My Grandfather was born in 1858, married in 1885, and was killed in a train accident on January 1, 1887. This is the news article that appeared in the Fort Dodge Messenger about the accident:
Fort Dodge Messenger, Monday, January 3, 1887
A fatal accident, in which one man lost his life, another was seriously injured and several others were more or less badly shaken up, occurred on the Des Moines & Fort Dodge road Saturday evening. While freight train no. 7 was running at full speed, between Plover and Mallard, a broken rail was struck and the caboose was thrown off the track, the engine and rest of the train passing in safety.
Conductor Flanagan, who was in the caboose, rushed to the front platform and jumped off. He succeeded in reaching the ground safely and started to run, when a pair of trucks (railroad car wheels) became detached from the caboose and ran him down, killing him instantly. Brakeman John Lynch also jumped from the rear platform and sprained his ankle very seriously. Several passengers were in the car but though all were hurt somewhat, none were dangerously injured.
Conductor Flanagan was a young man and had been on the road for three or four years, with an excellent reputation. His home is Des Moines, where he leaves a wife and ten month old baby to whom the sympathy of every one is extended. The deceased is a brother of Mr. Dennis Flanagan who has a run to this city. The body was taken to Des Moines for burial, which will probably take place tomorrow. -30-
This article was not entirely correct. Grandfather was not killed instantly, and nothing was reported about the presence of John Fitzgerald, Granddad's good friend, who tried to help him in his seriouly injured condition. Here's the article about that:
Fort Dodge Messenger, Tuesday, Jan 4, 1887
The death of Conductor John Fitzgerald of the Des Moines road at Ruthven, this morning, is generally believed to have been an indirect result of the unfortunate accident of Saturday.
Mr. Fitzgerald was a very warm friend of Conductor Flanagan and, while he has been in very poor health all the year, no specific trouble had been discovered. He was very much affected by the news of the death of his friend received Sunday, and seemed entirely prostrated. He continued to sink slowly, was unable to take his run Monday, and quietly passed away this morning.
He had been employed on the road for some time and had always borne an excellent reputation. He leaves a family of two young children, the Mother having died a month or two ago. No arrangements have yet been made in regard to the funeral. -30-
In connection with the above, Mrs. Val Barneson of Los Angeles, CA wrote this to me about her Great Grandfather: "My Mother only knew that he was in a train accident, in the middle of a blizzard, propped the conductor (your grandfather) of the train up against a tree because he had damaged his leg when he jumped and my gr grandfather took his coat off to put over him. My grandmother was about 8 months old when it happened. He left my grandmother and a son when he died.
When each of my children did their family history projects, they had to write about the ancestor they admired the most. My father's family all served in the military in every war back to the American Revolution, my husband's family founded oil companies and shipped materials around the world. Not one of my three children were interested in those stories, only the one about the poor conductor who lost his leg and their gr gr grandfather giving him his overcoat."
That's what I call a TRUE friend.
