Week 35: At Work #52Ancestors

“I’ve been working on the railroad, all the live-long day.”

We all know this beloved American folk song. I know of no other family where this song is more relevant than my husband’s. Every one of his grandparents had railroad people in their family.

His father’s side of the family settled in Labette County, Kansas, in the late 1800’s. Some of the first settlers started their lives in Kansas farming, but both great-grandfathers and a second great-grandfather on this side of the family eventually worked for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in Parsons, Kansas (affectionately known as the “Katy” (K-T) because it was the Kansas-Texas division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad).[1]

It must have been exciting to see the town of Parsons grow as the Katy expanded its routes and services. The MKT founded the town in 1871 and built a small depot a year later.[2] In 1895, it erected a “state-of-the-art” depot.[3] The new depot serviced 30 passengers a day and Parsons thrived as this rail hub bought people and money to the community. Sadly, the depot burned to the ground in March of 1912. The local papers reported the building’s value at $300,000.[4] This calculates to a $9 million loss in today’s dollars.[5] Fortunately, less than two years later, the MKT rebuilt an even grander, three-story brick building that served the railroad for the next fifty-eight years.[6]

But back to those railroad men.[7]

Bruce’s great-grandfather, O.P. Baty worked a carpenter for the Katy, starting in about 1884. A relative remembered that O.P. took part in the Kansas “land-rush,” but didn’t get any property, so he went to work for the railroad. My husband’s other great-grandfather, Edward McCormick, started with the Katy about the same time as O.P., beginning as a brakeman and working his way up to conductor.[8] My husband’s second great-grandfather, John J. Quinlan, started with the Katy in Parsons in 1886 as a boilermaker.[9]

Not only were O.P., Ed, and John all working on the railroad, but most of their sons did as well. By my count, over a dozen of their sons and nephews worked for the Katy and other railroads. None of their jobs seem especially glamorous. In fact, they seem downright dangerous. O.P. lost the fingers on his left hand, John’s son lost his left eye and then died in a horrific train accident, a nephew, Rufus Baty, got his foot smashed by a steam shovel, and another nephew, Charles Baty, died when a train crushed him.[10]

Quite frankly, after all that death and destruction, it’s good to get to my mother-in-law’s side of the family where I haven’t yet found anybody who was killed or maimed in a railroad accident. On that side, the men primarily worked for the Frisco out of Monett, Missouri. I wrote about Monett and the Frisco last week when told about the tragic shooting of Fred Gibbons.

To refresh your memory, Frisco is the affectionate nick-name for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, a St. Louis-based railroad that operated from 1876 to 1980.[11] Monett was another railroad-founded town and owes its existence and growth to the Frisco. My husband’s great-grandfather, William Mills started with the Frisco in Arkansas in 1882 and all of his sons worked for the Frisco and other railroads.[12] I wrote about one of his sons in Week 31 who was assigned train engineer in France and Russia before and after World War I. While William didn’t die in a tragic train accident, he did suffer from a breakdown due to “continuous hard work” for the railroad and subsequently had to retire.[13]

Other Frisco workers on this side of the family include Fred Gibbons’ son and the man who married Fred’s widow.[14]

I’m not aware of any Baty relatives currently working for any railroad. Instead, the most recent generations have taken up “lawyering.” Off the top of my head, I count almost a dozen. Thankfully, it’s not quite as dangerous a profession. 

[1]Wikipedia, “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad,” rev. 15:15, 26 August 2019.

[2]Parsons Kansas History, “1870’s Timeline,” (http://parsonskansashistory.com/1870s.html). The town was named Parsons for the MKT president, Judge Levi Parsons. American-Rails.com, “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, The Katy,” (https://www.american-rails.com/mkt.html).

[3]The Fort Scott Tribune, “100th anniversary of the burning of Katy Depot,” 8 May 2012, (https://www.fstribune.com/story/1846163.html).

[4]“A $300,000 Fire in Parsons,” The Hutchinson (Kansas) News, 19 March 1912, p. 6, col. 5. 

[5]Inflation Calculator (http://www.in2013 dollars.com).

[6]Kansas Historical Society, Kansas Memory, “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad depot, Parsons, Kansas,” (https://www.kshs.org/index.php?url=km/items/view/446942). 

[7]Thanks for indulging my foray into Katy railroad history. If you are curious, Union Pacific acquired the Katy in 1988. American-Rails.com, “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, The Katy.”

[8]“On Katy Honor Roll After 42 Years of Service,” [unknown paper], 3 October 1926.

[9]“John Quinlan,” The Parsons (Kansas) Daily Sun, 27 August 1914, p. 6, col. 2-3.

[10]"Parsons Carpenter Crippled,"The Topeka (Kansas) Daily Herald, 12 July 1901, p. 3, col. 2. “News of Laharpe, John Quinlan Received Damage for Loss of an Eye,” The Iola (Kansas) Daily Index, 4 September 1908, p. 5, col. 3. “Jno. J. Quinlan [obituary],” Parsons (Kansas) Daily Sun, 28 January 1921. “Rufus Beatty Dead,” The Chanute (Kansas) Daily Tribune, 12 February 1918, p. 1, col. 6. Washington State Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, certificate of death no. 51 (1939), Charles H. Batey. 

[11]Frisco Archive, “About the Frisco Railroad,” (http://frisco.org/mainline/about-the-frisco-railroad/). The Frisco was acquired by Burlington Northern in 1980.

[12]“W.J. Mills, who died at Nevada Monday,” [unknown newspaper]. 1910 U.S. census, Barry Co., Mo., pop. sch., Monett Ward 1, p. 9B (penned), ED 4, dwell. 209, fam. 215, William J. Mills; NARA microfilm T624, roll 767.

[13]“W.J. Mills has returned home,” The Monett (Missouri) Times, 28 May 1920, p. 4, col. 4.

[14]1910 U.S. census, Barry Co., Mo., pop. sch., Monett Ward 1, p. 4A (penned), ED 4, dwell. 68, fam. 71, William J. Mein; NARA microfilm T624, roll 767.

Katy depot fire, 18 March 1912. Parsons Kansas History, “1870’s Timeline,” (http://parsonskansashistory.com/1870s.html).

“Monett, Missouri Depot,” Frisco Archive (http://frisco.org/mainline/?s=monett)