EBER A. GURLEY, Marion, Ohio.
Eber A. Gurley is the oldest employe on the Third and Fourth Divisions of the Erie, and is third in rank on the engineer's roster of service. He has been with the Erie for thirty-seven years, and is now running a switch engine at Marion. His father was James 0. Gurley, station agent for the Cleveland & Pittsburg at Rootstown, Ohio, at which place Mr. Gurley was born on February 6, 1847. His mother was Maria Bostwick. He attended school until he was 14 years of age, and a year later he went to work on the Atlantic & Great Western at Ravenna, Ohio, as a brakeman. He broke one year, and during that time broke on the first train of box cars that went into Meadville, Pennsylvania. He then secured a position as fireman for the same company, and fired a year and a half on freight and a year on passenger, when his ability was rewarded by being promoted to engineer in the fall of 1866. He ran on freight on the Third and Fourth Divisions until 1884, when he was assigned to a switch engine at Marion, which he has run for the past fifteen years. Mr. Gurley pulled the first fast freight that ever ran from Galion to Dayton on the Erie, and also the first full train equipped with air brakes from Galion to Dayton. He is rated as one of the best engineers in the service and has many testimonials from his superiors.

He was married June 4, 1874, to Miss Mary Lannon, daughter of Patrick Lannon, an officer of the law at Marion. They have had five children: James 0., the first child, died at the age of 19; Blanche E., aged 20, was educated in Marion Catholic High School and St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Indiana, and is a stenographer; Mary M., aged 16; Leona E., aged 13; and Eber G., aged 6, are attending school. Mr. Gurley is a member of B. of L. E., Division No. 16, and Knights of Maccabees, Model Tent No. 157. He lives at 290 North Prospect street, and the family is one of the most popular in that section of the city.

Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.

From the April 23, 1899 issue of the Marion Daily Star:
E.A. Gurley, engineer of switch engine no. 154, used here, was at Mansfield with his family, Sunday, visiting friends.

From the Thursday, June 14, 1906 issue of the Marion Daily Star:

Mrs. E.A. Gurley was in Galion Wednesday attending the funeral of Mr. M.A. Ricksecker.

From the Tuesday, August 18, 1913 issue of the Marion Daily Star:
Running at the rate of thirty-five miles per hour, Erie passenger engine 856 crashed into switch engine No. 573 Monday afternoon, about 4 o'clock, derailing the local and tearing out the front ends of both.

The switch engine had not cleared the main track on the Cincinnati Division, and was standing on the passing track southwest of Kenton Avenue with a cut of thirty cars behind it, heading east. The view to the main track was obstructed by a cut of cars on the Steam Shovel Company siding.

The passenger engine was running single, west to Dayton to bring up No. 10, with engineer Walker at the throttle and fireman Artman and Conductor Hessinger in the cab. The men in the engine did not see the danger until within thirty or forty feet of the switch engine, when brakes were hastily applied. Just before the engines hit, fireman Artman jumped.

Seeing that they could not avert a wreck by backing, both engineer Gurley and fireman Conlan of the switch engine jumped and escaped injury.

The force of the collision was so great that the front end of the switch engine was raised two feet from the track and a switch engine had to be pressed into service to pull the two engines apart. The switch engine, when let down, jumped the track.

Both engines are in a bad shape, the front ends of each being stove in, the pilot beams and guides of the switch engine were carried away by the pilot of the passenger, completely smashed. they were hitched, tender to tender, and shipped to Galion this morning for repairs.

From the July, 1919 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
EBER A. GURLEY�A report of the death of Eber A. Gurley appeared in the Marion, 0., Star. It stated that heart trouble was the cause, and that he was 72 years of age. Date of death was June 3, 1919. He was one of the oldest engineers on the Kent division, and had served on the old A. & G. W. before the Erie took it over. He had been retired since 1916. He was a member of the Maccabees, St. Mary's R. C. church and the B. of L. E. His surviving relatives are two daughters.