McDONOUGH — John Quinn has been spreading the word about a historic event from more than a century ago. His quest is to bring attention to the 1900 Camp Creek train wreck to commemorate its significance and celebrate its heroes.
June 23 marks the 115th anniversary of the wreck, which claimed about 39 lives on the muddy banks of Camp Creek just north of the McDonough Square near Ga. 42.
Quinn said he reached out to officials near and far, and contacted the governor’s office about honoring the dead, the survivors and the saviors.
Gov. Nathan Deal encouraged him to continue his pursuits.
“I join you in recognizing the importance of this event in history, and I hope that you continue to educate other Georgians about this day in our past that can teach us in the present,” wrote Deal.
Quinn is part of a growing cast of residents who want to preserve the city’s history, both tragic and inspiring.
He said he became intrigued with the train wreck after learning the story, as many do, through its retelling by locals.
Historians Gene Morris and Jeff Wells learned about the wreck in much the same way. They researched the event and included it in their various written works on Henry County’s history.
“The book itself was the result of when I moved to McDonough,” said Wells, an associate history professor at Georgia Military College. “It was sort of an outgrowth of my interest in it. I heard a lot about the train crash. And I began to use our library at Georgia Military College and the library in McDonough and the (genealogy center) Brown House.”
Wells was a speaker during the 2013 dedication of the historical marker along Ga. 42 — a dedication Quinn helped orchestrate. The marker serves as a memorial standing on the edge of a neighborhood subdivision above knee-high crosses planted in the ground to represent those passengers and crew members who perished.
The memorial also pointedly commemorates the actions of flagman Johnny “J.J.” Quinlan, porter T.C. Carter and others who helped rescue survivors.
Wells said he found articles from more than two dozen newspapers including the Henry County Weekly, the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution. He said the accident was reported and appeared in periodicals as far away as New York State.
“They got the news story around quite well for that time period,” he said. “It was one of the worst train crashes in Georgia history at that time.”
Wells lives near the site of the crash.
Throughout his research, he found interviews of survivors and pieced together a narrative of that stormy summer night on a train ride from Macon to Atlanta.
He came across the story of Quinlan, a flagman for Southern Railroad Co.
Quinlan was poor, in his early 20s and had served a few days in jail, when he made his famous run to the McDonough depot, said Wells.
Wells recounted the flagman was working in the Pullman car at the back of the train as it approached the Camp Creek Bridge when, without warning, he felt the brakes.
Flooding from a swollen Camp Creek after 23 straight days of rain had compromised the bridge truss and washed out a portion ahead of the northbound train. Within seconds, the train was flung across the gap into the opposite bank.
Wells said some passengers and crew members were able to escape a handful of semi-submerged cars stacked one on top of the other in the fast-flowing creek.
Quinlan was one of those survivors.
“He was able to climb up that steep hill at Camp Creek,” said Wells.
Quinlan ran those tracks two miles in the pouring rain to the depot in downtown McDonough to inform the depot manager about the accident — stopping at homes along the way to get help from residents.
“There was another train coming and he had to get back to the depot to stop it,” said Wells. “If he hadn’t gotten there, the depot manager would have never known that train No. 7 was in the creek.”
Wells said the mangled engine was called old No. 7, not because it was christened as such, but it was known as the engine on Route 7 between Macon and Atlanta, a stretch of about 100 miles.
Carter was one of the black porters assigned to that route.
He was an elderly man who had broken his hip, but he managed to help two white women — a teacher and her student — to safety.
“He never would have been allowed in her classroom at the time,” said Wells. “(But) he saved them and continued to provide moral support to the white survivors.”
Back at the depot, Quinlan collapsed from exhaustion. But he returned that day to the site of the accident to help with clean up.
Horse-drawn carriages carted the bodies of victims downtown where they were prepared by two funeral homes for burial.
Wells said dozens of coffins were laid out on the McDonough Square for discovery by families who would identify most of their remains. He said some were never identified but are buried now in unmarked graves in the city cemetery.
“Most of the dead on that train worked for the railroad company,” he said. “That was a service train. A lot of the young men were headed from Macon back to Atlanta to be with their families on Saturday.”
There were fewer than a dozen survivors.
“The Camp Creek train crash is one of great tragedy and even greater triumph,” said Vincent. “The sense of community which emerged from the train wreck in my opinion sets the bedrock for what we know as a ‘McDonough heart.’
“The sense of community which emerged from the accident was extraordinary,” she continued. “J.J. Quinlan ran two miles in the pouring rain along the railroad tracks to deliver warning to the depot and T.C. Carter pulled 10 injured persons from the wreckage saving all of their lives.”
She said she first heard the story from Mayor Billy Copeland who shared the historical account and its significance in McDonough’s history.
The mayor said he participated, several years ago, in a project to acquire a similar steam engine to put on display in the historic village at Heritage Park. He joined former Henry County commission Chairman Leland Maddox on a trip to Pennsylvania where they found an engine that remarkedly fit the bill.
“It had been in active service going through the mountains of Pennsylvania,” said Copeland. “Snow was up to our knees when we went out there to see it. It looked pretty rugged at the time. The windows were broken out.”
He said he was nonetheless in awe at the sight of the locomotive — which happened to have “No. 7” emblazoned on its face.
“Seeing No. 7 on that engine was so shocking,” said Copeland.
The 1934 locomotive is on display between the Historic Village and the Heritage Park Veterans Museum in McDonough.
“I just think it’s so important to have,” said Copeland. “A lot of children and older people have never seen a steam engine. It’s been a great addition.”
Officials are continuing efforts to involve schools, community groups and residents in telling this part of the city’s history.
Vincent was involved in erecting the historic marker along Ga. 42. She has been involved in hosting various activities commemorating the train wreck such as the 5K Quinlan Run organized by local artist Barbara Frazier.
“I am thrilled to continue to be an advocate, and to promote the sharing of the Camp Creek story,” said Vincent. “I am also advocating for the renovation of McDonough’s Depot located across from Simpson Park in McDonough.”
Vincent said Wells and Damon Bohan of the Henry Players, the community acting troupe, are writing a folk-life play similar to Colquitt Georgia’s play “Swamp Gravy.”
“A play of this nature has tremendous economic potential for McDonough and the downtown businesses in particular,” she said. “Jeff and Damon have been collaborating over the last year, and I can hardly wait to see what they have come up with.”
