Re: VGN Engineer “Dad” Aldrich Killed in Ingleside Wreck, 1927

[NW Mailing List]

Killed in wreck. Duh me. 
John Samples
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 22, 2025, at 9:30 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> 
>> 
>>> Messrs. Miller, Sandermann, Blackstock & Bundy, LLC, can figure out why, if at all, he was called "Dad."<<
> 
> Maybe it was a part affectionate - part teasing reference to his age? Aldrich was 58 when he died. Google says the average life expectancy for someone born in 1870 was 40 years.
> 
> I once talked to a guy who had been the pilot on a B-24 during WW2. His crew called him "Pops" because of his advanced age and because he was the oldest man on the plane. He was 22 in 1944. One of his gunners had lied about his age and enlisted at 16.
> 
> Rob Doorack
> Plantsville, CT
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
> Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2025 8:09 PM
> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
> Cc: Hon. Frank Bongiovanni, Esq. <bongiovanni1 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: VGN Engineer “Dad” Aldrich Killed in Ingleside Wreck, 1927
> 
> Just who was “Dad” Aldrich, Engineman on VGN Train 3, killed at Ingleside, May 24, 1927  ?  There was even a song about him recorded at the time (available on YouTube.)  But who was he…?
> 
> An afternoon spent with Ancestry.com developed some facts about Aldrich and his Fireman, Frank Wesley O’Neal.
> 
> ELMORE GEORGE ALDRICH  --  born 3 Mar 1869 in Illinois, the son of Herbert Aldrich b 1846 Illinois, and Elizabeth Agnes (maiden name
> unknown) b 1849 Illinois.
> 
> 1870 Census shows young Elmore, age 1, living with his parents in Sioux City, Woodbridge County, Iowa, father’s occupation shown as farmer.
> 
> 1880 Census shows Elmore, age 11, with siblings Charles 8 and Jennie 7, on farm in Minnehaha County, Dakota Territory.
> 
> 1890 Census was lost in a warehouse fire in Washington.
> 
> 1900 Census: no record for this man found.  Such things happen.
> 
> 1910 Census, shown living Kincaid Precinct, Fayette County, WV (which is about one mile south of Page, employed as Railroad Engineer, age 42, living with wife (indecipherable, probably Eunice or Elizabeth) age 45, the couple having been married 3 years.
> 
> 1920 Census shows Elmore and Elizabeth/Eunice Aldrich living at 320 Maple Ave, Roanoke, Va, owning (as opposed to renting) said home, under mortgage.
> 
> The 300 block of Maple Ave, Roanoke, no longer exists, account the re-jiggering of house numbers done by the City of Roanoke in the late 1940s.  After analysis of a number of pages in the 1920 Census, I conclude the old 300 block of Maple St is now that short block of Maple Ave between Jefferson St and Walnut Ave.  There were five houses in this block shown in the 1920 Census, numbers 301, 311, 313, 319 and 321.  In these houses lived 2 Conductors, 3 Enginemen and 2 Brakemen.
> Assuming that the odd and even sides of the streets were not flopped in the 1940s rejiggering of house numbers, Dad Aldrich and his wife most likely lived on a spot now occupied by New River Dermatology building, 1225 Maple Ave, SW, Roanoke.
> 
> The VGN crewmen living in this block had about a 1,000 foot walk to the VGN Roanoke Passenger Station, and about 1 1500 foot walk to the Round House.
> 
> Elmore “Dad” Aldrich and his wife Elizabeth had no children.
> Engineman Aldrich is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Roanoke (image of his tombstone is attached.)  Elizabeth is shown in the 1930 Census as living, widowed, at 1419 Maple Ave, and without occupation.  She died at home of heart disease 5 Feb 1938, at age 74, and is buried in Evergreen with her husband.  The informant on her death certificate was a sister living in Lacrosse, Wisc.  Her name is confirmed as having been Elizabeth by the death certificate and by her tombstone.
> There were no children.
> 
> FRANK WESLEY O’NEAL, the Fireman, is easier to track.  He was born in West Virginia in 1899 (although Find-a-Grave lists his birth year as
> 1893,) the son of Alfred Moore O’Neal and Susan H. Woolwine O’Neal.
> The 1900 Census shows him as the youngest of seven children living on a farm at Fayetteville, WVa, and the 1910 shows the family living at the same place.  On his 1918 Draft Card he lists his date of birth as
> 3 Jan 1899, his permanent address as Page, Fayette County, WVa, and his employment as Brakeman at the Loop Creek Colliery.  The 1920 Census shows him at age 21, living in Akron, Ohio, with his sister and brother-in-law, and employed as a tire finisher at a rubber company.
> The next record is when he is killed at Ingleside, 24 May 1927.
> Find-a-Grave lists his final resting place as Woods Avenue Plateau Historic Cemetery (a.k.a. the IOOF Cemetery,) Oak Hill, Fayette County, WVa (memorial #179679569,) where is buried with his father and mother.
> 
> I have found no photographs of either Engineman Aldrich or Fireman O’Neal, but photos of their burial monuments are attached (both from
> Find-a-Grave.)
> 
> Messrs. Miller, Sandermann, Blackstock & Bundy, LLC, can figure out why, if at all, he was called "Dad."
> 
> Here ends the quest.  I am now satisfied.  Quod erat demonstrandum.
> 
> -- abram burnett
> Try Our New Electromagnetic Turnip Soup
> .
> 
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