Johnston County, NC - James R. McLamb Biography ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James Robert McLamb and the Death Train To Benson James Robert McLamb was born in Sampson Co. NC in 1819. He was the son of William McLamb Jr. and Phoebe Tart. William moved his family from the Westbrook’s District in Sampson to Johnston Co. in 1826. By 1830, James Robert had six brothers and four sisters and James was in the middle. James Robert learned farming, but did not learn to read and write. On 13 December 1848 James Robert married Elizabeth Jernigan in Johnston Co. NC and settled East of the Neuse River and in the area of Elevation. Elizabeth had seven children by 1860. They were Mary, Susan, Sylvania, William James, Phebe, Jesse, and Augusta Jane. By 1870 James Robert was living in the Meadows Twp and had Joseph, Robert, Sarah, and Betty McLamb. One child later died. James Robert purchased 400 acres of land near Benson NC for $12.50 and moved there. He lived near the Harnett Co. line but in Johnston Co. NC. In 1893, his wife Bettie of 45 years died. James Robert or Bob, as he was most often called, still managed to get the rest of 12 Children married and was farming a three-horse farm just south of Benson. The area where he lived was near enough to Benson that they walked. The roads in those days evolved and snaked around from one house to another. The way to Benson was much shorter to walk on the train track and this included the trestle that was 20 feet above the water and over 400 feet long. There was a narrow 140 foot platform on one side of the trestle for train workers as some times the train had to stop at the trestle for water. Bob often took this short cut and since it was near Christmas of 1895, he was anxious to see what the stores might have for his grand children. He had delayed his trip to town to miss the train and gave up on that and thought that perhaps the mail train was not going to run that day. He hurried from home and was soon on the train track going north toward Benson. As he reached the trestle his thoughts were on what he could get in Benson for his 30 grandchildren. A Black man was also on the trestle and about 200 feet in front of Bob. Bob noticed that the Black man was hurrying to get off the trestle and turned around to see the train coming from Dunn at 60 miles an hour as it was late. The Train Engineer was Captain Pearsall and he noted the two men on the trestle when he was 45 seconds from the trestle. As he looked forward he saw the one man exit the trestle and the other get on the narrow platform near the center of the trestle. Bob knew that people used the platform to work on the train but he also knew that the train was much wider than the track but he did not know if the train was wider than the platform or if the wind from the train would blow him off the track. Once the Train Engineer saw one man get off the trestle and one man on the platform, he maintained his speed as he was late getting to Benson. Bob had never stood on the trestle platform while a train passed at 60 miles an hour and he began to panic. The two feet of space that he actually had looked more like two inches. He hurriedly walked to the north end of the platform and was still 135 feet from the end of the Trestle. He could hear the train now louder and louder. Bob’s only hope, he thought, was to run for it. He was too high to jump and he was over water. He had walked the trestle many times, but now he had to run on the trestle. He took off and in a few feet realized that walking on railroad ties that were spaced uneven was one thing, but running was almost impossible. He got a hundred feet and now over land but still too high to jump. The Engineer saw what was going on but there was no way that he could stop. He sounded the alarm, but time ran out. Bob was hit by the train and knocked to the ground below the trestle. The train stopped but nearly in Benson and backed up to the trestle. The men on the train saw the Bob was hurt bad and had a broken leg and damaged head. Bob was alive but did not speak. They gently carried him to a baggage car and put him inside for the short ride into Benson where they got a doctor. Bob suffered much for two days and then died Saturday 21 December 1895. His skull was cracked and one leg was broke. He bought no presents for his grandchildren, but was instead reunited with his Elizabeth. This is not the end of this story. Bob was buried next to Elizabeth on 22 December 1895. His 12 Children were united on one thing, it was time to sue the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Co. for the death of their father. William James McLamb, 40 years old, was now the head of the family. He had six children who had lost their grandfather. In all, 30 grand children lost their grandfather. In early 1897 the civil case was brought against the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Co. by William James McLamb as administrator of the James Robert McLamb estate. The suit was for damages of $2,000.00. The first to testify for the plaintiff was William H. Raynor. "The trestle was one mile south of Benson. I do know think the train slowed until it sounded the alarm. I do not think the train tooted before it sounded the alarm. McLamb was about 70 years old and I never knew him to be sick. He ploughed as much ground as any man. I would put his worth at $400 dollars per year." E. A. Woodall: "Mr. McLamb lived about three miles from the trestle. There is a sign that said, Danger, this is not a thoroughfare, Keep Off. Mr. McLamb could not read. If a man stands 5-6 inches from a speeding train, the draught could blow him off the track." Thomas Tart: "I live two miles from the trestle but I run a grist mill near the trestle. I was standing at the mill house door when I heard the train give the alarm. I knew Mr. McLamb and I supposed him to be about 70. He was a healthy hard-working man. He worked a three-horse farm. I got there pretty soon after the accident. He was badly bruised on the head. I could not tell much about his body but his leg was broke. He did not speak." G. W. Stewart: "I am no relation to McLamb. He has a brother residing in this county and also a brother in Harnett Co. I don’t know whether McLamb was deaf or not. If he could not hear, I never knew it." Joseph M. McLamb: "I am a son of the deceased. He raised 13 children, one died that was younger than I. He gave land to four of his children and gave me $200 and more as I need it. He also helped his daughters as they got married. My father could not read or write. The youngest child is about 21 and I am about 34 years old." I. J. Smith: "I have been a JP for 10 years. I was a tax list taker for 1895 and McLamb made his mark and told me that he did not know his age. The tax list showed Bob McLamb had a property value at $972.00." Captain D. M. Pearsall: Train Engineer. "I was engineer of Train 78 going north at 12:10 PM. We were 25-30 minutes late. I saw two persons on the trestle and I thought them to be railroad trestle hands. I had blown the whistle about ½ mile from trestle and one man ran off the trestle. When I was 200 to 300 yards from the trestle I saw the one man try to run to the north end of the trestle. I immediately sounded the alarm and applied emergency brakes. I saw him run for 25 to 30 steps and he ran out on the guard rail. I thought the train would pass him ok. I looked on and I saw him falling from the trestle with his back down. The train had seven cars and air brakes on all were working. The two men were ¾ of a mile when I first saw them and I could not tell if they were near the trestle or on it. I made no effort to slow down as I thought the men were trestle hands. I applied the brakes when I saw the man running on the trestle. The engine went over ¼ mile pass the trestle before it stopped. Mr. McLamb was 72 feet from the end of the trestle when he was hit. I had an accident in Smithfield and killed a man and was suspended for 30 days." (Notes: 1. The typed testimony in some cases is not clear. 2. The trestle in question was over the Mingo Swamp as it is about 2 miles south of Benson. Present maps show the Mingo Swamp as the Harnett- Johnston Co. line. 3. Testimony was not given to tell where Bob McLamb was coming from, I am sure he was going to Benson. 4. Bob McLamb could not have been hit fully by the train or he would have been dead on the spot. More likely he was blown from the trestle by the wind and the sound of the brakes grabbing steel was terrifying. He might also have hit wood in the trestle supports as he fell backwards with some force. A present day RR trestle at that location does not exist. Land erosion has nearly filled the Mingo Swamp south of Benson.) The Plaintiff prevailed and got a check for $2,292 from the Railroad. This included interest and lawyer fees. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Jerome Tew ___________________________________________________________________