Chicago & Erie Railroad Personnel File Abstract - Charles E. Shroyer



Charles E. Shroyer
Born in Roanoke, Ind., Nov. 2nd, 1880. Employed Jan. 10th, 1902 as brakeman. Resigned April 29, 1902. Reemployed as freight brakeman Aug. 4th, 1902.




SOURCE: P. 296, Chicago & Erie Railroad Employment Summary Book, ledger book covering @ 1880-1905. Donated to this site courtesy of Nick Pappas. Transcription by Jim Sponholz (c) 2007.




From the Wednesday, March 20, 1946 Rochester News-Sentinel:
Instantaneous death came to two signalmen on the Erie railroad one and one-half miles west of Rochester when an eastbound Erie passenger train struck and killed Waldo Emerson "Jack" Harvey, former Rochester school boy, and Walter Brubaker of Huntington who was approximately 40 years old.

The accident occurred at 10:30 o'clock this morning as the two men were operating an inspection motor car on the railroad right-of-way. The train struck them as they were proceeding along the tracks between the farm lands owned by Mrs. Michael Eash and H. R. Long. Both bodies were severely mangled. The body of the Harvey youth, aged 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Harvey of 603 Grant street, Decatur, and that of Brubaker, were thrown some 100 feet by the onrushing passenger train.

The boy's father, Harold Harvey, was game warden for Fulton county for four or five years and resided a mile north of Rochester on U.S. highway 31. A sister of the youth, Mrs. Dean Arven, resides in Fulton.

The passenger train was train number 16 which goes daily through this city. The engineer of the train was Charles Jackson of Huntington and the conductor was Charles Shroyer, also from Huntington.

Coroner Dean Stinson and coroner's clerk Dale Berkebile were called to the scene of the tragedy and Coroner Stinson declared the deaths as accidental. F.A. Roberts, track supervisor for the Erie railroad, who lives in Huntington, also arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after it happened.

Personal belongings which were strewn alongside the torn bodies of the victims, aided the investigators to establish complete identity of the men. The Harvey youth's identification was established by a billfold found near his body by Track Supervisor Roberts. Mr. Brubaker was later identified by the Delong station workers where the two Erie employees had a few moments earlier made their report. Floyd Christman, railway express agent, and Max Nichols, owner of the Justus News Stand, were at the Erie railroad depot when the accident occurred. They accompanied Mr. Roberts on an inspection car, similar to the one that was smashed in the accident, to where the bodies lay. They then returned to the depot where they summoned Coroner Stinson, Dr. M.O. King and Zimmerman Brothers ambulance. At present the bodies are at the Zimmerman funeral home.

Waldo Emerson Harvey was born in Adams county near Decatur on October 18, 1928, and went to school both in Rochester and in Decatur. He was employed by the Erie railroad for the past two years. Survivors include, besides his parents and Mrs. Arven, three brothers at home in Decatur, and one sister. They are James A., Donald, Gary and Jane Harvey.

The funeral arrangements and a more complete obituary of both of the deceased will appear in tomorrow's edition of The News-Sentinel.


Also, from the Thursday, March 21, 1946 issue:
More information was gleaned today concerning the disaster that befell Waldo E. "Jack" Harvey, 17-year-old former local youth and Walter Brubaker, 48, of Huntington when an eastbound Erie passenger train hit and killed them yesterday morning as they were operating an inspection car one and one-half miles west of the Rochester Erie depot.

Funeral services for Waldo E. Harvey will be held at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Harvey, at 603 Grant street, Decatur, Saturday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock. Another service will then be held at 2 o'clock in the United Brethren church in Decatur. Rev. C. A. Eddy will officiate with the Rev. Charles E. White assisting. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. The boy's father is well known in Fulton county where he served as game warden for five years. A sister, Mrs. Dean Arven, resides in Fulton.

It was understood today that the engineer of the train that killed the two boys, Engineer Charles Jackson, of Huntington, stated he saw the motor car in which the tragedy victims were riding, but at that time the engine was too close upon them. The men in the motor car had planned to stop at a point about a mile west of the Erie depot to make repairs on a signal block and had they proceeded but one-half of a mile in the eastward a moment or two earlier the accident would have been averted. A crew of Erie right-of-way workers are stationed on the siding of the Erie at Monterey and it was from this station that the two men were operating making repairs to switch signals between Monterey and Rochester.

Walter R. Brubaker of Huntington, the other man killed in the tragedy, was born April 1, 1898, in Laketon, the son of John H. and Christine Hubbard Brubaker. Survivors of the deceased include his wife, Clara (Morgan) Brubaker; one son, Daniel; three daughters, Shirley, Linda and Mary Ellen Brubaker. The children live at home. He also leaves four brothers, Luther and Albert Brubaker at Laketon and Calvin and George M. Brubaker at North Manchester; and three sisters, Mrs. James Blocher, Mrs. Calvin Blocher and Mrs. Willis McColouch at Laketon. His parents also survive.

He has been employed by the Erie railroad for 24 years and was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen. His funeral will be held at three o'clock Friday in the Huntington Congregational church.


[Transcriptions found in FULTON COUNTY INDIANA OBITUARIES, by Jean C. and Wendell C. Tombaugh, available online through the Fulton County Library, Rochester, IN]


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