By M. C.
With great progress always comes the possibility for great adversity, and as the United States entered a time of advancement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its communities would experience both. Developments in technology and industry provided Americans with new opportunities for employment and transportation, connecting cities and towns throughout the country. The railroad industry in particular would revolutionize the way people and products were transported, laying its first foundations across the Eastern and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state of Indiana would prove to be a major component in the development of railways, however it would not be immune from the innumerable train wrecks that disturbed communities all over America. One such tragedy reached Porter County in the early twentieth century.
Located in the Northwest corner of Indiana, Porter County spans a distance of approximately 420 square miles and is divided into three sections: the Calumet, Morainic, and Kankakee.[1] The county was highly populated by Native American tribes – particularly the Potttawatomi – prior to the twentieth century, although they were soon joined by settlers. The first white settler, Joseph Bailly, arrived in 1822 and established the county’s first Catholic Church and trading post.[2] The arrival of more settlers brought about an increase in construction and development, and Porter County was officially established on January 28, 1836.[3]
The population of the county at this time was fairly sparse but began to grow substantially in the late nineteenth century, and by 1900 the population of Porter had reached close to 19,000 people.[4] While the county owes a portion of its growth to agricultural production, Porter is also rich in industrial history. Several wagon manufacturers began production in 1839, followed by an abundance of sawmills in the 1840’s. Several smaller industries also started developing, including cigar and shoe factories, breweries, and furniture manufacturers. Brick manufacturing would soon prove to be a profitable industry for Porter, and by 1884 there were eight brickyards throughout the county, most of them in or near Porter Township.[5]
With an increase in construction and industry came a necessity for greater methods of transportation. Residents of Northwest Indiana had been relying on waterways and old Indian trails to travel to nearby cities for supplies and trading. Road construction began in 1836 and by 1912 nearly 250 miles of roadways had been constructed.[6] With the arrival of railroads in the 1850’s, the possibility for progress in Porter County became clear.
The close vicinity of Porter County to Chicago, along with its Northwestern position in the state, made its cities and towns ideal locations for the establishment of railway systems. The first tracks, built in 1850, were part of the Michigan Central Railroad and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad.[7] The Michigan Southern Railroad was established in 1837 and combined with the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad and the Northern Indiana Railroad in 1855 to form the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, stretching from southern Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. Several years later it merged with Lake Shore Railroad, becoming the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, which would extend its tracks to Ohio.[8] The Michigan Central Railroad was founded much earlier, in 1837. Originally connecting cities only in Michigan, it later extended to parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Canada. Despite its distance, the New York Central Railroad began purchasing railway systems throughout the Midwest under the direction of Cornelius Vanderbilt. By 1869 the New York Central Railroad had acquired both the Michigan Central and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad.[9]
Railroads were undoubtedly a major part of industrialization, not just in Indiana but across the United States, and large conglomerates like the New York Central Railroad were becoming increasingly common during the early twentieth century. Concern about potential monopolies and devastating numbers of casualties called for government intervention. According to Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) reports, from 1902 to 1911 4,146 passengers and 33,761 railroad employees were killed in the United States. More than 113,000 passengers and 403,000 employees sustained major injuries during this period.[10] While there were many reasons for these staggering statistics, the lack of standardized technology and safety regulations were perhaps the most monumental. As a result, Congress established a number of new railroad safety laws through the ICC. These included the Accident Reports Act of 1910, requiring the collection and documentation of accidents and casualties, and the Block Signal Act of 1906, requiring the installment of safety devices like signaling systems. The Signal Inspection Law of 1920 was implemented to help reduce train wrecks caused by defects in these systems.[11] These regulations proved to dramatically decrease the number of employee and passenger casualties. From 1923 to 1931 the number of employee deaths was under 12,000 and there were only 747 passenger casualties.[12]
While government regulation certainly improved railroad conditions and prevented many casualties, train wrecks still happened frequently through the 1900’s. With over 200 of the 7,300 miles of railroad in Indiana running through Porter County, accidents were bound to occur.[13]
One such tragedy struck Porter Township on Sunday, February 27, 1921. Around 6:30 PM, the Michigan Central Canadian No. 20, eastbound from Chicago to Toronto, and New York Central’s Interstate Express No. 151, westbound from Boston to Chicago, approached the diamond-shaped track intersection in front of the switching tower.[14] Failing to heed a signal set against it, the Michigan Central train struck an automatic derailing device about 600 feet from the intersection, causing the train cars to bump alongside the tracks until reaching a stop. With the third and fourth passenger coaches sprawling the intersection, the New York Central train crashed through moments later, bending the rails ten feet into the air and scattering pieces of the coach cars fifty yards in all directions.[15]
One witness, Gerry Long, lived close to the intersection and rushed to the wreck. As ambulances approached and local townspeople made their way to the crash site, he was able to pull several men free from the New York Central train.[16] The critically wounded were rushed to a hospital in Michigan City, Indiana, where several victims lost their lives. As bodies were transferred to the Chesterton morgue, the Porter County coroner, H.O. Seipel, took over body identifications and the preliminary investigation.[17]
With the exception of Claude Johnson and George Deland, the engineer and fireman of the New York Central train respectively, all casualties were from the Michigan Central train.[18] It was incredibly difficult to determine how many people were killed due to the mangled conditions of the bodies and several decapitations. Seipel was admittedly doubtful that an accurate body count would be possible, and his initial report of 42 casualties was later reduced to 37.[19]
The initial investigation, led by coroner Seipel and assisted by Michigan Central Division superintendents, concluded that most of the identified deceased were residents of Indiana and Southern Michigan, including professionals, young married couples, and, sadly, many young children.[20] As representatives of the Indiana Railroad Commission arrived to begin the state’s investigation, witness reports began to surface and suspicion of Michigan Central’s engineman, William Long, began to mount.
Several railroad employees present at the time of the wreck were interviewed to determine its cause and who was at fault. The tower leverman, Joe Cook, was responsible for setting the railway signals that evening. With two trains approaching the intersection, tower operators had to determine which would reach it first by waiting for them to trip their respective circuits and sound buzzers in the tower. Upon hearing New York Central’s buzzer, Cook aligned the tracks accordingly, setting a red stop signal for the Michigan Central train. According to Cook and the other tower operators on duty that evening, the train disregarded this signal, and when it became apparent that it would not stop, the men rushed from the tower. Unfortunately, they were unable to alert either train before they collided.[21]
David Curtis was the engineer on an adjacent Michigan Central train that was waiting at a nearby crossing for the Canadian No. 20 to pass. According to his report, his position provided clear vision of the signal and he was certain that the light had been red. Two brakemen aboard this same train witnessed the Canadian No. 20 approaching and raced to the track to alert Engineman Long of the impending crash, but to no avail.[22]
William Long and George Block, the engineman and fireman of the Michigan Central Canadian No. 20 respectively, were responsible for observing the tower signals during transport. According to Long’s statement, he slowed the train as it approached the signals and Block confirmed that the signal was green and they were clear to pass. Long claimed that he checked the signals himself and thought he saw a green light, but later reported he was not sure due to smoke and steam. Block corroborated Long’s story, confirming the presence of smoke and steam, but was adamant that the signal light had been green.[23] Despite the overwhelming number of witness reports conflicting Long’s story, Michigan Central Railroad authorities supported the engineman and placed blame on Joe Cook, claiming that both engineman Long and fireman Block had clean records.[24]
According to the Interstate Commerce Commission report, however, both William Long and George Block had a history of irresponsible and reckless behavior on the job. Long had been hired by the Michigan Central Railroad in 1890 as a fireman and was promoted in 1901 to engineman. He had several suspensions listed in his service records, including one ten-day suspension in 1901 and two ten-day suspensions in 1907 for failing to heed stop signals. In 1909 he was removed from service due to defective vision, but was re-instated only months later. No suspensions were listed until 1918 when he was suspended thirty days for colliding with a caboose car. George Block had been hired by the Michigan Central Railroad in 1915 as a fireman, was recruited for military service from 1916 to 1919, and after only three months back on the job he was suspended thirty days for ignoring a stop signal.[25]
Conflicting witness reports and the questionable records of engineman Long and fireman Block led to an investigation of the signal system near the wreck site in Porter. Results concluded that the system had been operating properly and the signals had, in fact, been set against the Michigan Central train.[26]
The accused men were held on bonds of $5,000 and $3,500, which were paid by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.[27] William Long and George Block were released on March 4, 1921, and had the support of the Brotherhood and an attorney. Coroner Seipel and several witnesses, including David Curtis and the brakemen from the other Michigan Central train present at the wreck, signed affidavits against Long and Block shortly after their release and an official inquest was held on March 5, 1921. Official witness statements were given and the accused’s attorney issued their official statement, placing blame on the railroad companies for constructing tracks that were widely considered to be a “death trap.”[28] At the conclusion of the inquest, William Long of Niles Michigan and George Block of Michigan City, Indiana were officially charged with involuntary manslaughter. The trial date was set for June 6, 1921.[29]
Unfortunately, the trial would never come to pass. It was postponed several times until February of 1922 when the case was dropped by Indiana’s Superior Court. Apparently, the state had failed to obtain the material witnesses. William Long and George Block were released from custody.[30]
Despite the government’s intervention in the railroad industry, incidents similar to the Porter Wreck continued to occur for many years. While Porter Township eventually recovered from the wreck, the community was losing its members and businesses to larger surrounding cities like Chesterton and Valparaiso. In fact, from 1910 to 1930 the county’s population only increased by about 1,500 people.[31] Since then, Porter County has maintained its communities through its railroad connections and the appeal of the nearby Indiana Dunes. While past events like the wreck of 1921 have been widely forgotten, they have significantly influenced the railroad industry which served as a model of business and government policy for future corporations.
Bibliography
“41 Known Dead in Train Wreck.” Waterloo Press (Waterloo, IN), March 3, 1921.
“About N.Y.C.” New York Central System Historical Society, Inc., accessed February 22, 2014. http://nycshs.org/about-n-y-c.
“An Evaluation of Railroad Safety.” Princeton University, accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1978/7808/780806.
Bartholomew, Charles M. “Serene Sunday Shattered: Great Porter Train Wreck of 1921 Killed 37.” Post-Tribune, March 16, 2008. http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu.
Bicentennial History Book Committee. A Biographical History of Porter County Indiana: The American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc., 1976.
Borland, W.P. “Investigation of Railroad Accidents: 1911-1993,” Department of Transportation Library. March 14, 1921. http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?websearch&site=dot_railroads
“Drop Porter Wreck Cases.” Fremont Eagle (Fremont, IN), Feb. 14, 1922.
“Engine Crew is Held on Charge of Manslaughter.” Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), March 5, 1921.
“Engineer Held in Wreck Quiz.” Mitchell Commercial (Mitchell, IN), March 10,1921.
Glass, David and Durand, Joseph. Porter County Sesquicentennial: 1836-1986. 1987. http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Misc/PorterCountySesquicentennial-1986.pdf.
“Indiana State Happenings.” The Register (Newburgh, IN), May 20, 1921.
Parks, Richard. “Michigan Central Railroad.” Railroad Index. Last modified July 9, 2011. http://www.r2parks.net/mc.html.
“Trains Crash at Crossing, Somebody Misread Signals, Blame Not Yet Determined.” Kokomo Daily Tribune (Kokomo, IN), Feb. 28, 1921.
[1] Dave Glass and Joseph Durand, Porter County Sesquicentennial: 1836-1986 (1986), 5, http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Misc/PorterCountySesquicentennial-1986.pdf.
[2] Ibid., 6
[3] Bicentennial History Book Committee, A Biographical History of Porter County (Indiana: The American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc., 1976), 12.
[4] Dave Glass and Joseph Durand, Porter County Sesquicentennial: 1836-1986 (1986), 36, http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Misc/PorterCountySesquicentennial-1986.pdf.
[5] Ibid., 68.
[6] Ibid., 73.
[7] Ibid., 73.
[8] “About N.Y.C.,” New York Central System Historical Society, Inc., accessed February 22, 2014, http://nycshs.org/about-n-y-c.
[9] Richard Parks, “Michigan Central Railroad,” Railroad Index, last modified July 9, 2011, http://www.r2parks.net/mc.html.
[10] : “An Evaluation of Railroad Safety,” Princeton University, accessed February 28, 2014, http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1978/7808/780806.
[11] : “An Evaluation of Railroad Safety,” Princeton University, accessed February 28, 2014, http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1978/7808/780806.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Dave Glass and Joseph Durand, Porter County Sesquicentennial: 1836-1986 (1986), 6, http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Misc/PorterCountySesquicentennial-1986.pdf.
[14] Charles M. Bartholomew, “Serene Sunday Shattered: Great Porter Train Wreck of 1921 Killed 37,” Post-Tribune, March 16, 2008, http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu.
[15] “41 Known Dead in Train Wreck,” Waterloo Press (Waterloo, IN), March 3, 1921.
[16] Charles M. Bartholomew, “Serene Sunday Shattered: Great Porter Train Wreck of 1921 Killed 37,” Post-Tribune, March 16, 2008, http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu.
[17] “Trains Crash at Crossing, Somebody Misread Signals, Blame Not Yet Determined,” Kokomo Daily Tribune (Kokomo, IN), Feb. 28, 1921.
[18] Ibid.
[19] “Engine Crew is Held on Charge of Manslaughter,” Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), March 5, 1921.
[20] “Trains Crash at Crossing, Somebody Misread Signals, Blame Not Yet Determined,” Kokomo Daily Tribune (Kokomo, IN), Feb. 28, 1921.
[21] W.P. Borland, “Investigations of Railroad Accidents: 1911-1993,” Department of Transportation Library, March 14, 1921, http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?websearch&site=dot_railroads
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] “Trains Crash at Crossing, Somebody Misread Signals, Blame Not Yet Determined,” Kokomo Daily Tribune (Kokomo, IN), Feb. 28, 1921.
[25] W.P. Borland, “Investigations of Railroad Accidents: 1911-1993,” Department of Transportation Library, March 14, 1921, http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?websearch&site=dot_railroads
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
[28] “Engine Crew is Held on Charge of Manslaughter,” Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), March 5, 1921.
[29] “Indiana State Happenings,” The Register (Newburgh, IN), May 20, 1921.
[30] “Drop Porter Wreck Cases,” Fremont Eagle (Fremont, IN), Feb. 14, 1922.
[31] Dave Glass and Joseph Durand, Porter County Sesquicentennial: 1836-1986 (1986), 36, http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Misc/PorterCountySesquicentennial-1986.pdf.
