Newspapers: Locomotive Collision 1943, Franklin Parish, LA, Submitted June 2009 by: Glenda Warner Boyd ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** The Frankin Sun Winnsboro, LA September 23, 1943 Submitted June 2009 by: Glenda Warner Boyd William Edward Townsend Mrs. William Edward Townsend Billie Cleo Townsend William A. Waller Mrs. William A. Waller 5 Auto-Locomotive Collision Victims Interred Tuesday in Central Cemetery Two Others of Waller-Townsend Families Seriously Injured in Tragic Mishap Friday Five Franklin Parish victims of an auto-train collision Friday near Forrest Hill were interred Tuesday afternoon in Central cemetery near Wisner, following joint open-air funeral rites at the Central church. Two others were seriously injured in the accident which cost the lives of: William Edward Townsend, 61; Mrs. William Edward Townsend, 37; Billie Cleo Townsend, their 10-year-old daughter; William A. Waller, 29, and Mrs. William A. Waller, 26. Seriously injured but alive Wednesday afternoon were: Hiram B. Waller, 10-year-old son of the W. A. Wallers, in the Winnsboro sanitarium with both legs fractured and other major injuries, and Leamon Carroll, 17-year-old son of the W. E. Townsends, now in a critical condition at a Pineville hospital. Officiating at the funeral and burial rites, which were under direction of Mulhearn Funeral home, were the Rev. Tom Ratcliff, the Rev. J. H. Keyes, the Rev. Mr. Polk and the Rev. L. McLemore. All of the victims were residents of the Gilbert vicinity. Four Die Instantly Mr. and Mrs. Townsend and daughter, Billie Cleo, and Mrs. Waller were killed when the car crashed into a locomotive of the Red River and Gulf railroad, adjacent to a portion of the Camp Claiborne military establishment. Mr. Waller and the two boys, H. B. Waller and Leamon Carroll, were taken to a Camp Claiborne hospital, and the former died within a few hours. The bodies were brought Saturday to Mulhearn Funeral home here, where they remained until time for the last rites Tuesday afternoon. The Carroll youth was transferred to a Pineville hospital and the Waller boy to Winnsboro. Car Hits Locomotive The tragedy occurred about 3:30 p.m. Friday as the car, enroute from Port Neches, Texas, where the Wallers and Townsends were employed in war work, crashed into the side of the locomotive at a point about where the steps enter the cab. Reports from the scene of the tragedy indicate that the driver's view probably was obstructed by a hill at the approach to the crossing, which the train reportedly entered from a gully. The car also apparently was traveling faster than a normal rate of speed, the force of the collision indicted, and it was raining at the time. Mr. Townsend is survived by two daughters, Mrs. E. L. McCaa and Mrs. W. L. McMahon, both of Wisner; a step-son, the critically injured Leamon Carroll, three brothers, all of Mississippi, and a sister, Mrs. R. C. Myers, Winnsboro. Mrs. Townsend's survivors include her son by a former marriaie (sic marriage), the Carroll youth; her father, Hiram Lofton of Sterlington, and two sisters. Billie Cleo Townsend's survivors are the same as those of her parents. Mr. Waller is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Marcus Emfinger of Wisner and Mrs. Dodds D. Lee of Bude, Miss.; five brothers, H. B. Waller of Winnsboro, John L. Waller of Gilbert, A. J. Waller of Port Neches, Texas, James Leroy Waller of the U.S. navy, stationed at San Diego, Calif., and Charlie Waller of Sandy Hook, Miss.; three half-sisters, Juanita Waller, Mary Fay Waller and Alice Gay Waller, all of Sandy Hook, and his son, the injured H. B. Waller. Mrs. Waller's survivors, besides her son, are her mother, Mrs. Minnie Garrett of Jackson, Miss., and two sisters, Mrs. McCaa and Mrs. McMahon of Wisner. Mrs. Waller was Mr. Townsend's daughter, as was the deceased Billie Cleo Townsend. ------------------------------------------------