Ceremony To Commemorate Tipton Ford Train Wreck

COURTESY PHOTO The last known photo of Motorcar No. 103 before the tragic accident near Tipton Ford claimed the lives of at least 43 souls in a fiery head-on collision ON Aug. 5, 1914. A ceremony honoring the victims will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 at the Undercliff Restaurant, located north of Neosho at Tipton Ford. A granite stone will be placed at the restaurant in remembrance of the accident.
COURTESY PHOTO The last known photo of Motorcar No. 103 before the tragic accident near Tipton Ford claimed the lives of at least 43 souls in a fiery head-on collision ON Aug. 5, 1914. A ceremony honoring the victims will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 at the Undercliff Restaurant, located north of Neosho at Tipton Ford. A granite stone will be placed at the restaurant in remembrance of the accident.

Anniversaries are often for remembrance of happy events, but a ceremony to be held Aug. 5 at the Undercliff Restaurant at Tipton Ford will mark the 100th anniversary of a tragic day in rail history in southwest Missouri.

The tragedy known as the Great Tipton Ford Train Wreck may be obscured by time and memories lost as residents pass away, but writer Kay Hively, of Neosho is determined to honor the lives lost with a small ceremony 100 years to the day.

Among those killed was a young mother, Josie Williams Harmon and her three children, Ray, 13, Loyd, 8, and Stella, 5.

Josie Harmon, born to William G. Williams and Mary Beck Williams, grew up in McDonald County. After her marriage to John M. Harmon, bore her first son, Ray and a daughter, Zella, in McDonald County before moving to Newton County.

Zella died at age four from scarlet fever in 1907.

During a time when owning a personal car was a rarity, residents would travel on motorcars or "doodle-bugs," according to Hively, to shop in larger communities such as Joplin.

On this particular day in August 1914, Motorcar No. 103 was loaded with several black families traveling back from an Emancipation Day celebration in Joplin, along with white passengers traveling for shopping or visiting relatives.

According to an official report found in "Vol. 31 of The Railroad Trainman Journal," both the Kansas City Southern passenger/freight train and the motor car were running late.

Speculation was that an order to pull off on a sidetrack was never conveyed, causing the two trains to collide and erupt into a raging inferno.

Motorcars are similar to a large trolley car but driven by electric and gasoline. The 70-foot long vehicle could carry about 65 people and up to 150 gallons of gasoline.

The impact is said to have driven the motorcar back over 650 feet. The fuel ignited almost instantly, making rescue impossible for those passengers able to escape from the KCS passenger train. One account states that news spread quickly of the accident, prompting doctors and nurses from Joplin and the surrounding area to rush to the scene.

Because of the extreme heat and mangled metal, most all of the victims killed were unidentifiable, while those that survived were left with lifelong scars.

Of the 38 passengers and five crew members killed that fateful day, 33 were unidentifiable and buried in a mass grave at IOOF Cemetery, also known as the Odd Fellows Cemetery, southwest of Neosho.

Joe and Susan Collard, of Texas, have a special connection to the Harmon family. Josie Williams Harmon's parents were grandparents to Esther Cook Collard.

Susan, a recently retired teacher, has turned her passion for genealogy into her new career, researched the tragedy.

Collard is also co-coordinator for the McDonald County MOGenWeb project which provides a wealth of information to those searching for their family roots.

Joe, a retired law enforcement officer, relates family history as if it just happened yesterday, passing on the oral history of the area and his family to willing listeners.

"We plan to try and make it up to the ceremony," Joe said. "The family farm is near the McNatt area and we come up a couple times a year to visit."

According to Hively there are a few relatives from various states that hope to come to the ceremony. Hively, along with co-author, Larry James, collected large amounts of historical information to develop the book, "The Tipton Ford Tragedy."

The proceeds from the sale of the book will help to pay for the granite stone that will stand as a tribute to the lives lost that summer day in August.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Undercliff Restaurant, followed by a balloon release and a get-together at George Washington Carver National Monument.

The book is now on sale for $5 and may be purchased at the Newton County Historical Society, Neosho Chamber of Commerce, the Neosho National Fish Hatchery or by calling Hively at 417-451-3415.

Community on 07/31/2014