Today
I am telling the story I have about my great-grandfather, Edwin Brown,
regarding his time working on the Transcontinental Railroad.
To
set the stage a little, Brigham Young, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, had been advocating for a railroad to cross the nation
from the time he first started to lead the members of the church to the Great
Salt Lake Valley and points beyond. For more details, read the section about
him in last month’s post by CLICKING HERE.
When
the Union Pacific finally reached Utah, the company began looking for more
railroad workers. They still had the daunting task of cutting a rail bed
through Echo and Weber Canyons. This would require grading and laying track on
steep terrain and blasting three tunnels through the surrounding mountains.
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The
region had just gone through another round of having many of their crops
destroyed by a grasshopper plague. Both money and work were scarce. Many Utah men
welcomed the opportunity to work and earn wages to support their families.
In
spite of its large Chinese workforce, the Central Pacific Railroad also needed
more men as they crossed northern Nevada and approached the Promontory
Mountains. Once they learned that Brigham Young was negotiating with the Union
Pacific Railroad, they also sought “Mormon” laborers. (More details will be in
a future post.)
I
do not know which railroad hired my great-grandfather. Sometimes I get
frustrated with my ancestors because the family histories they left behind are
a little skimpy on details regarding this period in Edwin’s life. My
grandmother, especially, as she became one of the few descendents of those who lived
with and knew people who crossed the plains in covered wagons, did not share
these details when she offered historical information to various publications. All
I know is, Edwin Brown was married to my great-grandmother by 1868 when the two
railroad companies were hiring. They had two small daughters. He lived in a
house on a lot that was part of the farm his older brother, Henry, inherited. Since
Henry needed to stay on the farm to support his widowed mother, underage
siblings, as well as his own wife and children, Edwin left to work for the
railroad.
While
most of the men from Utah started for home on May 8, 1869 when the two rail
lines were complete and ready to be joined—they had crops to plant and families
to see to—Edwin was among those rail workers who stayed to witness the Golden
Spike ceremony.
What
Grandmother Goldie left me was a folksy, human interest story that does not
tell much about the railroad work her father did. However, it does shine a bit
of light on the physical and social conditions under which these men worked.
Here it is:
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| Edwin Brown in his early 60's |
“When
he left, he had beautiful black curly hair.
And his little old grandmother lived with him. And she made him promise that he would bring
those beautiful black curls home to her….And, so, when the men got to working
on the railroad, they all neglected themselves and got head lice and body lice
and anything else.
“But
my dad didn’t. Every time, as they went
along working and they came to a ditch or a creek, my dad went out and took a
bath and washed his head. He didn’t have
body lice and head lice. And he wouldn’t
allow anyone who did to stay in his tent.
And, the other men were jealous and kept after him. They shaved their heads….But, my dad, he had
his pretty long black hair…curled...he was going to bring them back to his
grandmother.
“So,
he never took his gun off. And when he
went to bed, he put his gun right down by his knee. And, the men kept whispering around and
whispering around. He knew there was
something up. All the other men made up
between them that they would catch him in bed when he was asleep…and hold him
down and cut his hair. And sure enough,
they come one night and thought he was asleep in bed. He just got his gun (click) and told ‘em –
'You take one step forward and I’ll let you have it.'
“And
he brought his pretty black curls home.”
According
to Melvin Miner and June Kasteler, cousins who wrote some of the family
histories available, it was his mother, not his grandmother, to whom Edwin returned
with his curly hair. However,
Edwin’s paternal grandparents, Jonathan Brown and Frances Mary Green Brown,
emigrated from England and both of them died in Salt Lake. Frances Brown was still living at the time
that Edwin worked for the railroad. So, I think my grandmother had it right.
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| Workmen at the Golden Spike, or "Last Spike," ceremony |
All
the family histories agree that Edwin was present at the Golden Spike
ceremony. He told his family that if
they look in the pictures that were taken of the event, he is in there
somewhere. Every time I come across a photograph of that event, I scan the
faces looking for a man in the back of the crowd who could be my
great-grandfather.
Author’s
Note: May 10, 1869 is the sesquicentennial of the Golden Spike ceremony joining
the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad to create the
Transcontinental Railroad. For the next few months, across all the blogs for
which I write, I will share pieces of this railroad’s history. It has special
meaning for me since one of my ancestors worked on this railroad once it
reached Utah. All of these blog posts will eventually be gathered on a page in
my own Trails and Rails blog.
Sources:
Family history written by Robyn Echols
Histories obtained from International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, specifically, the history submitted by Melvin Miner and June Kasteler
Murray City Corporation, The History of Murray City, Utah, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Stanway/Wheelwright Printing Co.) 1976.
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
http://www.tcrr.com/
