BUSTER, Joe Sam 1907 - 1946

BUSTER, MORROW

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/25/2021 at 20:23:28

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Monday, February 11, 1946
Front Page, Column 1 and Page 5, Column 6

No Inquest Planned In Death Of Railroad Man

BODY LOCATED ALONG TRACKS BY FOREMAN

Coroner J. R. Peters said this morning there would be no inquest in the death of Joe Sam BUTLER, railroad employee whose body was found along the C. B. & Q. right-of-way East of Fairfield early Saturday evening. An investigation revealed facts which indicated he was struck by an East-bound freight train about 6:00 o'clock that evening.

Grave services were held this afternoon for Mr. BUSTER at Evergreen cemetery where he was buried. Services were in charge of Rev. R. E. Hidgson.

The body was found about 7:00 p.m. by Leo McDermott, a foreman with the extra gang located in a camp at Beckwith working for the C. B. & Q. railroad. Mr. McDermott was walking along the right-of-way toward Beckwith when he found the body about two and a half miles east of Fairfield. One leg had been severed and the body was lying south of the tracks.

Sheriff Thomas Howell, Officers John Clarridge and Walter McCarty, and coroner Peters were called to the scene and conducted the investigation.

Visited Taverns

The investigation proved that BUSTER, along with "Frenchy" Garnor and Michael McAuliffe, two other railroad employees, came to Fairfield Saturday morning, and intended to catch the local back to Beckwith at noon. They missed the train, and at 5:00 p.m. started walking down the right-of-way.

The two witnesses stated they visited several taverns in Fairfield Saturday afternoon, and purchased some brandy and wine at the local liquor store. The last the two witnesses remembered, they were still together at the one mile post east of Fairfield on the right-of-way, where they stopped to sample the goods purchased at the liquor store.

McAuliffe made it back to camp, but Garnor was found unconscious by McDermott near the place where BUSTER's body was found. He was uninjured, apparently falling due to intoxication.

McDermott had been in Fairfield Saturday afternoon and started to walk back to the railroad camp about 5:30 p.m. He testified that a freight passed him going east when he neared the one mile post east of the city. Shortly after he came upon the body of BUSTER, with the severed leg between the rails and his body thrown to the right side of the tracks. About 150 yards away, he found Garnor unconscious.

It is believed that the freight train that passed Mcdermott at 6:00 p.m. is the one that struck BUSTER since he had been dead only a short time when found.

Garnor and McAuliffe testified that they didn't remember anything that happened since the three were together at the one mile post on their way to camp. All three had recently been convicted in local justice court for intoxication.

Few Relatives

It was revealed that BUSTER was unmarried, and had few relatives. His home is in Centerville, where a sister now lives. She is Mrs. John MORROW.

The relatives instructed local officers to bury Mr. BUSTER here in Fairfield. The body was taken to the Hoskins funeral home.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in the Public Grounds section of Evergreen Cemetery, in Row 9, Space 9; he has no gravestone.