Nostalgia & History > Native American Railroaders?

     I suppose that might not be unusual in the West but what about in Indiana and Ohio? When I wrote my Railroading on the Wabash Fourth District book, I was told of “Cherokee Taylor”, an engineer, who was full-blooded Cherokee. (He is pictured on the far right and in earlier days would wear his hair in a ponytail.) His seniority date was August 23, 1953 and legal name was Claude S. Taylor. I’m told Mr. Taylor passed away in 1998 and had family in the Bryan, Ohio area. It would be interesting to find out what brought him to the railroad in Ohio. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find family members yet. Yes, I do check obits and make phone calls. But this day and age with so much solicitation and scams going on, it is getting harder and harder to make contact with people for legitimate reasons--sad.

     The black man on the far left is Brakeman E.D. Meriweather (that was the spelling that was given me.) I would think he started on N&W, and I have not been able to find him or any of his family members either. Second from the left is Conductor Clarence Montgomery who was a friend and had a big presence in the book. (The photo was taken by his wife on the occasion of his retirement in June 1978. He has since passed on.) Next is Flagman Paul Burkhart and then Fireman Rick Brandt both living and retired. Paul and a brother (sorry I can’t remember the name) worked both train and engineman positions. That caused confusion for me when my research found them in both categories!  Rick’s Dad and other family members worked on the Wabash railroad in various positions.

      Sorry about the quality of the photo, but that was what I had to work with. As a B&W, it is on page 3 of the book. Sharp observers will note that the loco is a Union Pacific U30C on a train that has run partly on the former Nickel Plate main to get to Montpelier. I included many names (including nicknames) and seniority rosters in the book and many folks have been grateful.  The good thing is that former Fourth District Railroaders and their families continue to pop out of the woodwork, though many of the railroaders have passed on. I really enjoy this aspect of my writing the most, as I mentioned in the Community Appendix, despite the millions of dollars of rolling stock, bridges, buildings, signals and track, people ran the railroad. Railfans and railroad book authors (and corporations) sometimes tend ot lose sight of that.
Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/15 11:31 by wabash2800.

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Victor; Just down the road from you, in Anderson, In.  I worked with a now retired track foreman named Butch Wamsley. He was tall, and wiry, but *man* I've never seen a guy pound spikes like that before! He and his helper "Pappy" (everyone had good nicknames then) could get into an old Ledbelly Linin' Track rhythm and put a spike in with 2 blows a piece--and never miss...
He started at Penn Central after getting out of the Army signal Corps and serving in Vietnam.  He never talked about that time, we stuck to railroad stories in my interactions at the yard office with him. Friendly and quiet, he was a true gentleman.  He never hid his Indian heritage (he never said which tribe he belonged to), but none--and i mean NONE of us knew how highly he was regarded in the community, until after he retired. Turns out he is a Chairman Emeritus of the American Indian Council, and he and his wife Kathy are both Head Dancers at many PowWows throughout the area.
So yeah, there are a few out here.   

Nice pair of stories gentlemen, thanks for sharing. 

Kent in CArmel Valley

As for Cherokees in Ohio, a lot of people disappeared from the Trail of Tears in 1839-40 and went north, some aided by the growing Underground Railroad movement, some on their own. There are little knots of settlement all over eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia where people managed to get on the river and come up to hide. The OR&W had several Cherokees. By the way, Burkhar(d)t was a common name on that little road.

Rebecca Morgan
Jacobsburg, OH

Thank you for posting this story.

Thanks all for the comments and additional stories.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com