Daniel Pinna
Newspaper article about Richard & A. B. Crow's death in 1915
The following letter was written by "G. D. Crow", father of Richard and A.B. Crow after the death of his two sons in Knobel, Arkansas.
Declares His Boys Were Murdered.
Lafe, Ark., July 12, 1915
To the Editor:
I read an article in last week's Soliphone about the death of the Crow brothers that is misleading and partly untrue. I am the father of the Crow boys and am prompted to write this and ask you to publish it.
The oldest son, A.B. Crow, would have been thirty years of age next September. The younger son, Richard, was seventeen years old on November 9, 1914. The elder brother lived at Sellmeyer and had three children. Richard lived here with his parents near Lafe. Richard had gone to spend July 4 with his brother, and they went to Knobel to get some groceries and a jug of whisky. The whisky belonged to four people. I don't believe they would have opened the jug until the other parties were present. The jug was broken in a sack with some bread. They were either not drinking or were not asleep. The time was too short for them to have reached the sleeping stage of drunkenness. One report indicates there was an eye witness to the tragdey (sp)and that the engineer on the train did see them and stopped, or almost stopped, the train within a few feet of them, and while they were making efforts to get off the track he pulled the throttle open and struck them instantly. They had no chance to escape, if this is true, and I believe it is. The engineer could not help knowing he had killed them, and did not have humanity enough to stop. It is my opinion it was a willful, cold-blooded murder, and that the engineer should suffer for it to the extent of the law. Railroad men should be made to respect human life, as well as other people. I have the above report of an eye witness from a reliable source and I think it is true.
Yours truly,
G.D. Crow.
Declares His Boys Were Murdered.
Lafe, Ark., July 12, 1915
To the Editor:
I read an article in last week's Soliphone about the death of the Crow brothers that is misleading and partly untrue. I am the father of the Crow boys and am prompted to write this and ask you to publish it.
The oldest son, A.B. Crow, would have been thirty years of age next September. The younger son, Richard, was seventeen years old on November 9, 1914. The elder brother lived at Sellmeyer and had three children. Richard lived here with his parents near Lafe. Richard had gone to spend July 4 with his brother, and they went to Knobel to get some groceries and a jug of whisky. The whisky belonged to four people. I don't believe they would have opened the jug until the other parties were present. The jug was broken in a sack with some bread. They were either not drinking or were not asleep. The time was too short for them to have reached the sleeping stage of drunkenness. One report indicates there was an eye witness to the tragdey (sp)and that the engineer on the train did see them and stopped, or almost stopped, the train within a few feet of them, and while they were making efforts to get off the track he pulled the throttle open and struck them instantly. They had no chance to escape, if this is true, and I believe it is. The engineer could not help knowing he had killed them, and did not have humanity enough to stop. It is my opinion it was a willful, cold-blooded murder, and that the engineer should suffer for it to the extent of the law. Railroad men should be made to respect human life, as well as other people. I have the above report of an eye witness from a reliable source and I think it is true.
Yours truly,
G.D. Crow.
Date & Place:
in Knobel, Clay County, Arkansas 72435, United States
