2. Killed at Snow Hill on the Pennsylvania Railroad (1938)

RCHS Blog Post Number 2. 

Killed at Snow Hill on the Pennsylvania Railroad

Published in the Winchester Journal

June 1938 

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    A mutilated photograph, which may or may not be a picture of the dead person, is the only clue to the identity of a decapitated body of a 15-year old boy which is being held at the Fraze Funeral Home at 231 South Meridian Street in Winchester. Randolph County authorities point out the the picture was either on of the dead boy, a relative or friend.
    They are working on the theory that the boy may have escaped from some penal institution and Sunday uncovered a photograph in their files which resembles somewhat that taken from his person.
    The boy was killed instantly at noon Saturday when he fell from a southbound Pennsylvania freight train near Snow hill, four miles south of Winchester. The gruesome discovery was made by James Hollingsworth, a farmer living south of Snow Hill, the badly mangled body being found on the railroad tracks.

    No papers were found in the youth's clothing, the only clue to identity being the picture. Writings on the back of the photograph, in ink, had been erased, but submitted to ultraviolet rays, it was partially revealed as follows: Roland ______, 701 or 702 St., Ft. or Fl.
The "Ft." could have been Fort Wayne and the coroner Dr. Lowell Painter Saturday night notified police authorities there. Police in Richmond, Muncie and other nearby cities were also called.
    Coroner Painter said the boy was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 145 pounds. He had dark hair, gray eyes and was about 15 or 16 years of age. His left heel was built up.
    It was revealed Sunday that a boy answering the description had been missing from a section in the south, but after investigating, it was discovered that the built-up heels were of different feet. A Fort Wayne man Sunday failed to identify the body.
    Authorities are of the opinion the boy was "riding the rods" under a freight car, became unbalanced and fell from the train under the wheels.
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Two Days Later:
    The 15-year-old boy who was killed last Saturday when he fell from a Pennsylvania train at Snow Hill, last night was still unidentified, although perhaps a score of persons had viewed the mangled body.
    Yesterday the body was removed from the Fraze Funeral home in Winchester to the vault at Fountain Park Cemetery where it will remain unburied for a short time more.
     A pathetic scene was enacted yesterday when a woman from Canton, Ohio was certain at first examination that the boy was her son, but proved eventually not to be.
    Persons have viewed the body from Albany, Dunkirk, Portland, Muncie, Toledo, Ohio, Elwood and Cincinnati.
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One Week Later:
    A simple graveside service was solemnized at Fountain Park Cemetery in Winchester yesterday as the body of a 15-year-old boy--unidentified--was buried. After holding the body for possible identification since Saturday, June 25, authorities decided that identity would never be learned, although utmost effort had been made.
    Rev. Lee Jackson, pastor of the Winchester Church of Christ, officiated. The only person attending were Winchester police officers Charles Bullock, Lester Puterbaugh, and John Dietz, Sheriff Kora E. Davis and Lester Mann.

From the Winchester Journal, 1938.

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The Crypt.

Fountain Park Cemetery, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana.

Enter the main gate, go around the General Stone monument, continue to the left and it is nestled in a bank just ahead.

A perfect place to park out of the way so you can wander the older parts of the cemetery.

A time capsule from the bicentennial was placed inside.

Some history of the crypt: It was designed to store nine bodies awaiting burial in the winter. There are compartments made of granite and bronze. Mr. Fleshman of Cincinnati, Ohio constructed it in Barre granite from Barre, Vermont.

Photo taken October 2021.

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UPDATE: November 2021

    Find A Grave record has been created to share the story and honor the final resting place of the young man. 

    If you know more in the identification of this boy or where his unmarked grave is located within Fountain Park Cemetery, contact the cemetery sexton or Randolph County Historical Society, Inc. in Winchester, Indiana.

Link: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/234322798/unknown-15_year_old-male

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Randolph County, Indiana 1818-1990
Commonly referred to as "The Red History Book"
Compiled by the Randolph County Historical Society, 1991, Second reprint 2003.

Read page 246-247 article "Railroads" to learn a bit more about transportation history in Randolph County.

To obtain your own copy of "The Red History Book" stop in at The RCHS Museum Shop or send an email to arrange placing a mail order.

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