W. I. CHAMBERLAIN

CHAMBERLAIN

Posted By: Mona Knight <mknight5@ctc.net>
Date: 7/25/2009 at 12:45:07

From The Centerville Citizen, Centerville, Iowa, July 11, 1873.
Death of Chamberlain. Below we print the statement of the County Coroner in regard to the death of W. I. Chamberlain: Having been notified on the 3d day of July 1873, that a man had been killed on Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, and was then lying at the Centerville depot, to which place I imemdiately repaired. Upon examination, I found the deceased to be W. I. Chamberlain, a young man about 24 years old; that the deceased had come to Centerville early on the morning of that day and had obtained a marriage license to marry Dora Kirk, and in a short time had started to Cincinnati, expecting to be married that evening at 7 o'clock. On his way he stopped sometime at a saloon near the depot where he partook freely of lager beer, and between one and two o'clock started down the track toward Cincinnati quite intoxicated. When about two and one half miles from the depot, he laid down on the roadbed, outside of the track, with his head toward the rail. In a short time, the train came in from the west and when within two or three hundred yards of where the deceased lay, the engineer discovered something lying on the track, which he took to be a coat belonging to one of the section hands - but immediately after, saw it was a man and whistled down breaks, when every exertion was made to stop the train, but too late. As the train appeared, the deceased raised partly up with his face opposite the advancing train. The pilot struck him on the back part of the head and between the shoulders, throwing him forward, his face striking on some hard substance, cutting quite a gash over the right eye. The train stopped within a few rods of where the accident happened. The deceased was then taken on board the train to the depot where he expired in a few minutes. The deceased had in his pocket a wallet containing $4.10 in money, an order for seventy-five cents and a balance account for work on the railroad. The relations of the deceased reside at West Grove, in Davis County. From all the circumstances and facts I could gather in the case, I did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest, as no one appears to be to blame or censurable for the death of deceased except those who furnished him the liquor to become intoxicated. Signed Caleb Wentworth, Coroner.

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