This information is based on newspaper accounts and other public information and is presented as accurately as possible. Before you copy and paste this information to your website, please keep in mind that this research took a lot of effort. Appreciate it. Learn from it. But do not plagiarize it. Yes, if you think we might be talking to you, we are.
- The results are being filtered by the organization: Western and Atlantic Railroad
M
Anthony Murphy
Superintendent of Motive Power
Anthony Murphy was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, in 1829 and emigrated to the United States in 1838. Murphy's family settled first in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
He went to Trenton, New Jersey, when he was 18 years old and apprenticed to the machinists' trade. After three years, he moved to Piermont, New York, where he worked in Erie railroad shops for a year.…Read More Biography
Anthony Murphy was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, in 1829 and emigrated to the United States in 1838. Murphy’s family settled first in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
He went to Trenton, New Jersey, when he was 18 years old and apprenticed to the machinists’ trade. After three years, he moved to Piermont, New York, where he worked in Erie railroad shops for a year. He then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Murphy moved to Atlanta in the 1850s and worked as the superintendent of motive power for the Western & Atlantic Railroad.
He was to the Atlanta City Council in 1866 and was re-elected twice. He advocated for a waterworks system for the city and also for the building of the Georgia Air Line, later known as the Richmond & Danville.
He died on December 28, 1909.
Notes
Anthony Murphy was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, in 1829 and emigrated to the United States in 1838. Murphy’s family settled first in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
He went to Trenton, New Jersey, when he was 18 years old and apprenticed to the machinists’ trade. After three years, he moved to Piermont, New York, where he worked in Erie railroad shops for a year. He then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Murphy moved to Atlanta in the 1850s and worked as the superintendent of motive power for the Western & Atlantic Railroad.
He was to the Atlanta City Council in 1866 and was re-elected twice. He advocated for a waterworks system for the city and also for the building of the Georgia Air Line, later known as the Richmond & Danville.
He died on December 28, 1909.
O
S. A. Orr
Machinist
Biography
S.A. Orr joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1856.
W. B. Orr
Machinist
Biography
W.B. Orr joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1873.
P
J. J. Permenter
Engineer
Biography
J.J. Permenter joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1866.
Robert Pritchard
Brakeman
Biography
Robert Pritchard was killed on February 5, 1886, when he apparently fell from the train and was crushed.
James Pyron
Engineer
Biography
James Pyron joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1866.
R
Joseph F. Renard
Engineer
Biography
Joseph F. “Uncle Joe” Renard was born on April 1, 1837, in Charleston, South Carolina, and he always wanted to be a train engineer. He was a “pioneer engineer” on the Western & Atlantic and served as an engineer on the State Road for more than 40 years.
He was at the throttle of the Catoosa locomotive on April 12, 1862, during the Great Locomotive Chase.
In September 1894, Renard was oiling his locomotive in Atlanta in preparation for the run to Chattanooga when he was “dangerously stabbed” by a man fleeing from police.
On February 4, 1901, Renard suffered a broken leg in a train collision in Bartow, a siding between Emerson and Acworth. Renard broke his leg while his fireman, James Linsey, was “slightly injured.”
When he died in 1905 at 68 years old, he was said to be among the best-known railroad men in the state. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery.
John F. Reynolds
Conductor
Biography
John F. Reynolds (unknown-August 20, 1891) was one of the first Western & Atlantic Railroad conductors, beginning service on September 11, 1848. He was the conductor of the first Western & Atlantic train to operate in Dalton, Georgia, in the 1840s.
In 1855, he was the conductor of the first train to cross the new bridge over the Etowah River. By July 1888, he was the railroad agent in Dalton, where he died on August 20, 1891.
S
R. A. Saye
Carpenter
Biography
R.A. Saye joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1857.