The Making of a Legend

Come all you rounders for I want you to hear

The story of a brave engineer

Casey Jones was the rounder's name

On an eight six-wheeler, boys, he won his fame

 

Now the caller called Casey 'bout half-past four

He kissed his wife at the station door

He mounted to the cabin with his orders in his hand

Said; "I'm gonna take my trip to the promised land"

 

Casey Jones mounted to the cabin

Casey Jones with his orders in his hand

Casey Jones mounted to the cabin

Said; "I'm gonna take tke my trip to the promised land"

 

Pour on the water boys, shovel on the coal

Stick your head out the window, see the drivers roll

Gonna run her 'til she leaves the rail

'Cause I'm nine hours late with the western mail

 

Now Casey passed out of South Memphis on the fly

Heard the fireman say " Boy, you got a white-eye "

The switchman knew by the engine's moan

That the man at the throttle was Casey Jones

 

* Refrain

 

Now Casey got to that certain place

Old number nine stared him straight in the face

He said to fireman " Boy, you better jump

Cause there's two locomotives and they're bound to bump"

 

Well, Mrs. Casey Jones, she sat there on the bed

She got the telegram that her poor husband was dead

She said; "Go to bed children, and hush your crying

'Cause you got another papa on the Salt Lake line"

 

* Refrain

April 29, 2000 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the most famous member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. One hundred years ago, Locomotive Engineer Casey Jones was killed 11 miles north of Canton, Miss. and was immortalized by countless songs about an accident which he caused and died trying to prevent.

Jones was promoted to engineer on February 23, 1891 and his name first appears on the register book of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 99 at Water Valley, Miss., on March 10, 1891. He was also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. According to Casey Jones historian Bruce Gurner, his maintaining membership in both of the BLE and the BLF shows that he strongly supported the principles of collective bargaining advanced by the young rail labor movement. It also shows Casey's concern for his family's security, for one of the benefits of brotherhood membership was life insurance protection. Mrs. Jones collected from both groups when he died.

Jones was, by all accounts, an ambitious engineer, eager to move up the seniority ranks and serve on the better paying, more prestigious passenger trains. Prior to the accident, Jones was known as a good engineer and had only minor infractions on his record.

Jones was attempting to make up time on that fateful night because he was late leaving Memphis. His passenger train was scheduled to leave at 11:15 p.m., but did not leave until 12:50 a.m. Little by little, Jones made up some of his lost time until he either ignored the flagmen's warnings or simply did not see them in his haste and crashed into a stopped train.

A Jackson, Miss. newspaper report details the accident:

"The south-bound passenger train No. 1 was running under a full head of steam when it crashed into the rear end of a caboose and three freight cars which were standing on the main track, the other portion of the train being on a sidetrack. The caboose and two of the cars were smashed to pieces, the engine left the rails and plowed into an embankment, where it overturned and was completely wrecked, the baggage and mail coaches also being thrown from the track and badly damaged. The engineer was killed outright by the concussion. His body was found lying under the cab, with his skill crushed and the right arm torn from its socket. The fireman jumped just in time to save his life. The express messenger was thrown against the side of the car, having two of his ribs broken by the blow, but his condition is not considered dangerous."

Actual photo of Casey Jones at the throttle

Jones's lionization was quickly fueled by headlines such as, "Dead Under His Cab: The Sad End of Engineer Casey Jones," The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee; and "Heroic Engineer Sticks to his post at cost of life. Railroad Wreck at Vaughan's on Illinois Central Railroad-Terrible Fatality Prevented by Engineer's Loyalty to Duty - A passenger's Story," The Times-Democrat, New Orleans.

He went from being an engineer whose careless attempt to make up lost time caused his death to a heroic man likened to the captain who goes down with the ship.

He was immortalized in song not because the accident was his fault, but because he stayed in the engine in a valiant attempt to stop the accident that he helped cause and save the lives of his passengers.

Casey Jones' life insurance policy with the Locomotive Engineers Mutual Protection Association

Wallace Saunders was an engine wiper in the railroad shop at Canton. Bruce Gurner says creating simple ballads about people and events seems to have been his talent. Saunders knew Casey Jones and composed a ballad which, Gurner assumes, he played and sang in Canton. The fact that some liberties were taken with the story had no effect on the song's popularity.

"It was an instant success," Gurner says, "and was soon being whistled and sung up and down the Illinois Central."

Illinois Central Engineer William Leighton heard the song and made it known to his brothers, Frank and Bert, who were vaudeville performers. They sang it in theaters around the country, adding a chorus.

T. Lawrence Seibert was credited with the words and Eddie Newton the music when it was published and offered for sale in 1902. By World War I, dozens of versions had been published and millions of copies sold creating a new American folk hero.

Casey was a legend. The song made him that, but ironically neither his wife, Janie, nor any member of his family ever received a cent from the proceeds of the song. Neither did Wallace Saunders.

© 2000 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers