At 7:05 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6, 1938, a Missouri Pacific Railroad train collided with a 1927 Model T tudor sedan driven by Sam Fisher at Hoy McConley’s crossing two miles west of Dresden. The results were devastating: three people died instantly, one died while being transported to Bothwell Hospital in Sedalia, one died a few days later, and one survived.
Ambulances from McLaughlin’s Funeral Home and Gillespie’s Funeral Home, summoned to the accident site, rushed to provide aid. An ambulance was rushing Sam Fisher, seriously injured, to the hospital, but he died in route. Another Ambulance took George Anderson to Bothwell Hospital, where he remained in critical condition.
Pettis County Coroner Dr. Gordon Stauffacher drove to the scene to investigate. Reporters from the Sedalia Democrat and the Sedalia Capital arrived to photograph the wreckage. Some 500 ghoulish spectators drove from Sedalia to view the wreckage, requiring the Missouri Highway Patrol to respond to direct traffic.
At 4 p.m., the day after the accident, a quadruple funeral was held at the Mt. Zion Christian Church 1.5 miles south of Dunksburg for four of the victims — Sam Fisher, Newton Fisher, Nathan Faulkner, and Ruth Taylor. The deceased were longtime residents of the neighborhoods of Stokely and Barefoot, which were close to Houstonia, and had many friends and extended family members. The Rev. C. E. Hawn of Warrensburg and the Rev. J. A. DeWitt of Beaman conducted the services. Over 500 attended.
George Anderson, thrown from the running board of the car where he was riding, did not regain consciousness and died on Monday. His funeral, conducted by the Reverend Frank Burton of the Houstonia Methodist Church, was held at the Longwood Methodist Church.
Anderson’s nine-year-old son John survived and was taken to the home of his uncle W. J. Anderson of 1500 South Quincy, Sedalia, to recuperate. Reporters from both the Democrat and the Capital interviewed the boy. John said that he did not see the train until it was about 25 feet from the car.
The lack of visibility is confirmed by those on board the train. Train operators, interviewed by reporters, gave their account of the accident. Fireman C. C. Sullivan first saw the car, which was only partially on the tracks, and screamed, alerting Engineer B. V. Elkins.
While the inability of the driver to see the train and the train to see the driver seems questionable to us today, Pettis County Historical Society members familiar with the area near the crash site note that the railroad crossing was located where the track makes a sharp curve, limiting visibility for both the engineer and the car’s driver. Tall uncut weeds lining the track and the roadway further obscured their visibility. Adding to the difficulty was the design of railroad engines of the time, which placed the engineer toward the rear of the locomotive, behind the smokestack.
Coroner Stauffacher decided that an inquest was not necessary, although the law required an inquest in cases of accidental death. However, federal law required that an incident report be filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission, which according to Ken Bird, Pettis Count Historical Society member and railroad expert, oversaw the nation’s railroads at the time.
Next week’s column will detail the incident report.
