Pike-Lamar County GaArchives News.....To Instant Death May 29, 1893
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Lynn Cunningham http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002535 January 31, 2007, 8:16 pm

The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Ga. May 29, 1893

To Instant Death
Were an Aged Minister and His Wife Hurled by a Railroad Train
A Terrible Sunday Tragedy
Enacted on the Central Railroad Near Milner
Some Excitement Among The People,
Who Are Disposed to Think That the Engineer Was to Blame
A Graphic Story of a Horrible Accident

Milner, Ga., May 28. - (Special) - The Rev. William Graham, one of the oldest 
and best known evangelists of Georgia, and his aged wife were dashed into 
eternity by the Nancy Hanks at 12:36 o’clock today.

The old couple were walking along the railroad track, returning from church, 
arm in arm, when the Nancy Hanks, moving at full speed, ran upon them, raising 
them high in the air and hurled them down a steep embankment to instant death.

It was raining torrents at the time. The old minister and his wife had their 
umbrella pulled well down over their heads, thereby diminishing their 
opportunity of hearing the approaching train. Many of their friends are 
inclined to charge the train officials with carelessness, but there is no 
evidence to show that Conductor Cubbage or his engineer were in any way to 
blame.

The old couple had passes more than the usual time allotted to men in this 
world, and in their great faith in the Word both had followed so many years 
were quietly and patiently awaiting the summons which came so rudely and 
unexpectedly. They had just left the church, where the old gentleman had been 
leading in the services for more than fifty years. He had been doing the work 
which was the crowning event in his life, and with the words of praise to his 
Master yet fresh on his lips he met the death which comes to all, and beside 
him when that death came was the good woman who has been his comfort and 
solace for the last forty years of his life.

Their Last Day on Earth.

The morning was bright and clear, and when the old lady and gentleman arose 
they thanked their God for the blessings of another day, and after breakfast 
began making preparations for church. Mr. Graham was a member of the 
Congregational Methodist, and was one of the founders of that church in 
Georgia. He began his religious career at the age of eleven years and was at 
one time early in life an Episcopal Methodist. In Milner there are two 
churches, one a Baptist and the other a Methodist. Today there were no 
services at the Methodist church and Mr. Graham and wife attended the Baptist 
church. He has always been not only a devout Christian, but a leader in all 
religious gatherings. No meeting where he was present was really complete 
without Mr. Graham’s voice. His age and his piety had endeared him to all, and 
by all he was known as “Uncle Billy.”

As the tones of the church bell died away this morning the old couple, arm in 
arm, walked through the aisle and assumed the seats always given to them in 
the Baptist church. So deep was the love of the people for Mr. And Mrs. Graham 
that the seats given them were rarely used when he and his wife were at their 
own church. The church was crowded this morning, and as the pastor, Rev. Mr. 
Beard, arose and glanced over his congregation he saw the two happy, smiling 
faces of his old Methodist friends in their usual seats. He gave out his text, 
and while he was preaching a terrific rain began to fall. So fast and so hard 
did the rain come down upon the church roof that the minister was compelled to 
pause because he could scarcely be heard. Finally the sermon closed and Rev. 
Mr. Beard looked at Mr. Graham, saying: “Uncle Billy, please pray.”

An Eloquent Appeal It Was.

The rain was coming in torrents and the minister could hardly be heard. The 
old minister arose, and, closing his eyes, turned his face towards the 
heavens; almost instantly the rain moderated, and as Mr. Graham poured out his 
petition every word could be heard in every section of the church. His prayer 
was a fervent one: one of the strongest, his hearers say, he ever made. In it 
he called attention of his nearness to the grave, and declared his willingness 
and readiness to go. He begged all present to pray for him and his wife. There 
was a sadness, a pathos, in his tone, which those who heard him say they never 
heard before. And now they all declare that it came with the prayer because it 
was to be the last the old minister was to make; and they say, too, that it 
was the very best he ever made.

As the congregation began leaving the church, Mr. and Mrs. Graham and Rev. Mr. 
Beard walked away together. The church is near the railroad track, and a half 
mile from the home of the old couple. Mr. and Mrs. Graham had an umbrella, and 
Mr. Beard had another.

The three walked from the church to the railroad track, down which they moved 
towards the Graham home. Just why they did can not be fathomed, but, of the 
three or four tracks running side by side from the church to the Graham home, 
the two ministers and the old lady took the one upon which the Nancy Hanks had 
to run. Mr. And Mrs. Graham walked under one umbrella, while Mr. Beard walked 
a little in advance under the other.

The Rains Fell Again.

Soon after they left the church, the rain, which had never wholly ceased, 
began to come harder and faster again. It poured down, and the stream ran 
under their feet between the ties. The party reached the depot, which marked 
nearly half way Mr. And Mrs. Graham had to come.

Shortly after leaving the depot, Mr. Beard remarked, “Uncle Billy, we’d better 
hurry up; it’s nearly time for the Nancy Hanks.”

Mr. Graham took out his watch and glancing at it said: “No, we have twenty 
minutes yet, and I can get home in half that time. I’m spry and nimble yet.”

By this time the trio had reached a point on the railroad track where Mr. 
Beard stepped off to go to his home. They were then only a few feet from Mr. 
Beard’s home, and within sight of the Graham home. One of Mr. Graham’s 
granddaughters was sitting on the porch, watching her venerable grandparents 
and awaiting their home-coming kiss.

As the two ministers separated, the party paused only for an instant. They had 
been talking of the great promise to them in the world to come, and were more 
loving because their views were of the same tendency. The pause was for a 
handclasp and a “God bless,” and as they were exchanged Mr. Beard handed his 
umbrella to Mrs. Graham, saying: “I have only to cross the road.”

As he spoke, Mr. Beard sprang down the embankment to reach his home. The good 
lady on the porch awaiting him sprang from her seat, throwing her hands into 
the air. At the same instant, Mr. Beard heard the whistle of the locomotive 
and wheeled around.

A Horrible Sight.

It was a terrible sight which met his eyes. Through the blinding rain he saw 
the bodies of his old friends hurled into the air, and, throughout it all, 
could plainly hear the applied airbrakes working.

Mr. Beard will never forget that picture, neither will that grinding, sizzling 
sound ever leave his ears.

The bodies went high in the air, and fell down the embankment on the same side 
of the road as that Mr. Beard occupied. He rushed to them. One was lying far 
down the embankment, mangled, torn and bloody, while the other was further up 
and some fifteen feet away across a water sluice which passes under the 
railroad. That one, too, was bloody, but not so badly mangled. The head had 
been split wide open and the brains were oozing out. Only a glance Mr. Beard 
wanted to realize that both were dead. No one was about except the lady on the 
porch across the street. She was overcome by the horror of it all and, of 
course, of no service and Mr. Beard was in the act of leaving when a man in 
overalls, greasy and wet rushed up from one direction, while a man in uniform 
came for the other. The man in overalls was engineer Wagnon And the man in 
uniform was Conductor Barney Cubbage.

Consternation at the Church.

Neither of the people had been touched. The two railroad men rushed down the 
bank to them and a glance convinced both that the old lady and old gentleman 
were both dead. Mr. Beard waited only long enough to see that the dead friends 
were not alone and then rushed off for help. The rain had detained many at the 
church and to that place he went. Rushing in he exclaimed: “The train has run 
over ‘Uncle Billy’ and his wife and I’m afraid it’s killed ‘em both.”

The minister’s hurried return, drenched as he was with falling rain created 
consternation amongst those in the church, but the terrible intelligence 
brought was more exciting. Pell mell, helter skelter the men rushed out, while 
the ladies sank exhausted upon their seats. Who of the entire number did not 
know Uncle Billy, and what one of them was not aroused by the news? Through 
the mud and rain the men ran to the point indicated by Mr. Beard. There they 
saw the two bodies lying upon the track in the pelting rain, both stone dead. 
Near by they found the two faithful, patient watchers of the dead, Cubbage and 
Wagnon, doing silent duty over those who could not watch for themselves.

If anyone ever doubted the love of Milner for that old couple he should have 
been present when that gathering of men, hardened to such scenes by the war, 
came upon in their grief they forgot all save that Uncle Billy and his wife 
had been killed. They gathered around the two dead bodies on the side of the 
embankment and, after looking upon the bleeding, mangled forms, their minds 
busied upon the cause. Motionless upon the track above stood the ponderous 
rapid Nancy Hanks, the reaper. Near the train, but still neared the dead and 
mourners stood the two railroad men with heavy, sad hearts and tear-stained 
eyes. They had been on the train that wrought the terrible death, both too 
brave and manly to hurt a worm.

The People Excited.

Seeing that the bodies were surrounded by friends, Barney Cubbage, his heart 
bleeding for those his train had bereft, prepared to move. Just at that 
instant es-Mayor Mullin rushed up the embankment to the track and accosted the 
engineer. He declared he was responsible for the deaths and asserted that it 
was murder. Others followed the excited man and for a minute it looked as 
though both men would be stopped and the train delayed. Conductor Cubbage 
attempted to explain, but quickly found himself charged, too, with the death 
of the two.

Finally the ex-mayor became cool and the train was allowed to leave.

After the train had pulled away the two bodies were placed upon quilts and 
carried to the old home - the home from which the granddaughter had seen the 
horrible accident. She was there to receive them, but no happy smile was on 
her face to receive a kiss from those she loved so fondly. Pallid in face and 
as stiff in form as her dead grandparents, the girl was lying upon the porch 
from which se had witnessed the accident. The old couple were borne into the 
house and placed upon the bed upon which they slept last night. And then a 
call was made for Undertaker G.L. Summers, of Barnesville. He came, and with 
him brought two handsome caskets. The bodies were turned over to the 
undertaker, and when the friends were admitted to the room all traces of the 
terrible massacre had been effaced. Side by side upon the bed they left this 
morning they rested, dressed in their burial shrouds. Both faces were in 
smiles of happiness and rest. No one who looked upon those faces could doubt 
that they were enjoying the peace and bliss for which they had strived for all 
their lives. It was a picture no artist in the world could paint, and it was a 
scene from which none could turn without a throbbing heart. Hundreds fo 
friends of the old people looked upon the scene of death this afternoon and 
tonight.

An Inquest Today.

Tomorrow morning an inquest will be held by Coroner Halaway and both the 
engineer and conductor will be on hand. The indications here now are that a 
mighty strong attempt will be made to put the blame on the engineer. However, 
when the accident happened the train was in a driving rain and the engineer 
was compelled to close his cab window, which obstructed his vision. The old 
couple had their umbrellas drawn down, which interfered with their hearing. 
These two features combined may have caused the accident.

Mr. Graham was one of the most remarkable men in many respects Georgia has 
ever produced. He was born in Monroe county, and has been a minister of the 
gospel since he was twenty years of age. He was born in 1813, and was nearly 
eighty years of age, but was remarkably strong and active. All Saturday he 
worked on his farm. He married twice, his first wife being a Miss Azmore, of 
Virginia. By her he had twelve children, ten of whom are living, the baby a 
boy being now thirty-four years of age and a grandfather, too. The two who 
have passed away, were confederate soldiers. One was killed in the defense of 
Atlanta and the other died in prison at Rock Island of smallpox. The other ten 
are married and have in all sixty children. Some of these children are married 
are married and have given the minister great-grandchildren. His only son at 
home today could count his brothers and sisters and their children, but the 
nearest he could come to the fourth generation was “some where between twelve 
and twenty.”

So it’s nearly a hundred of his own descendants who will mourn “Uncle Billy” 
Graham’s death and his funeral will be one of the biggest Pike county has ever 
had. - E.C.B.

[Transcribed 1/28/2007 Lynn Cunningham]

Additional Comments:
At Fredonia Church Cemetery, Lamar County:
Graham, W.H. Rev, b. Feb 1819, d. 28 May 1893
Graham, Temperance H., b. 20 June 1826, d. 28 May 1893


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