it was an accident!
the 1860s
mrs. clayton killed in accident at husband's mill
The Clayton family lived in Table Rock in the early days of settlement. One pioneer account of those days tells of boyhood jaunts with one of the miller's sons, throwing rocks in the mill pond. The family consisted of Abraham, 33 years old, born in England. His wife was Rachel; her maiden name was Burge; she was 30. Their children were Rebecca, John, Francis, and Mary, aged 12, 9, 6, and 3. Rachel and all of the children were born in Indiana.
July 25, 1861 Nebraska Advertiser (Brownville)
A May 4, 1939 article about placement of a rock burr (mill wheel) in the park includes a history of the mill from which it came. According to that article, the mill was built in 1869 by a man named Flemming who sold it to a man named Cumming who sold it to a man during Clayton. Mr. Clayton sold the mill to John Blacklaw after his wife was killed. Her dress got caught in the machinery and before he could get it shut off she had been beaten to death against the burr. Blacklaw was said by the article to have operated the mill for many years. Blacklaw was killed in 1882 in an odd shooting accident.
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A photo of the abandoned mill surrounded by flood water, by photographer Archer King
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the 1880s
October 3, 1881, from the Atchison (Kansas) Globe. Two cars got loose in Pawnee City and headed for Table Rock "at a fearful speed." the railroad yardmen in Table Rock were standing behind a tender and the two cars smashed into them before they could react. The men were Thomas Burris, Frank Kerr, and William Bunker. At the time of the article, another man was missing. Others were hurt.
1881, the Horton (Kansas) Recorder reported another accident on the same line. A runaway train! The train got loose on what has most recently been called the Wymore Extension, which runs to Pawnee City. At the Table Rock depot was a flat car holding forty-five men. The runaway train hit it, killing three of the laborers instantly and severely injuring others.
The article refers to what we know as the Wymore extension as the Republican Valley extension of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. That track was originally the Wymore Extension of the Republican Valley Railroad.
The article refers to what we know as the Wymore extension as the Republican Valley extension of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. That track was originally the Wymore Extension of the Republican Valley Railroad.
September 21, 1889, a "terrible accident" at the railroads near the water tank. Mr. Eadus, a conductor of the ballast train, who previously had been a conductor on the B&M railroad, was killed instantly. (Ballast was clay burned seasonally near the depot, for use in lieu of the rock on which rails run.) The large steam plow used to shovel and load the ballast had been put onto a train car. The steam plow toppled off the car as Mr. Eadus went to couple the car to the train, hitting him. His body was taken into the baggage room until Dr. Wilson confirmed he was dead, and then the remains taken to Mr. Eadus' home in Wymore by railroad officials.
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September 16, 1882 -- John Blacklaw accidentally shot and killed by a good friend, S. S. Becker. "Uncle John" was much and had not an enemy in the world, according to the Argus article in the oldest surviving edition of the paper. So many people attended his funeral that the church would not hold them and the funeral had to be held in a grove of trees on the west side of the church.
Note that the inquest summons date is indicated as being in 1880, but that must be a typographical error. The article purports to be an account of contemporaneous events, the edition is 1882, and the Argus was founded earlier that year.
Note that the inquest summons date is indicated as being in 1880, but that must be a typographical error. The article purports to be an account of contemporaneous events, the edition is 1882, and the Argus was founded earlier that year.
the 1890S
June 14, 1892, the Lincoln Daily News. The Table Rock depot burns down. The depot built in 1871 is pictured, Photo 953. Nick Goodenkauf is the man identified as #2. The others are unidentified.
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June 7, 1893, from the Columbus (Nebraska) Star. Harry Freeman, a carpenter working on the new opera house, was severely injured when his ladder fell backward and he fell 20 feet, with the ladder on top of him.
June 7, 1893. Columbus (Nebraska) Journal. John Moore, "the engineer at the brickyard," was hurt as he helped unload equipment. A chain unhooked and he fell backward and was knocked unconscious.
July 13, 1894. Lewis Fellers was out cutting oats. He was driving four horses pulling a binder. When he stopped to re-adjust a chain to which the leaders were attached, the horses became frightened and ran. They knocked him down and the machine rolled over him. Art Barret soon caught the horses. Dr. Wilson found no broken bones, just pain bruises and scratches.
October 12, 1894. Accident at the slaughter house (by the depot, I think). Roy Martin's horses became frightened while he was driving hots into the pen, got lose and went "tearing up town." John Beck managed to turn them into the livery stable (a building located where Sitzman Repair now stands).
In the same edition of the Argus reporting John Beck getting control of runaway horses tearing up town from the depot is a story of another SUPPOSED accident. "Some of the fellow" took Beck's new two-seated carriage as they left a meeting of Republicans in Dubois, leaving him their old one. They told Beck they had wrecked his carriage, running into a plow and Beck was "some worked up." Then they brought it back, all fine. October 12, 1894.
brakeman with a young wife and child killed
Three of Edgar Wood's sons died young. Will was killed in a railroad accident. Leland died in his 20s; he was drowned in an unsuccessful attempt to save a neighbor's horses during a flood. Robert died in his 30s during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
April 21, 1897 Evening World Herald
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May 7, 1897 McCook Tribune
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A TERRIBLE BICYCLE ACCIDENT
September 7, 1898 A serious bicycle accident -- Robert Wood and Mrs. H. A. Phillips and two other ladies "all going at a high rate of speed, and they came together with terrific force." It happened on Luzerne. Wood and Mrs. Phillips were both picked up unconscious.
SCALDING AT TABLE ROCK CLAY COMPANY BRICKYARD
An accident at the Table Rock Clay Company. N. B. Thompson was severely burned when a plug flew out of a barrel of boiling water. November 10, 1898.
1900-1910
NEAR ACCIDENT - TRAMPS TRY TO WRECK TRAIN
January 1, 1901 -- an accident avoided when three tramps caught in the act of putting an obstruction in "the frog, near the switch".
FIRE IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WIPES OUT A BUILDING
January 6, 1901, the Odd Fellows hall burns. Photo 999.
a big oops for a passenger train, including an overturned engine
A June 20, 1906 train accident, photographs by Bertha Moler of Pawnee City, location uncertain. A post on Facebook reported that it may have been on tracks east of Highway 50, north of Pawnee City. Photos 179 and 182.
20-year-old leland wood drowns while trying to help neighbor's stock caught in flood waters
July, 1907. Young Leland Wood drowned while trying to rescue a neighbor's stock during a flood three miles south of Table Rock. He is buried in the Table Rock Cemetery. On the side of the stone is an epitaph carved by Amity College, an institution no longer extant.
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1908 - Train engine goes out the back wall of the roundhouse
Historical Society member Luella Hinrichsen found this article and transcribed it:
Table Rock Argus, Oct. 8, 1908. Last Tuesday morning while at work around the engines in the round house, Foreman J. A. Barnes met with quite an accident. He had built a fire in No. 119's engine and had gone over to the next stall to do some work on the switch engine; he had not worked very long when he noticed the other engine was in motion. He tried to stop the runaway but before he could gain the cab entrance the monster had started through the back end of the round house, and before John could get out of the way, he was caught by some of the falling timbers and pinned to the ground, fortunately all the large pieces missed him and he only sustained a few bruises which layed him up for a few days. All of the engine left the track through the rear end completely caving it it and mireing in the mud so that it took three engines to pull it back on the track.
Luella wondered whether we have a photo of the accident. We don't have one identified as such, but we do have one that seems a very likely culprit, Photo 224. What do YOU think?
April 21, 1909, Nebraska State Journal. C. J. Wood, cashier at the State Bank of Table Rock, had a "peculiar accident." He was syphoning kerosene from a barrel and it was blocked. He "blew in" it and the kerosene broke free, deluging his "mouth, throat, and stomach" with kerosene. Blew in it, or sucked on it? He's lucky the kerosene or its fumes didn't make it into his lungs....
The "Nineteens"
August 1, 1912. A bad train accident occurred on the Wymore line, and two cars from the middle of the train went into Taylor Creek at the bridge. It was thought that a loose wheel on one of the cars hit a switch as the train was approaching the bridge. The cars were loaded with peaches, and about 20 bushels were lost. $200 damage to the equipment was done.
August 12, 1912. A bad accident at the depot when a man went to sleep on the rails. Everett Jones of Rulo, Nebraska had got thrown off the trains as he tried to make his way to South Dakota on Train No. 43, wandered into the yards, and went to sleep in front of a
July 11, 1915. During a break in Table Rock, two or three train employees got off to take a swim in the new channel of the Nemaha, about 3/4 of a mile east of the depot. Ray Watson, a dining car cook, could not be found and was presumed drowned. The water was deep and swift due to recent rains. His body was eventually found downriver. An inquest was held. An attorney for Watson's friends and relatives said they had evidence of murder: Watson's clothes left at the river bank had blood on them, that the men he was with brought back a signed order for Watson's pay check, and the men forthwith resigned from their jobs with the Burlington and disappeared. The inquest was apparently inconclusive due to the advanced state of Watson's body.
July 21, 1916. Ralph Revelle caused "quite a little excitement" when he drove his "big Rambler car" off the bridge near Guy Butler's. The car ended up upside down, but he and his three passengers were okay.
1920s
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November 2, 1925. Clifford Albright was seriously injured in the course of recharging a battery connected to his light plant.
May 17, 1922, the Lincoln Star. An accident at the Table Rock Poultry Company. A strong wind slammed a door shut on H. S. Holbert's hand, crushing it. He lost a finger that became gangreneous.
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1912
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March 6, 1923. Reid Marshall was moving to the Meeker farm four miles south of Table Rock. He was driving a hay rack holding his household goods. His horses ran away when a loose board hit one of the horses. A barrel of oil shifted and overturned the wagon. He had a broken ankle.
November 1, 1924, the Lincoln Star. A car crashes into a wagon and then another car. "One of the worst automobile accidents" in the county for several years. It happened "on the highway near Table Rock. The car drivers were from Humboldt and Pawnee City, the wagon driver was unidentified. Two Table Rock women in the cars were badly cut about the head, throat, and body, Lena Wadlow and Velma Gilmore.
September 2, 1927. A train wreck at 7:15 in the morning. Two cars of freight train no. 80 derailed when crossing the Clear Creek bridge east of the Cochran farm house. The train thankfully had been slowing to enter the yards or more cars may have derailed. It turned out that a broken wheel had been the cause of it, and had damaged 19 miles of rail, which all had to be replaced.
1930s
March 6, 1931, the Hotel Murphy burns down. (The Hotel Murphy owner almost immediately built the Reno Inn within its footprint.) The picture of the Murphy is Photo 14.
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August 14, 1931. "The life of a well-known railroad man was instantly crushed out beneath wheels of a train." He was a Burlington roadmaster. A train was backing toward a coal shed and collided with Walbridge, who was driving his motor car.
April 6, 1934. A "mighty train wreck" occurred, a derailment of Freight Train No. 110, running "double headed." 17 of the 95 cars derailed as the train the Elk Creek depot yard. 21 sheep were killed and other stock got away and roamed the adjacent fields. Potatoes and other merchandise from other cars were strewn about the yards. One car was wrecked at the south end of the depot and another was flush up against the north side of the depot building. A burned out journal caused the derailment.
1950s
1955. Sylvia Steiner hospitalized after a tractor accident. She did not turn in time and the tractor rolled into a ditch. She jumped free but the rear wheel ran over her, breaking her pelvis and otherwise injuring her.
January 5, 1956. An awful car accident on New Years Eve. As they traveled to Kansas City, another car hit Melvin and Mary Wenzbauer head on. Richard, their infant child, was killed. Lynn and Barbara, two older children, were all right.
February 23, 1956. A big fire at Glen Kent's granary.
July 5, 1956. Lightning hits Joe B. Michal's farm north of Table Rock and burns it down.
April 25, 1957. There was an awful one-car accident on Highway 4 three miles east of Table Rock. What caused it was uncertain but it may be that the driver had drifted slightly onto the shoulder as another car passed it. The car tumbled end to end. Most of the Glenn McDonald family was in the car. They were headed for town to see their son Eugene in the senior class play. Motorists rushed Mrs. McDonald and their two children, Gary and Linda, to the Humboldt hospital, but an ambulance was called for Glenn, who was badly injured; he died on the way to the hospital. Mrs. McDonald suffered leg and chest bruises, Gary had a broken left arm, and Linda had a "badly mangled left arm" that had to be amputated just above the elbow. It was described as "one of the worst fatal accidents in Pawnee County in many years."
June 6, 1957. Sam Schuetz has a big race with his runaway tractor, down the hill from the Buccholz Garage. The tractor ended up in a ditch. "There was no damage except that caused by the heavy puffing of the loser of the race."
August 8, 1957. Fire in the field at the Joe Miller farm northeast of Table Rock. An overheated gasoline motor on an elevator used for getting hay bales into a barn caught on fire, as did the hay on the elevator. Albert Miller and "Mr. Duder and son" did some "fast work" to keep the burning hay from getting into the barn.
January 1, 1959 -- The elderly Mr. and Mrs. Charley Hanna lose their farm home to "a spectacular blaze" caused by faulty stove pipes in a wash house near the house. Neighbor Louis Sochor tried to help.
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Charlie and Bessie's wedding picture.
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1960s
November 10, 1964. Ardyce Freeman's tractor went out of control and plunged over a steep embankment. Ardyce was thrown off and landed in creek water. The tractor landed with the wheels up.
November 10, 1964, the same edition that reported Ardyce Freeman's accident also reports an accident involving Norris Gold. His tractor also went out of control when a pin broke on the steering mechanism. The tractor "jumped a grader ditch" and he was thrown but not injured.
1970s
July 5, 1979. Roger Alderman rolls a race car. It was owned by Bill Petrashek, Lavon Panko, and Roger.
1980s
The Beatrice Daily Sun, March 24, 1988. Train derails and wipes out the depot. This was the third and last depot in Table Rock. The article reports that the depot was 60 years old, which would place its construction in about 1928.
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Photo 628, undated. The depot in happier times.
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1959, a corner of the depot platform can be seen. Photo from Kim Vrtiska.
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1990s
december 1997
A photo of the accident, shared by Jerry Vrtiska. Photo 2096.
Cropped version of the photo above so you can see the rail cars more easily
some chatter about the accident
(Larry) I have never figured out the reason behind the route of that grain train. It would have had to leave Omaha for Lincoln via Ashland, then go thru the passenger yard at Lincoln to Table Rock via Tecumseh, put the engines on the rear of the train thru the wye and head out the Wymore line towards Hastings, then north over a branch line to Aurora. Maybe Stan can figure it out. |
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(Stan) I have been trying to figure it out. According to my information, the Wymore line t;through Pawnee city west was already being slated for abandonment (done and last train through was in 2003) and maintenance was probably close to zero and would not be a line to send a Unit Grain Train as it would have been at best, slow orders all the way... Besides, as Larry points out, there is NO logical or even Railroad logic route.. Best I can come up with is either the article was incorrect in it's route (MY opinion) or somebody in dispatching TOTALLY screwed up.... The second might be why it was where it was and NOT where it was supposed to be. Meaning, on the whole, the railroad didn't know it was there...? |
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(Larry) I think the spokesman for the railroad had no idea of what was going on. He had to come up with something to tell the newspaper and figured no one would know enough to see he was blowing smoke. |
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(Stan) I agree that's the most probable answer! Otherwise, the destination and locations just don't add up. |
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