Clarence Ellis Biddison

67. Clarence Ellis⁷ BIDDISON (George E.⁶, Abraham⁵, Meshack⁴, Thomas³, Thomas², Thomas¹) was born in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA 22 FEB 1859. Clarence died 9 APR 1944 in Chicago, Cook, IL, USA, at 85 years of age.⁽¹⁹⁰⁾

He married twice. He married Grace A. ESTES in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA, 31 JAN 1888.⁽¹⁹¹⁾ Grace was born in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA 1867.⁽¹⁹²⁾ Grace was the daughter of James ESTES and Jane HERRING. Grace died 18 AUG 1895 in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA, at 28 years of age.⁽¹⁹³⁾ Her body was interred AUG 1895 in Moline, Rock Island, IL.⁽¹⁹⁴⁾ It is possible that she was related to the Estes family who owns Estes Park (the resort community on east side of Rocky Mountain National Park).

He married Kate MUNRO in Denver, Denver, CO, 2 JUN 1897.⁽¹⁹⁵⁾ Kate was born in New Brunswick, Canada. Kate was the daughter of _____ MUNRO.

Chicago, Kansas, & Nebraska Railroad Engine 488

Engineer Biddison began in March, 1874, as a fireman in the yards at Rock Island, Illinois, where he obtained his first six months' experience. After that, he went on the Illinois Division, between Rock Island and Bureau Junction with engineer J. Ewing. He was with him three years, when he was transferred to the Iowa Division, with Engineer Bill Johnson, and they ran a freight engine two years, between Rock Island and Brooklyn. Engineer M. Stafford was in charge of the engine he worked on when he received his promotion to be an engineer, in the fall of 1878. His first regular mount was No. 71, which he ran between Rock Island and Brooklyn, and his next engine was No. 127, on which he ran but one month. Number 60 was his engine three months, and after that he went to work on the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad, running between St. Louis and Beardstown, Illinois. Returning to Rock Island, he ran a steam engine two years and four months, after which he became hostler in the roundhouse, of the Rock Island road. In June 1888, he was sent to Horton, Kansas, where he ran as extra engineer on engines No. 145 and No. 403. Again he left the road only to return at an early date, and then running out of Fairbury, Nebraska, to Phillipsburg, Kansas, on runs No. 43 and No. 44, with engines No. 403 and No. 488. In the spring of 1890, he was transferred to Goodland, Kansas, to take runs No. 13 and No. 14 on which his engine was No. 435. His next engine was No. 902, which he ran on runs No. 5 and No. 6, for three years. He then got No. 897, on the same runs, and also on runs No. 9 and No. 10. On the latter runs, he ran engines No. 946 and No. 911, the last named being his present engine. Mr. Biddison was born in Rock Island, Illinois, where he grew to manhood. He married Grace Estes of that city. She died in 1896, having had four children. Marcia and George survive her. He married Katherine Munro of Denver. He is a member of A. O. U. W., Goodland.

On July 3, 1888, he engineered the first train to travel from Horton, KS to Goodland, KS on the C. K. & N Railroad. It carried the rail and wooden ties that were needed to complete the building of the track in Goodland.

Killed In Wreck

Brakeman Thorson Loses His Life in Derailment Near Clayton

Engineer Biddison Receives Severe Injuries and Fireman Brinker Escapes With a Few Scratches-Wrecked Train Was A Freight-Caused by Washout-

A disastrous freight wreck occurred on the Rock Island between Clayton and Jennings, 80 miles east of Goodland, last Saturday afternoon about 2:36 o'clock, resulting in the death of Earl Thorson, rear brakeman, and serious injury of Engineer O. E. Biddison and Fireman L. E. Brinker, all of this city.

The accident was caused by a washout which undermined the track. The engine, 911, was a total wreck, nine freight cars were entirely demolished and five others badly damaged.

The train was the first section of the westbound fast freight known as No. 97, composed of 18 cars, and left Phillipsburg about 12:15. The crew consisted of Engineer Biddison, Fireman Brinker, with Conductor A. Ratcliff and Brakeman Earl Thorson and B. M. Tucker.

After a six-minute stop at Clayton the train proceeded on its way and when 2 1/8 miles west of that station and about five miles east of Jennings, the train encountered a washout. The locomotive began plunging into the holes as the track sank away. The engine was derailed and plunged out on the right of way north of the track and turned over on its right side.

The men in the cab were taken unawares, not the slightest danger was expected from the source in which it came.

Engineer Biddison was thrown violently forward and somehow got out through the cab window before the engine turned completely over and crawled out along the wire fence along the track. He seemed to be dazed at first and was bleeding from many wounds. His jaw bone at the median line was broken and a terrible gash was cut in one side of the face. A scalded hand and other bruises were the only other injuries.

Fireman Brinker had turned around for a shovel of coal when the shock came. He was thrown violently upon the deck of the engine, his arm pinioned by the apron, and the coal from the tender buried him and held him prisoner. He was cut badly about the head and face by the coal but otherwise was unhurt.

Brakeman Tucker was in the cab at the time seated on the fireman's box. After the first shock he put his arm out of the framework of the window and hung on for dear life, and as the engine was turned over he climbed on top of the cab. He escaped without a scratch and set to work at once to extricate the fireman, who was gotten out just as the cab caught fire. Brinker lost a suit of clothes and $25 in money which was in the seat box.

Conductor Ratcliffe was in the caboose and escaped without injury but received a severe shaking up. According to report he had sent Brakeman Thorson forward with information to the engineer that the operator at Clayton reported a heavy rain ahead. Thorson had got forward as far as the third car from the engine when the crash came and he was hurled underneath the wrecked cars and instantly killed. A small iron rod from a car was thrust entirely through the poor brakeman's head. He was not much disfigured, however, and a broken arm and bruises were about the only other marks upon his body.

It seems that eastbound local freight No. 52 had proceeded a few miles east of Jennings when it was flagged by a section man on account of a washout. This was about 30 minutes before the wreck of train 97, No. 52 then backed up to Jennings, having exhausted its train time. East of the washout discovered by the sectionmen there was a second and a third washout. The one that 97 ran into was from a mile to a mile and a half east of the one discovered by the trackmen. The track had been undermined on a slight curve but was still in place and there was nothing to show the trainmen that there was any danger from that source. The washout embraced about 60 feet of track and the train was running about 30 miles per hour when it struck the fatal stretch of roadbed.

Train Robbers Killed

East-bound Union Pacific passenger train No. 4 left Limon, Colorado at 12:10 o'clock on a Sunday morning, August 5th, 1900. Before the train reached Hugo, Colorado, 15 miles east of Limon, two masked men had gone through the two Pullman sleeping cars, robbed eight men and women, and killed one man. On the train, the masked robbers had shoved a gun in the Pullman conductor's face and ordered him to lead them through the cars. As all of the passengers were asleep, the conductor was ordered to wake them, one at a time. A gun was placed at each head as they were ordered to turn over their money and valuables. An old man named W. J. Fay, from California, instead of complying, fired a shot at the robbers. Both robbers returned the fire and one shot entered the man's mouth and came out at the back of the head. He died almost instantly.

At Hugo the robbers fled from the train and escaped in the darkness. All stations along both the Union Pacific and Rock Island were notified of the robbery. A posse was quickly formed and started out in search of the robbers who had secured less than $50 in money, several watches and some jewelry of little value. When the news of the holdup reached Goodland, most people began keeping a close watch for persons answering the description of the robbers. On Thursday William Hogeboom, Sr., told Sheriff William Walker that he believed the robbers were staying at the home of D. E. Bartholomew, three miles northeast of Goodland. He said that his son's wife, Mrs. Bill Hogeboom, had visited at the Bartholomew home on Wednesday and noticed the peculiarities in the actions of two men who were staying there. Also on Thursday, Mrs. O. C. Dawson, who lived in Goodland, made a call on the Bartholomew family. When Mrs. Dawson returned home she was questioned by Sheriff Walker about what he had heard and that he planned to arrest the men that night. Mrs. Walker pleaded with him to wait until morning when a posse could be formed to go with him. He finally agreed.

On Friday morning the sheriff got John Riggs and George Cullins to act as deputies; the three of them would be mounted. A surrey driven by Wm. Hogeboom, Sr., would carry C. E. Biddison, G. M. Phillips, and C. S. Cox armed with rifles and shotguns. The posse left Goodland a little after nine o'clock.

To decoy the suspects from the house, the sheriff and his deputies had dressed like cowboys and drove a herd of horses before them. They would approach from the west. The surrey would stay a short distance behind and approach from the south. When they reached the Bartholomew place the herd of horses would be left to loiter while the riders would drive up to the well which was near the house to water their saddle horses. If the suspects came out into the open, the sheriff would give the command "whoa" and they would dismount simultaneously, covering the suspects with their revolvers.

The house was a combination of sod and frame shaped like an "L". The frame part was two-story and faced east. The one-story sod part had a shingle roof and faced south. The suspects were staying in the sod part of the house and noticed the men and horses approaching. One of the men stood in the west door, the other in the south. The Bartholomew family and Mrs. Hogeboom, who happened to be visiting there, came out of the house and talked briefly with the men with the men on the horses, but the suspects remained inside. The ruse to decoy them from the house had failed. The Bartholomew family and Mrs. Hogeboom quickly left and went to the home of Mrs. William Hogeboom, Jr.

The posse was now left with but one choice. If the suspects would not come out, they would have to go in after them. They quickly dismounted and, with revolvers drawn, ordered the man in the west door to throw up his hands; but instead of doing so, he nodded his head to his partner standing in the south door, as much as to say, "Stand your ground; we have a fight on our hands." The man in the west door then stepped back into the house. Riggs and Walker entered the door at the same time. Pistol shots in quick succession rang out. Cullins ran around to the south door, but the man had turned back into the house to take a stand beside his partner. Now the surrey drove up, Biddison, Phillips and Cox jumped out.

Inside of the house it was so full of smoke that it was not possible to distinguish one person from another. The outlaw known as Howard, having been hit in the chest by a bullet, jumped out a window. His partner known Gould, ran out the south door. He was shot down by Cullins, but he jumped up firing his pistol, one of shots hitting Riggs, who, with Walker, had come out into the open. The bullet put a hole into Riggs at the upper right side of his abdomen. The men were now dodging around corners firing a shot here and a shot there. Another shot struck Howard in the left of the breast. Gould ran back into the house, but Howard broke and ran southeast. He had gone about twenty-five yards when Biddison, an engineer on the Rock Island Railroad, leveled his Winchester, and fired. The ball entered the head of the outlaw just behind and above the temple. Howard fell dead on his face. Cullins, having been accidently mistaken for one of the outlaws, had received a bullet just below the right shoulder blade.

For a brief period of time the shooting stopped and attention was given to the men wounded in the fight. John Riggs sank down in the arms of friends, while Cullins was faint from the shot that had entered his body. The two wounded men were put in a surrey and driven to town for medical attention. They were treated by Doctors Farrows and Smith. The body of the outlaw shot down was left where it lay.

The posse withdrew and formed a cordon around the house to prevent any escape. News of the tragedy spread rapidly. Everyone that could handle a shotgun or rifle hurried to join the posse, while the ridges of the undulating prairie south of the Bartholomew home were lined with women and children eagerly gazing from afar.

It was known that the man in the house had a rifle. Realizing the danger of approaching the house, it was decided to set fire to the building. A long stretch of wire was attached to gunny-sacks soaked in turpentine, and lighted. An attempt was made to drag the fire up to the house, but this failed. A dozen railroad fuses were secured. Cass Hogeboom and C. R. Teeters volunteered to crawl up close enough to the house to throw the lighted fuses on the roof to set the house on fire. They reached a good position protected by a small frame building nearby, and threw these lighted fuses on the roof. The sixth one took effect. Flames on the roof increased; heavy black smoke curled upward. The cordon tightened, expecting the criminal to flee the house, but he never appeared. When the fire became so intense that it was not humanly possible to withstand it, the excited crowd rushed around the building, but still the prisoner did not appear. The crackling of his ammunition spelled out his fate. The crowd next gathered around the body of the outlaw shot down south of the house. Phillips and Cox removed his two cartridge belts and a Colt six-shooter. The corpse was placed in a wagon. A search revealed two face masks, a few silver coins, a gold watch and chain, a Rock Island Railroad map, a razor, and some bullets. The gold watch was the exact property taken from Charles Fyke during the train robbery, and identified the men as being the robbers.

It was now getting late in the evening; a guard was stationed at the smoldering ruins of the house; and people began returning to their homes. The body of the outlaw was taken to the Bower's undertaking rooms in Goodland.

On Saturday morning the charred body of the outlaw who had given his name as Gould was removed from the ashes. Only the torso remained. Close beside the body were found the iron parts of a Winchester rifle and a Colt revolver, a silvertine watch which had stopped at 6:30 o'clock, and some metal parts of a ladies pocketbooks. During the day, both bodies were on view at the undertaking rooms. Late in the day, the bodies were placed in wooden box and buried in a common grave at the Goodland Cemetery.

One week later the bodies were exhumed, and they were positively identified as being the Jones brothers from Dallas County, Missouri, desperados who had killed and robbed many men in the past eight years.

The Union Pacific not only paid a $2,000 reward to the sheriff and his deputies, they also gave an unknown amount to help pay the medical expenses of the wounded, and willingly paid Mr. Bartholomew $1,100, an amount that had been previously agreed upon by Bartholomew, as being the value of the burned house, of which now nothing remained but the brick foundation and the sod walls.

He resided in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA 1882-1885, 112 Seventeenth.⁽¹⁹⁷⁾ He resided in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA 1885-1888, 1802 Fourth Avenue.⁽¹⁹⁸⁾ In March of 1892, Mr. Biddison went to Valisco, a deep water harbor town in Texas to invest $2,000 in a lot in the center of the town.

Clarence was apparently a pretty good shot with a Winchester rifle as evidenced by several events in his life:

On 13 APR 1893 he placed a standing challenge to any man in the Goodland News to shoot birds in a contest for a prize of $25.00. The challenge was accepted by James Wymore on 20 APR 1893.

In another article in the Goodland Republic (29 MAY 1896) "C. E. Biddison won third prize at the Colorado Springs shooting tournament,,,"

He shot a train robber while he was running. The ball entered the head of the outlaw just behind and above the temple. The robber fell dead on his face.

Clarence Ellis BIDDISON and Grace A. ESTES had the following children:

78 i. Wendall⁸ BIDDISON was born JAN 1889.⁽¹⁹⁹⁾ Wendall died 25 JUL 1889 in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA, at less than one year of age.⁽²⁰⁰⁾

Marcia D. Biddison and son, Robert B. Hall

79 ii. Marcia Dorothea BIDDISON was born in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA 5 FEB 1891.⁽²⁰¹⁾ Marcia died 30 AUG 1974 in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA, at 83 years of age. Her body was interred in Washington, Washington, IA. She married Earl Connell HALL. Earl was born in Belleville, Republic, KS, USA 16 APR 1885.⁽²⁰²⁾ Earl was the son of James Eli HALL and Lydia Ann CONNELL. Earl died 1960 in Oak Park, Cook, IL, USA, at 75 years of age. (See Earl Connell HALL for the continuation of this line.)

Marcia graduated in Lawrence, Douglas, KS, USA, ABT 1913. Institution: University of Kansas.⁽²⁰³⁾ Marcia was divorced from Earl Connell HALL in Chicago, Cook, IL, USA, ABT 1918.⁽²⁰⁴⁾ The following individual is also linked to this event: Robert Biddison HALL (child). Marcia's occupation: Elementary School Teacher in KS, ABT 1918-1923.⁽²⁰⁵⁾ Marcia's occupation: English Professor in Manhattan, Riley, KS, ABT 1923.⁽²⁰⁶⁾ She moved 1927 in Iowa City, Johnson, IA to attend the University of Iowa.⁽²⁰⁷⁾

+ 80 iii. George BIDDISON was born after 1891.

81 iv. Grace BIDDISON was born in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA 10 AUG 1895.⁽²⁰⁸⁾ Grace died 4 APR 1896 in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA, at less than one year of age.⁽²⁰⁹⁾ Her body was interred 11 APR 1896 in Rock Island, Rock Island, IL, USA.⁽²¹⁰⁾

Clarence Ellis BIDDISON and Kate MUNRO had the following child:

82 v. James Phillip BIDDISON was born in Goodland, Sherman, KS, USA 20 JUN 1903.⁽²¹¹⁾ James died 12 APR 1992 in New York, New York, NY, USA, at 88 years of age.⁽²¹²⁾ James graduated in Palo Alto, Santa Clara, CA, USA. Institution: Stanford University.⁽²¹³⁾ James graduated in New York, New York, NY, USA. Institution: Columbia University.⁽²¹⁴⁾ James's occupation: Editor in New York, New York, NY, USA.⁽²¹⁵⁾

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