  to be behind, but they were not in as soon as he observed the obstruction on the line, reversed the wheels of his engine, he was unable to check the progress of the train so as to prevent a collision. When the wheels of  the express train ran off the line, Engine No. 83 which was on a side track, immediately rendered what assistance it could. The engine being attached to the rear of the express train, in order, if possible, to get it on the line again. The engineer of this locomotive seeing the immigrants train approaching at a speed that could not be checked, detached his engine from the back of the express train and opened the throttle. He heroically set off to meet the immigrant train in order to break the shock.  This he accomplished to some extent, his engine being severely damaged by the collision. Had it not been for this act of daring it is presumed that the accident would have been of much greater magnitude.   (4)

The number and names of the killed and wounded are different in each account showing the difficulties in getting accurate news reports.

One article said three were killed and two badly wounded.  (5)

2 articles from California said that 5 were killed and dozens wounded. (6)

Another, noted three Mormons were killed and five wounded. (7)

J. David Pugh, a passenger on the immigrant train recorded “3 of our brethren were killed in an instant and several other hurted but not fatal.”(8)

Yet another listed “four immigrants, whose names are not given, were instantly killed,

    and about fifteen or twenty wounded”(9)

The names of the killed and wounded were listed in the first article as  

Killed: David Shields Jun (JR.),  Philip Dell and Joseph Thomas.  

Slightly injured : James Hill and David Shields sen (SR.)

Mary Bell whose collarbone was broken. (10)

On Saturday  October 30 The Deseret Evening News printed a dispatch from Chicago:

An Omaha special says that a man named John Tustin was killed in the collision.

This information had bounced from Wyoming/Utah border, where the collision had taken place to Chicago then back to Salt Lake City.   Another article mentions Mr. Tusten with his name spelled differently.  But gives more details about Mr. Tusten  grisly demise  and also about the careless engineer. (11)

 Mr. John Tusten, of Petaluma, who was . . . .  with his family . . . .  was struck by some of the  timbers and crushed beneath them, and when he was extricated it was discovered that he was dead.  A Miss Percy was severely wounded,

having received a deep cut on the head.  The immigrant train fared

worse.  The first passenger car, by the force of the collision, ran into the

caboose, completely "telescoping"*.  

Shortly after the collision, a special train came

from Wahsatch Station, bringing several physicians, who attended to

the wounded.  All care and attention was paid to them.

*Telescoping:   

In a railway accident, telescoping occurs when the underframe of one vehicle overrides that of another, and smashes through the second vehicle's body. ....(12)

The Vallego Weekly Chronicle provided the following gripping astonishing view of the moments on the stalled express train.

A party of seven were standing on the platform, when one of them chanced to lean out and look to the rear, when he saw the engine of the immigrant train just coming round the curve.  He cried, “Look, look!” and “Jump” , at the same moment jumping himself and rolling down the embankment.  Five of the others all leaped down on both sides of the train,  but Mr. Tustin, an elderly man was less active in getting off.  He had swung about one half of his body off beyond the line of the cars, holding onto the platform rail with his left hand and was already in the act of letting go, when two cars came together, catching just on behalf of his body between them, and of course crushing it into a mere mangled mass of flesh and fractured bone.   Here his body remained for 3 hours before it could be extricated, while his unhappy widow was compelled to remain in the train, in knowledge of the horrible event.  Of course, Mr. Tustin’s death was instantaneous, we may mention, as instancing how shockingly he was mangled, that when his body was released, his heart was found to have been forced completely out of the cavity of his body. (13)

  The whole blame rests, beyond a doubt, on the engineer, William Kelly.   It is said that if he had been attending to his business, he would have seen the red signal at least half a mile before he reached it, as his train was coming up grade.  He was questioned   by a number of passengers, among them Mr. James W. Coffroth, of Sacramento, who questioned him as to whether he did not see the signal, and the only response Kelly made was that Mr. C. could "go to h—l, as it was none of his business." The passengers expressed their indignation and made preparations to give Kelly a dose of Lynch Law,

but better heads prevailed, and he was let alone.(14)

A dispatch from Omaha states:

"Kelly, the engineer was promptly discharged."   An informant endeavored to send a dispatch to this giving full details but he was unable to do so, as the Telegraph

Company refused to send his message as he had prepared it.  It is presumed that this was done to prevent the public from knowing the extent of the damage.(15)

The Denver Rocky Mountain News:

A special Western bound passenger train on the U. P. Railroad, ran off

the track, The entire blame rests on the engineer and conductor of the emigrant train who were promptly discharged. (16)

With this information going to all news  media  across  the U.S.A. Via telegraph people were livid and  several articles are printed demanding the conductor and engineer be punished.

The Sacramento Daily Bee,

Monday, November 1, 1869,

THE RAILROAD ACCIDENT. —

There can be no doubt that the late fearful calamity on the Union Pacific Railroad was caused by the reckless conduct, if not the fiendish malice of the engineer on the emigrant train. When, after the massacre (of 3-5 people), a committee waited upon the engineer and respectfully asked for his version of the matter and why he disregarded the signals so plainly given, he insultingly replied that he would not have cared if they had all been killed.  (17)

The Sacramento State Capitol Reporter

October 30:

"It is stated that the conductor and engineer were promptly discharged. We think it should have been promptly arrested and held to answer for the crime of murder.(18)

So far as is known, of the 288 who sailed from Liverpool on the S. S. Minnesota, all were aboard the immigrant train.  The names of the collision victims were on the passenger list —(19)

Philip Dell, thirty-five years of age, from Swansea, Wales,

David Shields, Jr., sixteen years of age from Paisley, Scotland,

Joseph Thomas, eighteen, from Crumlin,Wales,

Joseph Thomas,  Joseph Thomas, David  Shields, Jr., and Philip Dell were interred at Ogden City Cemetery.  Although the exact location of the graves has been lost .  (20 )

These men left their home country to find a new prosperous life and instead their lives ended.

        Mary Bell is mentioned in the Deseret Evening News article.  Mary was a niece to telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell and was  disowned from her family after joining the “Mormon” faith. She sailed from Scotland with her 3 youngest sons.  Andrew, the youngest, died on the ship of an undisclosed illness and was buried at sea.  Her husband and two older sons had emigrated to Utah a year previously to prepare a home ( 21)

.    

In the same issue of the Deseret Evening News of 1869-11-03

Henry Case:(1)

Fatal Accident.- On Thursday afternoon last, as a freight train on the union Pacific railroad was going West, it came into collision with a construction train coming East, about two miles east of the Promontory.  Several of the men on the construction train were badly injured, but only one fatally-a young man named Henry case. . . . . who was severely fractured about the head and neck and one of his hands: his left leg was also broken in three places.   He was taken to the Promontory station where he died at half-past six on Friday evening.   His body was brought in town on Saturday, under the care of his brother, and buried today at 11 o’clock a.m.

Deceased was twenty-six years of age and immigrated from Winsham, Somersetshire, England, last fall.

Death Record: (2)

Name: Case, Henry,  Son of Andrew and Mary Ann,  Birth: 11 April 1844

Town: Salt Lake,  County: Salt Lake, State: Utah,  Date: 29 Oct. ‘69, Cause: Railroad,  

At that time death’s were listed in a ledger. Just a list of names. and dates.

Henry was born in England in 1844.  He sailed with his family from Liverpool to New York  on the “John Bright” (3)

          Case, Henry (Age: 24)

• Case, Andrew (Age: 49)
• Case, Mary (Age: 51)
• Case, Mary Ann (Age: 25)
• Case, Alfred (Age: 23)
• Case, Ellen (Age: 20)
• Case, Eber (Age: 18)
• Case, Hyrum (Age: 15)
• Case, William (Age: 11)(4)

They walked 1300 miles over the Mormon trail (5) With the John Murdock company looking to own land, worship freely and raise a family to carry on the legacy.  They arrived in Utah  Aug.1868  only to have Henry’s life cut short a year later.  (6)

Henry had been part of the 100’s of men that Brigham Young had made arrangements for with the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads to grade the land and do masonry work and other jobs. Brigham Young had been a supporter of the railroad from the beginning.  He was one of the first to buy stock in Union Pacific Railroad.  In 1865 he became a member of the board of directors for Union Pacific. (7) Mormons would be working side by side with the other railroad employees but at a lower wage.  Young hoped this would help the men buy supplies for their families for the upcoming winter.  He also wanted to enlist their help in building his railroad from Ogden to Salt Lake(8) The harvest of ‘68 was slim.  Winter of ‘68/69 was hard,  A statement from Brigham Young Printed in the Deseret News 11-10-1869 said “Money is scarce in Utah it is true.  Business is dull.” (9) and  100’s more immigrants were pouring into Utah every day, looking for gainful employment.   These men worked hard, even when the pay was not there,  Brigham Young had encouraged the men to keep on working.(10) (11) After the celebrations at Promontory Summit in May 1869, the agreement with the two railroad companies was not totally honored.  But the men had work, maintaining the rails, building new lines and working in the freight yards as well as the other businesses that went along with the business of transporting goods and travelers.

Henry didn’t achieve the American dream he was looking for but the 1880 census shows the rest of the family living in Salt Lake

William, Irma his wife, and William jr. 4 months old.,  lived in the same residence as his parents, Andrew and Mary Ann, along with his sister Ellen Jane.

Hyrum, his wife Kate, Their children Kate and Hyrum lived on the same block.

Eber, his wife  Mary, Their children Eber, Mary, Andrew and Raymond  lived on the next block over.

Alfred, his wife Eliza’h  and their children Alfred, Eliza’h lived in the same area.  (12)

I believe they all achieved their American dream.

1879

S.C.Hill

On the 3rd of May, S.C. Hill , night yardmaster for the C.P.R. R.  stooped down between two railroad cars and started to uncouple them, he lost his balance  and fell onto the track.  The wheels of the car ran over him before his fellow employees could help him up.   He was crushed and mangled, he was taken to the shops and placed on a mattress.  Dr. Carnahan was soon by his side but nothing could be done .   He didn’t seem to suffer much he realized he was fatally injured and expressed a desire to die quickly.  Approximately 50 minutes after the accident happened he died.

 He had been working only a few months in the area.  30 years of age, not married but had a brother who was a conductor on the “Humboldt division of the road” and his mother lived in Chicago. (13)

Edmund Allard

On the 14th Edmund Allard, fireman for the C.P  was standing with one foot inside the cab of the engine and one on the tender, when a  coupling pin broke, the two parts of the engine immediately separated and he was thrown to the ground and died instantly.  he was 24 years old ( 14)

John Hilton

Oct 1st of 1879 John T. Hilton age 18  had been working for the Utah Southern railroad only  6 weeks.  His title was freight deliverer  on the line, and  was required to assist thr brakesman when needed.   At the Sandy Station , Hilton went  between the cars to unpin the coupling, but he did it too soon  the detached  car started moving, Hilton  lost his balance and fell onto the track.  The main train was backing up and several cars went over his body.  Both legs were broken and terribly lacerated and his right hand nearly torn off.  He was brought back to Ogden .  The  physician  that saw Hilton at the station office said there was no hope of recovery.   His family Came to his side , Father, Mother, brother and sisters, and Hilton although being in excruciating pain , was conscious, talked calm and evenly.  He told his mother not to cry, then said  “Mother if there is any thing--”  he did not speak again.  (15)

Another article said John had a premonition.- Among the last words uttered by John  Hilton previous to his death, this morning, were these to his father,  “Father, I  knew when I started away this morning that I was going to be killed,  but I had not the courage to tell you.” (16)

1880

Reuben Doyle

In 1880 an emigrant train would arrive each morning in Ogden.   The caboose is disconnected from the main train. The engine then side tracked the other cars and returned to draw the caboose into the depot. (1)

On July 31, of 1880 at the north end of the Central Pacific rail yard, Reuben Doyle, a 62 year old passenger, was standing on the platform of the caboose and  became confused when the train was uncoupled from it and started moving forward.   Mr. Doyle fearing he and the other emigrants on the train were being left behind,  jumped off the caboose to try to catch the end car of the moving train.  The caboose was moving as well and the distance between the two was about 8 feet.  The brakesman was setting the brake to bring the caboose to a stop.  He witnessed the Mr. Doyle jump,  he and the peanut boy* knowing that he would fall and be run over by the caboose, grasped  and caught him as his feet left the platform.  They held onto him as long as possible but the  man was too much for them while dangling over the front of the caboose.   Mr. Doyle struggled to recover and slipped from the grasp of the brakesman who immediately set the break tighter,  but one of the wheels of the front truck  had passed over the unfortunates man’s leg, cutting it off between the ankle and knee.  The caboose was brought to a stop before the entire car passed over him.   Mr. Doyle was placed in a train-car and was taken to the depot where he was attended to by a Dr. Camahan.  The Dr. had him taken in a blanket to the Keeney house on 25th street.  When the examination was made of his injuries it was found that Mr. Doyle had internal injuries.  At that time there wasn’t much a physician could do to help someone with internal injuries and this physician had little hope of his recovery.  

Mr. Doyle died later that day.  No one was held accountable for  his death since he choose to jump and if the brakesman and peanut boy had not caught his leg, Mr. Doyle would have fallen onto the track and run completely over killing him instantly. (2)

*The peanut boy is a young man who sells newspapers on the train to the passengers.  He also sold bags of peanuts.  Hence the name peanut boy. (3)

The funeral services of Mr. Doyle took place Aug, 1, 1880 The original article said Mr. Doyle was an emigrant from Seattle Washington but must have been in Ogden for a while joining the Masonic temple in that city.   His funeral was taken care of by the Masons and the Presbyterian Church Where services were handled by Rev. Knowles, according to the request of the deceased who belonged to his church.  Prayer was offered by Rev. Hyde and the choir sang “Safe in The Arms of Jesus”.  After a short impressive speech by the Rev. Knowles, the hands of the Masons who read an appropriate chapter, and while kneeling, offered up “ The Lords Prayer”.(4)

1881

David Thomas

A Brakesman was killed yesterday afternoon.   David Thomas,  twenty year old son of

Bishop Daniel F. Thomas of Lynne, who had for a short time since been engaged as brakesman on the C. P. R.R., met with his death in a sudden and deplorable manner.  He was on top of a box car while the train was going down the steep grade from Promontory and was suddenly precipitated to the ground, the fall being so severe that he had his head severely bruised and one of one of his legs crushed. The same evening he was relieved from his sufferings by death and his remains were brought to this city this morning.  We deeply sympathize with the family in their sad affliction.

The funeral services will be held in the Lynne meeting house at 10

on Wednesday morning.  (1 )

The city of Lynne was originally part of Binghams Fort  in the Ogden area. (2)  Erastus Bingham’s family and a few others had settled the land .     Erastus was the Bishop of the L.D.S. church for that area making him  the person in charge.   In  the 1850 ‘s The Threat of  indian attacks was high and each settlement was to build a fort .   Bingham was in charge of building the fort down 2nd street below wall . After the Indian threat was over the citizens in that area began to spread out to claim land plots for their farms.   (3)In 1854 Binghams fort had  a population of 732.  The Binghams fort settlement grew and was organized as Lynne Precinct in 1864.  It extended from the mountains to 1200 west and from  North Street to 7th  Street.

In 1889 Ogden Annexed the Lynne Precinct. (4)

In 1880 David lived with his Mother Stova ,  his father Daniel , 8 siblings and 1 servant

in the settlement of Lynne. (5) His father , Daniel Francis Thomas , immigrated from Wales and came to Utah in 1855 with  Charles A. Harper Company. (6)(7)

1882

Sept. 11, 1882 the headline of the Ogden  Standard  read  A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS.   Several accidents had taken place within 24  hours luckily only one was fatal.

Ed Salmon

  A freight train coming eastward, near Lucin, became  dislodge from the other part of the train, brakesman Ed Salmon , attempted to couple the disconnected sections.  He jumped from one car to another  just as the loose section parted  from the main train  throwing Mr. Salmon onto the track where the train ran over his body which proved fatal.  His remains were brought to Ogden on Sunday  Morning and  turned over to the mortician Mr. Preshaw.  (9)

Lucin is 163 miles west of Ogden.   The original line went up through the promontory mountain range  which was steep  and  had several dramatic curves.

(10) Brake-Man:   One who operates, inspects, or repairs brakes, especially a railroad employee who assists the conductor and checks on the operation of a train's brakes.

1884

Will E. Williams

07-18-1884

UNDER THE WHEELS

A Young Man Is Crushed To Death in Colorado.

The Sad News has been received by Mr. W. R. Williams  of the death of his

son, Will E. Williams, by accident in Colorado. The young man was employed

as a brakeman on the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railway and had been with the company but a short time.  In attempting to board the train after turning the switch, he missed his footing and was dragged under the wheels.  Death must have been instantaneous as the body was almost cut in two.   The body left Colorado Springs at 11

today and is expected to arrive  tomorrow. In the case the train arrives on time, the funeral will be at the residence on Adams Avenue at 4 O’clock pm. Bishop Leonard of Salt Lake will officiate. The sister of the unfortunate young man and her husband, who reside at Bancroft Idaho, arrived in the city this morning.  (11)

1889

 This one is not for the squeamish.

Charles Jenkins

A FEARFUL ACCIDENT

The Daily Enquirer Newspaper 1889-08-16

Charles Jenkins run over by the cars and cut to pieces.

A fatal accident occurred at the old depot yesterday morning Charles

Jenkins an old and favorably known blacksmith in this city, residing on twenty seventh between wall and lincoln was run over by the cars near the old express office and instantly killed.

  The accident occurred at 11:30 as near as could be learned and soon after a reporter of the Standard visited the spot and after careful inquiry obtained the following particulars:

Jenkins was at the depot where it was said by some that he was fixing an engine, though that statement is denied by others.  So far no one has been found who saw the accident and how it occurred and therefore nothing but speculation can be offered as to the cause of the accident.  It is, however, known that two trains were coming on the tracks, one from the U. P.  yards coming north and the other going south toward the S. P. freight house.  It is supposed that he got between these two trains, or rather that while watching the S. P. train go by, he was standing on the U. P.  track unconscious of the approach of the U. P. switch engine pushing a long train.  It is plainly evident that he was knocked down by the first car of  the U P train as blood can be found on the first wheel of that car, and the train was not moved from the time the body was found until after the verdict of the coroners jury.  Then  on the axle of the seventh car from the first  can be found a large blotch of blood, as if in his death struggles he had struck the axle and the blood spattered to the wheels.

  Fifteen cars of the train passed over him and three wheels of the sixteenth.

A callboy* at the depot noticed him after the fifteenth car had passed over him and shouted to the engineer to stop and the train was almost immediately.   Mr. Bulen, a switchman, was the first to approach him and he found him with the tongue sticking out from the mouth and the features unrecognizable for blood and dirt.   The unfortunate man was taken out from under the wheels and placed in the little addition to the south of the express office and covered with ice awaiting the arrival of the coroner.  When found he was lying in a pool of blood and fully a pound of flesh was sticking on the rails.   Several hours after the accident while looking at the spot where he was picked up a reporter of the Standard noticed that a crack between the rails, were held together by the fishplates, was filled up with something that took his attention.   Getting a stick,  the substance was extracted

and was found to be the thumb of the right hand of the poor man,  squeezed

into the hole, until there was nothing but the skin and the nail hanging to

a few threads of flesh.  It was taken in to the rest of the body.

(12)

The Salt Lake Herald printed

Mr. Jenkins was crossing he track and jumped one side to clear an approaching train when he was struck by a train from the opposite direction Mr  Jenkins is a blacksmith by trade and his place of business is between Lincoln and Wall avenues Twenty seventh street.   His residence is on To en eighth street near  Lincoln avenue where he leaves a wife and six children to mourn his sudden and deplorable death Mr Jenkins has a son in California about twenty one years of age.(13)

The Ogden Standard Examiner 1889-08-17

Added to the story,  printing that Charles was the adopted child of Thomas Jenkins, an old citizen of Ogden.  Charles was 50 years old and leaves a wife and 6 children, 3 residing at home one living in California and one living in Kansas.   He had been in the employ of the U.P. Company for many years until 2 years ago when he went to work in his father’s blacksmith shop.    The funeral was held at the Jenkins home on twenty-seventh between Wall and Lincoln. (14)

1890

R.S. Snodgrass

KILLED BY ENGINE,  R. S. SNODGRASS MEETS A HORRIBLE DEATH AT THE UNION DEPOT.    DRAGGED BY THE LOCOMOTIVE FOR YARDS.

One Eye Pierced and and Arm and Leg Broken.  No Blame Attached to the Railroad Employees.

R. S. Snodgrass was caught yesterday morning by a Central Pacific engine on the main track near the depot in this city, and so badly injured that he died at 1 p. m. at the Union Pacific Hospital.

On investigation the following facts as to the accident were elicited :  It appears that the unfortunate man was walking up the main C.P. track from lower Twenty second where he lives. Two trains were coming in from the west, one on the C.P. track and one one the D.&.R.G. track.  The latter is about 25 yards west of the former.  The D.&R.G. Train was about one train length ahead of the other in rounding a curve and therefore completely hid the C.P. train until straightening out on the main line.  The deceased turned westward and looked at the passing D.& R. G. train.  The brakeman on that train saw his danger and motioned to him but failed to make him understand.  In the meantime the C.P. train had shown itself.  Fronk Houston was the engineer.  He had been watching the network of switches as he came in and as the train passed out into open sight of the depot behind the D. & R. G. train he saw a man on the track ahead of him, probably only  fifteen feet away.  He blew the whistle, turned on the air, and jumped down to reverse the engine.  By that time the train, which was moving slowly, had come to a stand still, but too late,  The poor man had been struck down and dragged the length of a car and half.  When picked up, a fearful wound was noticed in the right eye as if a large bolt had gone through and pierced the brain.  The right arm and the left leg were fractured.  He had not been run over.  The wound in the  eye was fatal and he died at the hospital at 1 p.m.   

The engineer says that had he been going faster than he was, the man would doubtless have been struck from the track and only received a broken leg or some bruises, but going too slowly something had time to catch his clothes and drag him.  The strange action of deceased when being warned can only be explained by the fact that he was blind in the eye nearest to the approaching monster.

 The deceased leaves a wife and two children to mourn his loss.  The body was removed to the establishment of Undertakers Larkin & Linquist, where it will receive the necessary attention previous to burial.  This accident occurred about the same time that the case of Matola Pool Vs Southern Pacific Railway Company suit for $420,000 damages for the killing of plaintiff’s husband while employed by the company was being argued before Judge Henderson.  (15)

FUNERAL OF R. S. SNODGRASS

The Unfortunate Man Laid to Rest Under Directions of the G.A.R.

The funeral services over the remains of R. S. Snodgrass who on Thursday morning was killed by being struck by the incoming Southern Pacific Passenger train, were yesterday held at the Baptist church and conducted by Rev. Frank Barnett.  At the grave the G.A.R. took charge of the remains.
(16)

09-07-1890 Ogden Standard

George Kistler

THE WHEELS OF DEATH George W. Kistler Run Over by a Railroad Car.

ONE LEG HORRIBLY MANGLED AND TORN Is Carried on a Special from Collinston Where the Accident Occurred and Dies in the C.P. hospital here.

A special engine and caboose rushed into the union depot grounds from Collinston yesterday afternoon a few minutes after 2 o’clock.

On a stretcher in the caboose lay George W. Kistler with his left leg severed from his body. In the Cupola of the caboose, was a box containing the severed member.

The patient was cared for by Dr. Beaty of Collinston and the trainmen who made him as comfortable as possible.  The leg was so mangled and torn that appeared as a chunk of raw meat had not the facts been known.

The Union Pacific Hospital ambulance was waiting on the east side of the depot. The sufferer and his dead leg were moved as quickly as possible to the hospital.  He died at 9:30 last night.

The accident occurred at Collinston about 10 o’clock yesterday morning.  Mr. Kistler, a brakeman on the Utah and Northern, was endeavoring to uncouple two cars from each other and the pin was hard to move.  He placed his left foot on the guardrail and slipping he was caught by the heel.  In endeavoring to free himself he fell backward and was dragged by the train which, however, was moving slowly.

Conductor Dick Carter ran to the brakeman’s assistance and caught hold of him but could not pull him loose.  Then a wheel struck him before the train could be stopped. The leg was cut from the ankle up and rendered it necessary to amputate it.

  He was carried into the agents office and Dr. Beaty was summoned.  In a gambling house nearby a faro games was in progress.*   When the news of the accident, which was spread rapidly reached these men at the faro table, they were informed that there was not a table convenient to rest the injured man on during the operation of amputation.  They quickly closed the game and carried the table and a bundle of clean towels to the station and otherwise rendered all assistance possible.  Residents came running in with bandages and other essentials and a messenger was dispatched to K. of P. hospital for the surgeon’s instruments.

Dr. Beaty  removed the mangled leg and the patient after being allowed time for sufficient rest was placed aboard the special which was detached from a freight train at Deweyville.

The trip to Ogden, a distance of thirty-six miles, was made in one hour with the engineer, T. G. Phillips, making the run as rapidly as it was possible to do with the three stops which were necessarily made.

Dr. Perkins attended the injured man when he arrived at Ogden late in the afternoon. The patient was suffering intensely and the chances for his recovery are very poor indeed.

The Brotherhood of Brakemen and the K. of P. did all they could for the man, he being a member of both orders.  They will attend to the funeral arrangements. (18)

Ogden Standard Examiner 1890-02-15

The body of George Kistler who died from injuries received on the Utah and Northern at Collinston on Wednesday was started for his parent’s home in Mansville, Pennsylvania, yesterday morning.

 The K. of P. and the Brakemen’s brotherhood accompanied the remains from Undertaker Preshaw’s rooms, where they had been embalmed to the Union depot.  A brother of the deceased accompanied the body.  The news is a sad blow to the parents of the deceased who have not seen their son for some time.

 He was a good railroad man and an honored member of the orders mentioned. (19)

K & P is assumed to be Knights Of Pithius

*Faro was a game of cards that went along quickly and rules were more simple than poker.  It originated in France and  found it’s way to America in the 1700’s

1892

John Porte

STRUCK BY A LOCOMOTIVE

Hurled into eternity while asleep.  JOHN PORTE MEETS HIS DOOM.

While sitting on a tie resting from his day’s work, he is struck by a passing train.

This morning as the south-bound train on the Union Pacific, which left here at 1:45 a.m., was passing the track of the Junction City Driving Park it struck John Porte, a young man well known in this city, and whose parents reside here.

He was setting on the edge of a tie evidently asleep. The train struck him on the side of the head and fractured the bones.   The engineer noticed him when too closes to prevent the catastrophe.  The train was stopped and he was brought back to this city. Dr. Conroy was called and did all that his well known skill could do for the unfortunate man, but all in vain.

after much suffering the young man died at 3:25.  He never spoke a word from the time he was struck by the train until his death.  At the time of going to press his

parents had not been notified of his death.  The railroad employees who were present at the time did all in their power to alleviate the suffering of the deceased during the few moments he lived after being struck.

The deceased worked for McCardle, as a section hand, and had always been considered a sober and industrious young man.  He was 28 years of age, and so far as could be learned he was single.  His parents are well known in this city being old residents here.

Richey Bros.  Took charge of the remains and conducted them to their undertaking establishment.

The coroner was notified and an inquest might be held to-day (20)

Ogden Standard 01/08/1892

Further Particulars Regarding the Death of John Porte.

The Coroner’s inquest over the body of John Porte, the young man who met his fate by being struck by a train near the Junction City Driving Park, at an early hour yesterday morning, will be held this morning at 10 o’clock, at the undertaking establishment of Larkin & Son.

The remains were brought into the city from the spot where the young man was hurled into eternity, by Richey Bros., but at the request of the parents of the deceased they were taken in charge by Larkin and Son.

It was reported on the street yesterday that Porte had been foully dealt with by footpads before the train struck him and robbed of his valuables.  The rumor proved to be unfounded, as his watch, pocketbook and other articles were found in his clothing.  His pocketbook contained no money and it is said that was the state of his finances when he left home.

Porte was employed as a section hand on the railroad and had the reputation of being sober and industrious and was not addicted to drink in any form.

 About 11:30 o’clock Saturday evening he meet two of his associates at the Union depot and soon after they met three young lady friends whom they escorted home, going as far as Nob Hill.  They then came down town, when they separated, and Porte started to his home about three miles out of the city.    It is believed that he became exhausted after his day’s labor and long walk home with his lady friends and sat down on the track for a few moments’ rest and while doing so fell asleep and failed to awaken in time to see the approaching locomotive.  

 Dr.  Conroy made an examination of the wounds of the deceased and found that he had been struck with such violence by the locomotive that the base of the brain was injured, causing a hemorrhage which produced immediate death.  

 The father of the unfortunate man is quite aged and feeble, and at one time was the proprietor of  a jewelry story in this city.  He and his wife have a comfortable home almost paid for in the country, toward which the young man has applied all his wages.  It seemed to be his desire to make his parents as happy as possible during their remaining days, and they alone can realize the full extent of the terrible calamity.

The coroner has empaneled a jury which is composed of T. W. Jones: C. A. Hurssell and Richard Hill.  The funeral will occur from the Fifth Ward meeting house at two o’clock this

afternoon.   (20)

Ogden Standard

THE INQUEST HELD

 Coroner Allen yesterday morning held an inquest at the undertaking establishment of Larkin & Son over the body of John Porte, who was killed early Sunday morning by being struck by a Union Pacific train.  Messrs.  T. W. Jones, C. A. Hurssell and Richard Hill were empaneled as a jury.  Engineer Gilbert A. McLean, Fireman J. H. Ault, Conductor Hinkley, Brakeman Herbert, of the fatal train, and Henry McCardall, section foreman, who was a passenger, testified at some length, but no new facts in the case were elicited.The jury rendered a verdict to the effect that Porte came to his death by being struck by the Union Pacific locomotive no.1 while sitting on the track asleep.  The railroad company and its employees were fully exonerated.

The funeral services were held yesterday afternoon in the Fifth ward meeting house.  Many friends of the deceased were in attendance, filling the building to overflowing. Bishop Thomas J. Stevens conducted the services.  Six intimate friends of the unfortunate young man acted as pall bearers.  The interment took place in the city cemetery.  (21)

Ogden Standard 02/08/1892