Protecting Railroad Payroll
From: "Loni Hayes-Mazzocco" mudsock@sbcglobal.net
In the later part of of 1800's, did the railroad hire their own employees to protect the railroad's payroll during transport on the trains or did they hire outside the company? If outside help was contracted, what are the names of those companies?
I'm attempting research on my great-grandfather, Benjamin Daniel Hayes. My father has a six-shooter hand-gun that he was told belonged to his grandfather. He was told by his father that his father carried and used this gun when he work for the railroad protecting their payroll during transport. In the wood of the handle is carved 7-notches. The notches represent the number of men he killed while performing his job.
He was born in Shelbrock, Indiana in 1859 and moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa. I am assuming that he relocated to Council Bluffs for employment with the railroad. While in Council Bluffs, he met and married my great grandmother, Nellie Margaret Hanson. He was 40 and she was 18. My father said his dad told him that his grandfather was "a tough son-of-a-bit....".
How can I go about researching this story that has been passed down for 4-generations (to my children)? I'm looking for an historical record such as a payroll log or journal that a company may have used. At this point, where would those records be stored?
I have absolutely no idea where to start my search. Any ideas or historical railroad information....such as what railroad company(s) would have been based out of Council Bluffs, Iowa between about 1870 to 1890? I would appreciate any help or suggestions.
—Loni
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 11:16 PM
5 Comments:
From: wem@onetel.com
I'm sure you'll get valuable suggestions regarding railroad records, but have you checked online census information? There should be employment information there for your great-grandfather.
John Snyder
White Ensign Models, South Farm,
Snitton, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 3EZ, UK
From: "Loni Hayes-Mazzocco" mudsock@sbcglobal.net
My great-grandfather's name is:
Benjamin Daniel Hayes (Volunteer during Spanish-American War)
Died 1932 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
My great-grandmother's name is:
Nellie Margaret Hanson
Died 1947 Van Nuys, California
—Loni
From: "Loni Hayes-Mazzocco" mudsock@sbcglobal.net
... I'm able to locate him on the US 1920 Federal Census. His age is 62 and his listed occupation is farmer. On the 1930 Federal Census his age is 72 and again listed as a farmer. Previously, from family stories, I had already learned he was a farmer after working for the railroad. I was told he quit his job after marrying my great-grandmother and started farming.
I can understand by 1920 & 1930 he would no longer be with the railroad due to his age; 62 and 72; especially considering what would have been his job responsibilities with the railroad.
Unfortunately, census taken during his prime when he would have been performing this job does not list anything specific except a name. After a name, there are simply tick marks for the number of people, etc. Therefore, I'm unable to track earlier ancestors and be sure I'm viewing the correct relative. ...
—Loni
From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org
The following information may help you with your research on SP/CP practices. The full source is also available on Google Books.
—Larry Mullaly
----------------------------
SP Pay Car 1874
Lell Hawley Wooley. California, 1849-1913: Or, The Rambling Sketches and Experiences of Sixty-four Years’ Residence in the State (DeWitt & Snelling, Oakland, 1914), pp. 41-42.
ON AN S. P. PAY-CAR.
"In the summer of 1874 the paymaster of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, Major J. M. Hanford, sent me an invitation to accompany him on the pay car through the San Joaquin Valley, to pay off the employees of the company. I was delighted to have an opportunity of going through the Valley. At the appointed time I was on hand with two boxes of cigars, for I knew the Major was likely to have some lively, good natured fellows with him, and I wanted to have something with me to help me along. Now I must say something about this pay car, for it was a wonderful thing for me. It had the appearance on the inside of a hotel on wheels. At the rear end was a window through which the employes were paid; the depth of the room in which were the paymaster and his two check clerks, was about the same as the width of the car. In it were the safe, rifles, shotguns, pistols, ammunition galore, with an opening into what was used as the dining room and berths, which would accommodate about 12 people. Then came the cook's room on one side, with a narrow passageway on the other, into a small room in the front end of the car. This car was sixty feet in length and would make you think you were in a palace hotel on wheels. Hank Small, who had hands as big as a garden spade, was the engineer, with engine No. 96, which was always expected to pull the pay car. Then there was a man by the name of Olmsby who was one of the check clerks, young and very fine looking. Then there was another man in the employ of the company by the name of Gerald who was auditor for the company and had feet twice as large as any other man. Now I want my readers to hold these three men in mind and their peculiarities for I shall refer to them later on. We are all now seated at the supper table, ten in all, and all railroad men except myself, with the dignified paymaster at the head of the table and his check clerk, Olmsby, at the foot, who assumed the duty of saying grace by making motions around his chest and head, accompanied with these words, "Bucksaws filed and set." This created some amusement and was the only time it occurred. The supper went on and the tables were cleared away, and then there was chatting and story telling. Finally I started to tell a story and had gotten fairly into it when I suddenly discovered that every man in the room was sound asleep. It did not take me long to wake them up and have every man on his feet or on the floor. This did not last long, for I brought out one of my boxes of cigars and that settled the question right there. The next day we were in the San Joaquin Valley and continued the trip, paying the men as we went along, until we reached Bakersfield. This was the end of the road at that time.
Then we returned to Stockton, to Sacramento, to Red Bluff, which was the end of the road in that direction at that time. From there we returned to San Francisco, having had a very fine and agreeable trip, and each one returned to his former allotted position. I at this time was in the produce commission business on Washington Street near Front Street. Inside of a year Mr. Olmsby left the railroad company, married and went to Chico, in the Sacramento Valley, to run a stationery store. In 1876, the year that President Hayes was elected, his wife gave birth to a child and Olmsby sent a telegram to Mr. Hanford reading like this: "Boy, born last night, has Gerald's feet, Hank Small's hands, my good looks, and hollered for Hayes all night." In 1884 I went into the employ of the Southern Pacific Co. where I remained for twenty years. In 1904 on account of a rule of the company pertaining to long service and age, I was retired on a pension. I protested, they insisted, I accepted (because I could not help myself). The company was right and I appreciated the pension as they appreciated my services. In all those years I had no reason to complain of the company. Shortly after my retirement from the employ of the Southern Pacific Company I had sickness in my family and lost "the girl I left behind me," after fifty-three years of happy married life. This was in 1906, it is now 1913, and I am still behind, but I shall get there bye-and-bye and we will go" on together side by side."
From: wem@onetel.com
You might want to also check a couple of other sources. Some states conducted their own censuses in the 19th century (I've tracked down more info on my great-grandfather in Nevada that way). Also, check any city or county directories that may be available for where he lived; they will list both address and occupation.
John Snyder
White Ensign Models, South Farm,
Snitton, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 3EZ, UK
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