Francis VanTilburg

Born about 1867 in Pennsylvania, Francis VanTilburg was the second of Irvin G. and Margaret (Hunter) VanTilburg's seven children.  In 1870, when Francis was two, the family was living in Spring Township, Penn., where Irvin was a factory worker.  The family moved often.  At the time of the 1880 census, they lived in Cedron Township, Kansas.  Francis' father and older brother, Harry, were farmers.  By that time Francis also had two younger brothers, Thomas and James, and a younger sister, Clarissa (Carrie).  In 1883 Margaret was born in Black Hawk, Iowa.  Lucy was born in 1885, in Toledo, Ohio, the same year the family moved to Elkhart.  Frank was 17.

Shortly after arriving in Elkhart, Frank went to work at the Elkhart Carriage and Harness Mfg. Co.  He was a hard-working and conscientious young man, and despite being extremely deaf, he got on well with his fellow employees.  On a warm Monday afternoon in late September, Frank headed home from work.  If he took only city streets, it was about a mile and half walk from the factory on Pratt and East streets to his house next to the Elkhart Creamery at the corner of Cassopolis and Baldwin streets.  Frank, however, had discovered a shortcut.  By taking Franklin Street to Hydraulic, and then following the railroad tracks the rest of the way home, he could cut off almost half a mile.

The engineer on the afternoon passenger train was looking out the window.  They were running late.  It was almost 5:45.  By now they should have been well north of the races where the starch mills and paper factories were located.  The fireman was shoveling coal, stoking the fire, trying to make up time.

Frank walked along enjoying the warm fall weather.  When he reached the railroad tracks where they crossed Hydraulic, he picked up his pace.  He was halfway home, it was supper time, and he was hungry.

As the train picked up speed, the engineer turned to look out the opposite window and was taken aback by the sight of a man walking on the tracks less than 20 feet in front of him.  He reached up and sounded the whistle.

As he reached the switch opposite the Elkhart Paper Company mill, Frank was startled by the shriek of the train whistle.  Suddenly becoming aware of his peril, he scrambled to escape the speeding train.

"But it was then too late, and although he . . . tried to escape, he was unable to do so, the engine striking him and knocking him down, after which the entire train passed over him."

The above quote is from the Elkhart Daily Review, Tuesday, September 25, 1888.  The article goes on to describe his injuries in gory detail.

". . . (I)t was found that he was dead, one leg being severed, his right arm almost severed above the wrist, while there was a deep gash on top of his head, one on the back of his head, and another under his chin."

Frank's funeral was held September 26, 1888.  His name never appeared in either of his parent's nor any of his sibling's obituaries.