DEMAREE, Elmer E.: 1878-1940

DEMAREE, RUSSELL, WOODMAN

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 11/26/2013 at 19:24:11

E.E. Demaree, Veteran Eldon Railroader, Dies Of Injuries
**Handwritten: July 16, 1940

Eldon.-Elmer E. Demaree, 62, was fatally injured about 11 a.m. Tuesday when he was brushed from a moving train at a railway underpass near Brighton on the Rock Island railroad. He died about 4:30 a.m. today at the Washington county hospital.

He had been freight conductor working out of Eldon since April 2, 1905. He was taken to the hospital from the scene of the accident by the trainmaster and the Rock Island railroad physician at Brighton.

He remained semiconscious until last midnight, when he began to fail. He is survived by his wife; two sisters, Mrs. Henry Woodman of Sweetholm, Idaho, and Miss Gertrude Demaree of Lincoln, Neb.

The body was being brought today to the Campbell funeral home at Eldon.

Fellow trainmen said Demaree had passed through the same underpass "perhaps a thousand times" during the years of railroading and knew there was not enough space to clear a man clinging to the side of a boxcar.

Tuesday Demaree evidently forfot that fact. He was climbing down the side down the side of a car as it went through the underpass, was brushed off and rolled under the train.

His head was injured and his left leg was mangled.

Mr. Demaree was born in Doniphan, Neb., February 16, 1878, came to Eldon in March 1903, and began working for the Rock Island railroad as brakeman March 19, 1903. He was promoted to conductor April 2, 1905.

He was married to Miss Netta Russell of Eldon March 14, 1906, and was a member of the Order of Railway Conductors. He was preceded in death by his brother two years ago.

The body will be removed tonight from the funeral home to the Demaree home. Funeral services will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at the Demaree residence, with the Rev. E.H. Willey of the Congregational church in charge. Burial will be in Eldon cemetery.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book C, Page 350, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA