More on the train wreck in 1911

Several stories have been written about the infamous train wreck of 1911 but Mike Fidler’s search for answers concerning the Feekins led me to do a little more digging. Mike’s family lore had the Feekins as newlyweds killed on their wedding day in the wreck, but we found that they had been married for two years.

There were newly weds on that train however, and they were Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Culbertson of Illinois traveling on their wedding trip. It was mentioned in the article that they were supposed to have $1,000 on their person at the time of the accident. Both were taken to the Cambridge hospital and died one day apart. Their trip was completed with their bodies shipped on #10 to Broomfield, Illinois.

The other interesting story concerning a passenger was of Mrs. Maggie Sentance. As stated in the McCook Tribune, evening addition, June 1, 1911: “Mrs. Maggie Sentence, mother of Conductor C. B. Sentence of our city, owes her life to the circumstance that she was in the toilet when the wreck occurred. She was seated next to Mr. and Mrs. Hiram J. Feekin, both of whom were fatally scalded by the steam from engine 2825 and the same tragic fate would doubtless have been her’s. As it was, her burns were not serious. She is with her son here and progressing nicely. The burns are mostly about the head and face and arms. She broke the glass in the window of the toilet room and escaped from the car in that manner; only cutting her hand a little in breaking the glass.”

The wreck was caused by human error in a time where trains ran in “dark” territory (no signals) and operated from station to station with handwritten orders. One train had orders to meet at Red Willow which at that time had a siding. Those orders would have either indicated to that engineer to “clear the track” which would have meant go into the siding and then place the switch back to the main track when clear or to “hold the main” until the other train was cleared into the siding. Unfortunately, one train was ordered to meet at Red Willow and the other carried orders that did not indicate a meet of another train anywhere. There is still dark territory on railroads today, but now they have radios to communicate with the dispatcher and the other trains.

So, we have now final answers to the questions about newlyweds in that disaster. Final answers are hard to come by in genealogy quests or even when you are just trying to prove or disprove legends. It is especially tricky to uncover answers when you are trying to research the west during the great rush to homestead or immigration during the years when people were fleeing starvation or despotism. The west because there is little written history on many of our early settlers and you are relying on family stories to be true to fact. Immigration because many of the immigrants were denied entry at one port but traveled on to another and then came into the country.

Birth parents vs known parents is difficult also because often children were assimilated into a home without any paperwork accompanying them. Perhaps their parents died in an epidemic, perhaps they were left with family until the biological parents could return to get them and then never returned. If you have been struggling with facts vs reality as I have been on a couple of lines in my tree, perhaps it is time to just set that question aside and proceed with another. Often if you take a break when you go back to it the answer will have been in front of you all the time. That is what happened to me this week when I suddenly realized that I was traveling down the wrong lineage and needed to check paternal instead of maternal genetic ties.

SWNGS has had a very busy month but they are still open on Tuesday and Thursday from 1-4 PM to help with your research. Visit us at 110 West C, Suite M-3 to see our large library collection and to help with DAR research also.