Butts-Henry-Fulton County GaArchives News.....AWFUL WRECK June 29, 1900 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Don Bankston http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00024.html#0005864 January 4, 2008, 4:57 pm Jackson Argus June 29, 1900 Many Lives Lost in Camp Creek Disaster The northbound passenger train which passes Jackson at 8:20 was wrecked at Camp Creek, one mile above McDonough Saturday night, killing more than 40 people. Thirty-three dead bodies have been recovered and it is believed that numbers of others are lost forever to be recovered. The culvert over Camp creek was undermined by recent heavy rainfall and the engine, with all the cars dashed into the chasm more than 40 feet below. The sleeping car was not totally demolished and nine persons who were in this car were saved. Every one else was lost. The killed who have been recovered are as follows: Killed – Passengers W. W. Ipark, Atlanta W. F. Maddox, Atlanta G. W. Flournoy, Atlanta W. J. Pate, Atlanta Jesse Pate, aged 13, son of W. J. Pate, Atlanta W. J. Pate, Atlanta (this is a repeat) D. C. Hightower, Stockbridge J. L. Florida, Nashville, Tenn The Crew J. T. Sullivan, engineer of wrecked train, Atlanta W. A. Barelay, conductor of wrecked train, Atlanta H. R. Cressman, conductor of Pullman on wrecked train, Ashville, N.C. W. H. Green, fireman on the wrecked train, Atlanta W. W. Bennet, baggage master on wrecked train, Atlanta Employees J. H. Hunnicut, conductor, Atlanta J. E. Wood, conductor, Atlanta D. Y. Griffith, supervisor, Flovilla W. R. Lawrence, foreman, Stockbridge W. O. Ellis, bridgeman, Stockbridge John Brantley, fireman, Atlanta J. H. Rhodes, flagman, W. L. Morrissette, repairer, Pocahontas, Va. Ed Bird, Negro fireman Robt. Spencer, Negro porter John Early, colored Bob Smith, porter Unidentified Bodies of four white men Bodies of five Negro men Many charred bones and pieces of flesh. Mr. Pate was a carriage trimmer and had worked in Jackson for several years for J. R. Carmichael. He had many friends here as he spent most of his time here, going to his home in Atlanta once every two weeks. His little boy, Jesse, was with him here for the past two weeks and both were instantly killed. Mr. Flourney, the painter at Hitchin’s factory, also lived in Atlanta and worked here. He was only a few weeks ago taken under the watch care of the Baptist church here. Supervisor D. Y. Griffith had lived for quite a while in Jackson and his remains were buried here with Masonic ceremonies on Tuesday. He was a cousin of Dr. W. C. Bryant E. S. Schtyver, one of the passengers in the sleeping car gives this graphic story of the wreck: Four of us were in the smoking compartment of the sleeper, he said. They were Mr. Mack, Walter Pope, J. C. Flynn and myself. I cant say how fast the train was running, but it seemed to me a lively gait. The rain was pouring down in torrents outside, but in the sleeper, of course, everything was as comfortable as could be. Miss Merritt, of Boston, and Miss Alden, her traveling companion, were in the center of the car. We could hear them talking at times. The flagman, Quinlan, was near the rear of car. The porter, Carter, had left our compartment but a moment before and was near the ladies, I think Conductor Gressman was in the forward end of the car. Without any warning; there came a jerk like the application of the engineer’s emergency break, and then before we could look up there came a crash, and down we went. I can’t remember much directly after that. Everything went dark as pitch and we found that we were in water. We didn’t hear a sound from the other cars, and our car might have been alone in the night so far as any connection in any way with the others went. Naturally when we stopped rolling we began to climb out. The Pullman rested with one end on the abutment of a trestle or culvert and the other end up a steep embankment. It was broken in the center, I think, and there was a confusion of pipes and debris all through it. Five of us climbed up the floor of the car and reached the vestibuled end of the embankment. From the vestibule we reached the roof and stayed there in the rain two hours. Flynn tried to climb up the embankment, but slipped back and went down in the water under the wreck. He was carried down the stream half a mile and caught on a stump, finally reaching the bank, more dead than alive. Quinlan, the flagman climbed up that bank, loosening tons of earth and crossties as he went. He yelled back at us that he was going to flag a train that was following. One or two more tried to climb the bank, but failed on account of the mud and wet sand. Finally some one came to the edge of the bank above us and we asked him to throw us down a rope. After another long wait, while they were looking for scraps of rope to tie together in order to reach us the rope was thrown and one of our party tied it under his arms and was hauled up the bank through mud. When it came my time I thought the rope would break and tried it several times with my weight. Finally I cried out for them to haul away, and up I went. That’s what put all this mud on me. Everybody alive in the sleepers was rescued in this manner, including the ladies. We walked to McDonough, where we stayed until this afternoon, when we took vehicles and drove to Hampton to catch the northbound Central train. I didn’t go back to the scene of the wreck after I was hauled up the bank. I had no desire to see the terrible sight I witnessed at intervals through the night by the glare of the burning coaches and the flashes of lightning. Jackson Argus – Butts County Week of June 29, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/butts/newspapers/awfulwre2520gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb