Thriller Thursday - Stoney Creek Train Wreck, 1896

   On the night of February 29, 1896, Joseph H 'Joe' Reddish was a fireman for the Southern Railway. He was working on passenger train #10 that left Macon (Georgia) at 7:30 p.m.  At 7:55 p.m., the train reached the Stoney Creek trestle, which was located about eight miles south of Macon. Without any warning, the train was "hurled" from the trestle into the creek and bottom below. The lights went out, which made the situation even more scary to the passengers and crew.  A few folks had managed to stagger out into the darkness when a freight train, which had been running 10 minutes behind the passenger train, slammed into the trestle and fell down on top of the passenger train.  

The passenger train consisted of an engine and five cars.  The freight included an engine and four heavily ladened freight cars. 

While the train office immediately started hearing rumors of what had happened, they were vague and nothing definite could be surmised.  It was midnight before they finally got word from "a reliable character" from the wreck about the situation. Two doctors were immediately dispatched and by 1-2 a.m., a representative of the Macon newspaper was there to get the story.  

The crewmen involved and officials knew immediately that this was the work of train wreckers.  Though no strange persons were seen near the trestle or surrounding area, it was obvious that the damage had been done just before the accident as other trains had crossed over the same trestle "just about dark" and had no issue.  The rail had been removed from the left hand track going down.  Another fireman on the passenger train was coaling at the time so he didn't see the damage, and the engineer could not see the track.  

Two people died immediately: 

F.W. Whippler was the baggage master of the passenger train.  Luggage pinned him in the baggage car when the train flipped on its side, and he drowned in the two feet of creek water that came in.

Robert Mercer, the fireman on the freight train, was not killed instantly, but his injuries were so severe that he died within a few minutes after being removed from the wreckage. He was badly crushed about the head and body.

There were eight others injured; five passengers and three railway employees.  One of these was Joe Reddish.  He was scalded.  When the train plunged off the trestle, Joe was in his usual spot on the engine by the furnace. The engine turned about half way over, and Joe was pinned down by the furnace door and the hot water poured over him. Because of the severity of his injuries, rescuers and medical personnel had a difficult time getting Joe to a hospital.  He was too badly injured to be handled and moved across the creek to be taken to Macon by a shorter route.  So they ended up taking him much further south to Eastman.  

Published in The Macon Telegraph
Sunday, March 1, 1906, Page 5

By the time Joe reached Eastman, he was sinking rapidly.  The Trainmaster ordered a special train to bring Joe's wife of only three years, Sidney Anna Tapley Reddish (1872-1937), to Eastman. It appeared that Joe was too far gone to even recognize his wife.  He died on Sunday, March 1, from his injuries.  He left, along with his wife, a baby daughter, Polly Jo Reddish.  

The news spread across the state:

Published in The Savannah Morning News
Savannah, Georgia
Monday, March 2, 1896, Page 1

Published in The Atlanta Journal
Atlanta, Georgia
Monday, March 2, 1896, Page 2

Bloodhounds were brought to the scene to track the train wreckers.  They picked up the scent very quickly and led authorities to two sets of shoe imprints.  The dogs lost the scent back at the railroad track and gave up.  A measurement of the imprints were made.  They quickly arrested a man who had worked for the railroad on that stretch and who had been fired recently.  However, his foot was larger than both sets of imprints so he was released.

Published in The Macon Telegraph
Macon, Georgia
Monday, March 2, 1896, Page 5

The Southern Railway offered a Thousand Dollar reward:

Published in The Macon Telegraph
Macon, Georgia
Wednesday, March 4, 1896, Page 5

Turns out that Joe Reddish had life insurance which provided for his wife and his mother:

Published in The Macon Telegraph
Macon, Georgia
Thursday, March 5, 1896, Page 5

Three men were arrested within 10 days of the wreck.  They had a doozie of an excuse of why they did such a thing.  Two of the men had wives on the passenger train that night.  They were hopeful their wives might be killed in the wreck and the husbands could sue the "road" (??) for damages. 

Published in the Waycross Weekly Herald
Waycross, Georgia
March 9, 1896

Then the story completely changes...

Published in The Savannah Morning News
Savannah, Georgia
March 25, 1895, Page 2

I have been unable to find any information about the outcome of the trial.  The following article states that Warren Cresswell was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.  He then asked for a new trial. 

Published in The Macon Telegraph
Macon, Georgia
Thursday, June 25, 1896, Page 1

Please follow this link to read the final article I could locate concerning Warren Criswell's trial.  The article is too large to try to put here.  We are left hanging as to the outcome(s) for these criminals.  

I did find this information in a comment on a website devoted to trains:

"An unfaithful husband. A sinister plot.  A heinous crime.

Two men, Thomas Shaw and Warren Criswell were arrested 10 days later.  They were tried, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Under the cover of darkness they had pulled the spikes from the inside rail of a section along the 600 foot trestle crossing the creek.  

Thomas Shaw had married his wife, Sally Lee Kitchens, of Jones County, against her parent's wishes.  He later left her and got a job as a farmhand on John Tharpe's plantation in Bibb County .  Although he was still married, he posed as a bachelor and began courting Miss Belle Johnson, a young lady related to Tharpe.

After she rejected him, he returned to his wife and family.  On Feb. 29, he bribed his wife with $5 shopping money and suggested she go into Macon with Criswell's wife, their neighbor.  They were to return that evening on the train.

Shaw and Criswell plotted to kill their wives in order to extort money from the railroad.  Shaw believed his wealth would impress Miss Belle Johnson.  But that line of thinking was a wreck, too.  The wives of Shaw and Criswell were hurt, but both survived the wreck."

I have been unable to substantiate this information as the webpage has been removed since I originally found it.  The story is plausible.  I guess the third man they originally arrested was found to be not involved. 

Joe's wife was my 2nd cousin, 3x removed:

I wish to apologize for the sizes and conditions of some of the news articles.  I am confined by my lack of technical expertise and the abilities of Blogger.