February 19, 2024
Dear family and friends:
A famous American ballad, "The Wreck of Old 97", is about a train wreck near
Danville VA on September 27, 1903.
You can read about the wreck, see a photo, and read the lyrics of the song,
here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreck_of_the_Old_97
Here's the original recording, by Henry Whittier, 1923:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8fUJT_ZNA
You can hear Hank Snow sing the song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNo0cGi1xZU
or - my favorite - you can hear Johnny Cash sing it here. It has lyrics, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC5mB8v_Brc
So, listen to it!
The Southern R.R. stopped in Spencer, NC, which is named as "Old '97"'s
destination in "The Wreck of Old '97". The town was named for the Spencer
family. Samuel Spencer was the first president of the Southern R.R. He himself
was killed in a train wreck in 1906.
(You might wonder why the engineer of "Old '97" is called "Steve" in the song
when his name was Joseph A. Broady. The reason seems to be that any man whose
last name was "Brodie" was nicknamed "Steve" after the Steve Brodie who claimed
to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived on July 23, 1886.)
* * * * *
OK, now that you have heard it, and / or read the lyrics on the Wikipedia
page, you will notice that in the third line the song tells us:
"This is not 38, this is old 97"
But what was "38"? I'll tell you!
The wreck of No 38 took place on April 23, 1903, less than six months before the
wreck of "old 97" and on the same line -- the Southern Railroad, near Lynchburg,
VA.
The engineer was killed. His name was Charles R. Kinney. He left one son -- Will
Hoover Kinney.
Will Hoover Kinney was my grandfather. Grandfather was born on February 19,
1894 - 130 years ago today!
Little Will was only 9 years old when his Dad was killed. His mother, Emma Lee
Hoover Kinney, had already died in childbirth in 1900 together with the infant
who would have been Will's younger brother. So at age 9 little Will had lost
both his parents.
It was hard for Grandfather to grow up as an orphan. But he turned out fine! He
was raised by some kindly aunts and cousins.
He went on to marry Josephine Devine, of Poughkeepsie, NY, in 1916. They were
married for 49 years until Grandfather died on July 18, 1965. He was only 71
years old.
Will and Josephine had one child, a little girl named Jacqueline. Everybody
called her "Jackie".
"Jackie" was my mother -- mine and my sister's.
* * * * *
When Grandfather died a few of his things passed down to me. One of them is his father's cup. It's an engineer's cup, with a picture of an engine on it. It is a "moustache cup", with a little bridge to keep a man's big, bushy moustache from getting soaked in the coffee or tea, and a little hole in the bridge to allow the beverage to go into his mouth.
* * * * *
No famous song was written about the wreck in which great-grandfather Charles
was killed. But his train is mentioned in "the wreck of the old 97".
I found an article from the Washington Evening Star of April 25, 1903,
documenting the accident and great-grandfather's death. You can read it here:
http://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/images/washevestar04251903p2.jpg
Happy Birthday, Grandfather! You were born 130 years ago today.
And warm regards to all of you, my friends!
Grover Furr
