Obituary: Portage County, Wisconsin: Joseph Daggett 

Stevens Point Daily Journal 
May 1, 1899 

Engineer crushed in a wreck 

Joseph Daggett of Chippewa Falls killed on the Central 

Joseph Daggett, an engineer on the Wisconsin Central road whose home is at Chippewa Falls, was 
crushed to death on his engine, Saturday, two miles east of Cadott. His engine had been ordered 
to the relief of a stalled freight train at Little Black, thirty miles north of Abbottsford. 
While rounding a curve at full speed, running backwards, the engine was thrown from the track 
into the ditch, the engineer being instantly killed. 

It is said that Daggett's body was literally cooked by the escaping steam and hot water which 
poured over it for several hours as it lay underneath the engine. It was finally rescued by 
digging a trench of tunnel under the engine. The fireman, Walter Graham, and another man, who 
name could not be learned, who were on the engine, escaped without injury. The accident is 
said to have been caused simply by a poor track as no evidence of any defective rails can be found. 

For some time the bridge over the Little Black river has been deemed unsafe for heavy freight 
engines to pass over and it has been the custom to push the freight trainsover from behind and 
when the head end has crossed the river it is coupled onto an engine that has been backed down to 
the bridge from the other side. A new bridge is ready to be slipped into place as soon as the water 
in the river recedes somewhat. Engineer Daggett was backing his engine down to the river from 
Chippewa Falls when the fatal accident occurred. 

Daggett is a young man, who was formerly employed in the office of James McNaughton when he was 
the superintendent of motive power at Waukesha. 

He leaves a wife and two children. 

The body was taken down on train No. 2 this afternoon for interment at Waukesha. The body was 
accompanied by his wife and children, Walter Graham and his father, and several firemen from the 
east end. Tom Gilbert, Emil Zimmer and Bob Holman will go down from here on No. 4 tonight to attend 
the funeral, which will be held tomorrow. Daggett carried $1,500 in the Order of Locomotive Firemen, 
$2,000 in the Maccabees and $2,000 in an accident company. He also owned some residence and other 
property.


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Submitted by Kathy Grace, <gendiva@charter.net> June 2004    

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