Samuel James Stovall, along with his sisters, Mattie and Jodie were orphaned at a very young age. They were sent to live with their blind grandmother who passed away not long after.
It is unclear where they lived, although they were never sent to an orphanage. As a result, Sam never really knew much about his parents, except that his father had been a champion fiddle player, and Sam took up the fiddle as a hobby, later winning many fiddling competitions.
Sam never knew where he was born, and often cried about it and the fact of the loss of his parents. Sadly, shortly after he passed away, records of his birth were found in the Bradley County Courthouse in Warren, which was and is the county seat. Sam spent most of his adult life in Warren, never knowing he was born there.
The Bradley Lumber Mill was a major source of income for many families and supported most of the town familes of Warren, including the Stovalls. Sam became a railroad engineer for the Warren & Saline Railroad (called the W&SR) owned by the Bradley Mill, and connected to the Warren & Ouachita Railroad.
After driving a very old diamond stack locomotive, he was sent to Chicago to pick out the new engine he would drive. [This information was verified by Alfred V. Spevak, of Find-A-Grave, whose father worked for Baldwin] Once it was delivered, he engineered the train deep into the forests of Arkansas to pick up flat cars of logs to bring back to the Mill.
Sam was required to follow a strict time schedule and had his railroad-issued pocket watch checked several times a week by the town jeweler for accuracy to one second off. The job of railroad engineer in Bradley County was second only to the mayor, the sheriff or the owner of the Mill.
In all his years as engineer, Sam never had an accident. He was very vigilant at railroad crossings, blowing the whistle more than required, because, as he repeatedly said, "You cannot stop a 170 ton engine on a dime." The 170 tons did not include the possible 75 cars he was licensed to pull, plus the caboose.
In January 1949 a very rare tornado hit Warren in the middle of the night. Out of a town of less than 3,000 people, around 300 were injured and 88 were killed. The engine itself was lifted completely off the tracks by the tornado and set down some distance away. A special crane had to be moved down from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in New England to put the engine back on the track; damage was minimal. [Will add photos of the engine both on and off the track.]
The Mill was decimated by the tornado and was never rebuilt as a lumber company mill but as a potlatch company, therefore, the railroad was no longer needed for hauling lumber.
Sam had engineered this particular engine around 36 years. He sat on the front porch reading the rule book for engineering and safety, and memorized word for word, railroad inspectors would come by and check his pocket watch time, the engine and be tested as to where all the crossing existed, where to meet with other trains, to switch tracks, etc.
The engine was floated down the Mississippi River on a barge in order to be featured in the film "This Property Is Condemned" with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood. It was later used in the film "Klute", with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in 1971.
It was taken to Texarkana for sometime as a kind of ride attraction. It was then bought and moved. It was recently discovered as part of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad. It is the only engine of its kind still running, and converted back to its original means of fueling.
Sam and his wife Leila moved to Dallas not too many years after the tornado, in approximately 1952. Sam opened a fishing equipment shop in Dallas, and, in his later years was "Mr. Sam," the crossing guard at John Ireland Elementary in Pleasant Grove (in Dallas). Many of the students from that time period remember him fondly.
His only surviving daughter, Iwana, remembers:
"Daddy was an inventor, a hard worker - he worked six days a week and only had Sunday off. He had side jobs, such as working on peoples' automobiles. He always saw that we had food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a car, which not many people had. He'd go to work on the W&SR at 2:00 a.m. and be home at 2:00 p.m. and sleep until until 6:00 p.m., then get up and work on some project.
"In his spare time, he loved to fish, particularly catfish. He was also an avid turkey hunter, duck hunter, bird hunter with bird dogs and also a deer hunter.
"He loved to pull practical jokes on the men at the Bradley Mill and they loved returning the pleasure. He also liked to pull jokes on my Mother.
"He would take me to town to the Bradley Store and buy me the largest apple he could find just to watch me try to eat it. They had a huge candy counter there, and Daddy would give me a nickel - which would be the equivalent of about a pound of Hershey bars (although it was Carcher's Candy). The clerk at the candy counter would intentionally pick at me that my Daddy wasn't a good man, etc., and the more I defended my Daddy, the more candy they'd put in the sack. They got a big kick out of how mad I'd get, because I loved my Daddy, and I got more candy because I fought back!
"My Daddy was also the Bradley Store's Santa Claus. He dressed as Santa, talked to the children, and was paid a few dollars a day for this job. However, he loved children, so he would have done it anyway without the money.
"Getting close to Christmas, Daddy would start telling me about a beautiful little tree along the railroad tracks, and he'd tell more about the tree every day or so. We'd pack a lunch, drive down into the forest where there were hardly any roads, cut the tree, have our picnic lunch and take the tree home. When the tree was brought in the house, it had miraculously turned gold (he had spray painted it gold). We decorated the tree with pine cones and garlands made of leaves in the forest.
"I'll always remember those Christmases and my Daddy, whom I miss very much."
[March 27, 2011; added by his granddaughter.]
It is unclear where they lived, although they were never sent to an orphanage. As a result, Sam never really knew much about his parents, except that his father had been a champion fiddle player, and Sam took up the fiddle as a hobby, later winning many fiddling competitions.
Sam never knew where he was born, and often cried about it and the fact of the loss of his parents. Sadly, shortly after he passed away, records of his birth were found in the Bradley County Courthouse in Warren, which was and is the county seat. Sam spent most of his adult life in Warren, never knowing he was born there.
The Bradley Lumber Mill was a major source of income for many families and supported most of the town familes of Warren, including the Stovalls. Sam became a railroad engineer for the Warren & Saline Railroad (called the W&SR) owned by the Bradley Mill, and connected to the Warren & Ouachita Railroad.
After driving a very old diamond stack locomotive, he was sent to Chicago to pick out the new engine he would drive. [This information was verified by Alfred V. Spevak, of Find-A-Grave, whose father worked for Baldwin] Once it was delivered, he engineered the train deep into the forests of Arkansas to pick up flat cars of logs to bring back to the Mill.
Sam was required to follow a strict time schedule and had his railroad-issued pocket watch checked several times a week by the town jeweler for accuracy to one second off. The job of railroad engineer in Bradley County was second only to the mayor, the sheriff or the owner of the Mill.
In all his years as engineer, Sam never had an accident. He was very vigilant at railroad crossings, blowing the whistle more than required, because, as he repeatedly said, "You cannot stop a 170 ton engine on a dime." The 170 tons did not include the possible 75 cars he was licensed to pull, plus the caboose.
In January 1949 a very rare tornado hit Warren in the middle of the night. Out of a town of less than 3,000 people, around 300 were injured and 88 were killed. The engine itself was lifted completely off the tracks by the tornado and set down some distance away. A special crane had to be moved down from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in New England to put the engine back on the track; damage was minimal. [Will add photos of the engine both on and off the track.]
The Mill was decimated by the tornado and was never rebuilt as a lumber company mill but as a potlatch company, therefore, the railroad was no longer needed for hauling lumber.
Sam had engineered this particular engine around 36 years. He sat on the front porch reading the rule book for engineering and safety, and memorized word for word, railroad inspectors would come by and check his pocket watch time, the engine and be tested as to where all the crossing existed, where to meet with other trains, to switch tracks, etc.
The engine was floated down the Mississippi River on a barge in order to be featured in the film "This Property Is Condemned" with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood. It was later used in the film "Klute", with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in 1971.
It was taken to Texarkana for sometime as a kind of ride attraction. It was then bought and moved. It was recently discovered as part of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad. It is the only engine of its kind still running, and converted back to its original means of fueling.
Sam and his wife Leila moved to Dallas not too many years after the tornado, in approximately 1952. Sam opened a fishing equipment shop in Dallas, and, in his later years was "Mr. Sam," the crossing guard at John Ireland Elementary in Pleasant Grove (in Dallas). Many of the students from that time period remember him fondly.
His only surviving daughter, Iwana, remembers:
"Daddy was an inventor, a hard worker - he worked six days a week and only had Sunday off. He had side jobs, such as working on peoples' automobiles. He always saw that we had food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a car, which not many people had. He'd go to work on the W&SR at 2:00 a.m. and be home at 2:00 p.m. and sleep until until 6:00 p.m., then get up and work on some project.
"In his spare time, he loved to fish, particularly catfish. He was also an avid turkey hunter, duck hunter, bird hunter with bird dogs and also a deer hunter.
"He loved to pull practical jokes on the men at the Bradley Mill and they loved returning the pleasure. He also liked to pull jokes on my Mother.
"He would take me to town to the Bradley Store and buy me the largest apple he could find just to watch me try to eat it. They had a huge candy counter there, and Daddy would give me a nickel - which would be the equivalent of about a pound of Hershey bars (although it was Carcher's Candy). The clerk at the candy counter would intentionally pick at me that my Daddy wasn't a good man, etc., and the more I defended my Daddy, the more candy they'd put in the sack. They got a big kick out of how mad I'd get, because I loved my Daddy, and I got more candy because I fought back!
"My Daddy was also the Bradley Store's Santa Claus. He dressed as Santa, talked to the children, and was paid a few dollars a day for this job. However, he loved children, so he would have done it anyway without the money.
"Getting close to Christmas, Daddy would start telling me about a beautiful little tree along the railroad tracks, and he'd tell more about the tree every day or so. We'd pack a lunch, drive down into the forest where there were hardly any roads, cut the tree, have our picnic lunch and take the tree home. When the tree was brought in the house, it had miraculously turned gold (he had spray painted it gold). We decorated the tree with pine cones and garlands made of leaves in the forest.
"I'll always remember those Christmases and my Daddy, whom I miss very much."
[March 27, 2011; added by his granddaughter.]
Samuel James Stovall, along with his sisters, Mattie and Jodie were orphaned at a very young age. They were sent to live with their blind grandmother who passed away not long after.
It is unclear where they lived, although they were never sent to an orphanage. As a result, Sam never really knew much about his parents, except that his father had been a champion fiddle player, and Sam took up the fiddle as a hobby, later winning many fiddling competitions.
Sam never knew where he was born, and often cried about it and the fact of the loss of his parents. Sadly, shortly after he passed away, records of his birth were found in the Bradley County Courthouse in Warren, which was and is the county seat. Sam spent most of his adult life in Warren, never knowing he was born there.
The Bradley Lumber Mill was a major source of income for many families and supported most of the town familes of Warren, including the Stovalls. Sam became a railroad engineer for the Warren & Saline Railroad (called the W&SR) owned by the Bradley Mill, and connected to the Warren & Ouachita Railroad.
After driving a very old diamond stack locomotive, he was sent to Chicago to pick out the new engine he would drive. [This information was verified by Alfred V. Spevak, of Find-A-Grave, whose father worked for Baldwin] Once it was delivered, he engineered the train deep into the forests of Arkansas to pick up flat cars of logs to bring back to the Mill.
Sam was required to follow a strict time schedule and had his railroad-issued pocket watch checked several times a week by the town jeweler for accuracy to one second off. The job of railroad engineer in Bradley County was second only to the mayor, the sheriff or the owner of the Mill.
In all his years as engineer, Sam never had an accident. He was very vigilant at railroad crossings, blowing the whistle more than required, because, as he repeatedly said, "You cannot stop a 170 ton engine on a dime." The 170 tons did not include the possible 75 cars he was licensed to pull, plus the caboose.
In January 1949 a very rare tornado hit Warren in the middle of the night. Out of a town of less than 3,000 people, around 300 were injured and 88 were killed. The engine itself was lifted completely off the tracks by the tornado and set down some distance away. A special crane had to be moved down from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in New England to put the engine back on the track; damage was minimal. [Will add photos of the engine both on and off the track.]
The Mill was decimated by the tornado and was never rebuilt as a lumber company mill but as a potlatch company, therefore, the railroad was no longer needed for hauling lumber.
Sam had engineered this particular engine around 36 years. He sat on the front porch reading the rule book for engineering and safety, and memorized word for word, railroad inspectors would come by and check his pocket watch time, the engine and be tested as to where all the crossing existed, where to meet with other trains, to switch tracks, etc.
The engine was floated down the Mississippi River on a barge in order to be featured in the film "This Property Is Condemned" with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood. It was later used in the film "Klute", with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in 1971.
It was taken to Texarkana for sometime as a kind of ride attraction. It was then bought and moved. It was recently discovered as part of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad. It is the only engine of its kind still running, and converted back to its original means of fueling.
Sam and his wife Leila moved to Dallas not too many years after the tornado, in approximately 1952. Sam opened a fishing equipment shop in Dallas, and, in his later years was "Mr. Sam," the crossing guard at John Ireland Elementary in Pleasant Grove (in Dallas). Many of the students from that time period remember him fondly.
His only surviving daughter, Iwana, remembers:
"Daddy was an inventor, a hard worker - he worked six days a week and only had Sunday off. He had side jobs, such as working on peoples' automobiles. He always saw that we had food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a car, which not many people had. He'd go to work on the W&SR at 2:00 a.m. and be home at 2:00 p.m. and sleep until until 6:00 p.m., then get up and work on some project.
"In his spare time, he loved to fish, particularly catfish. He was also an avid turkey hunter, duck hunter, bird hunter with bird dogs and also a deer hunter.
"He loved to pull practical jokes on the men at the Bradley Mill and they loved returning the pleasure. He also liked to pull jokes on my Mother.
"He would take me to town to the Bradley Store and buy me the largest apple he could find just to watch me try to eat it. They had a huge candy counter there, and Daddy would give me a nickel - which would be the equivalent of about a pound of Hershey bars (although it was Carcher's Candy). The clerk at the candy counter would intentionally pick at me that my Daddy wasn't a good man, etc., and the more I defended my Daddy, the more candy they'd put in the sack. They got a big kick out of how mad I'd get, because I loved my Daddy, and I got more candy because I fought back!
"My Daddy was also the Bradley Store's Santa Claus. He dressed as Santa, talked to the children, and was paid a few dollars a day for this job. However, he loved children, so he would have done it anyway without the money.
"Getting close to Christmas, Daddy would start telling me about a beautiful little tree along the railroad tracks, and he'd tell more about the tree every day or so. We'd pack a lunch, drive down into the forest where there were hardly any roads, cut the tree, have our picnic lunch and take the tree home. When the tree was brought in the house, it had miraculously turned gold (he had spray painted it gold). We decorated the tree with pine cones and garlands made of leaves in the forest.
"I'll always remember those Christmases and my Daddy, whom I miss very much."
[March 27, 2011; added by his granddaughter.]
It is unclear where they lived, although they were never sent to an orphanage. As a result, Sam never really knew much about his parents, except that his father had been a champion fiddle player, and Sam took up the fiddle as a hobby, later winning many fiddling competitions.
Sam never knew where he was born, and often cried about it and the fact of the loss of his parents. Sadly, shortly after he passed away, records of his birth were found in the Bradley County Courthouse in Warren, which was and is the county seat. Sam spent most of his adult life in Warren, never knowing he was born there.
The Bradley Lumber Mill was a major source of income for many families and supported most of the town familes of Warren, including the Stovalls. Sam became a railroad engineer for the Warren & Saline Railroad (called the W&SR) owned by the Bradley Mill, and connected to the Warren & Ouachita Railroad.
After driving a very old diamond stack locomotive, he was sent to Chicago to pick out the new engine he would drive. [This information was verified by Alfred V. Spevak, of Find-A-Grave, whose father worked for Baldwin] Once it was delivered, he engineered the train deep into the forests of Arkansas to pick up flat cars of logs to bring back to the Mill.
Sam was required to follow a strict time schedule and had his railroad-issued pocket watch checked several times a week by the town jeweler for accuracy to one second off. The job of railroad engineer in Bradley County was second only to the mayor, the sheriff or the owner of the Mill.
In all his years as engineer, Sam never had an accident. He was very vigilant at railroad crossings, blowing the whistle more than required, because, as he repeatedly said, "You cannot stop a 170 ton engine on a dime." The 170 tons did not include the possible 75 cars he was licensed to pull, plus the caboose.
In January 1949 a very rare tornado hit Warren in the middle of the night. Out of a town of less than 3,000 people, around 300 were injured and 88 were killed. The engine itself was lifted completely off the tracks by the tornado and set down some distance away. A special crane had to be moved down from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in New England to put the engine back on the track; damage was minimal. [Will add photos of the engine both on and off the track.]
The Mill was decimated by the tornado and was never rebuilt as a lumber company mill but as a potlatch company, therefore, the railroad was no longer needed for hauling lumber.
Sam had engineered this particular engine around 36 years. He sat on the front porch reading the rule book for engineering and safety, and memorized word for word, railroad inspectors would come by and check his pocket watch time, the engine and be tested as to where all the crossing existed, where to meet with other trains, to switch tracks, etc.
The engine was floated down the Mississippi River on a barge in order to be featured in the film "This Property Is Condemned" with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood. It was later used in the film "Klute", with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in 1971.
It was taken to Texarkana for sometime as a kind of ride attraction. It was then bought and moved. It was recently discovered as part of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad. It is the only engine of its kind still running, and converted back to its original means of fueling.
Sam and his wife Leila moved to Dallas not too many years after the tornado, in approximately 1952. Sam opened a fishing equipment shop in Dallas, and, in his later years was "Mr. Sam," the crossing guard at John Ireland Elementary in Pleasant Grove (in Dallas). Many of the students from that time period remember him fondly.
His only surviving daughter, Iwana, remembers:
"Daddy was an inventor, a hard worker - he worked six days a week and only had Sunday off. He had side jobs, such as working on peoples' automobiles. He always saw that we had food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a car, which not many people had. He'd go to work on the W&SR at 2:00 a.m. and be home at 2:00 p.m. and sleep until until 6:00 p.m., then get up and work on some project.
"In his spare time, he loved to fish, particularly catfish. He was also an avid turkey hunter, duck hunter, bird hunter with bird dogs and also a deer hunter.
"He loved to pull practical jokes on the men at the Bradley Mill and they loved returning the pleasure. He also liked to pull jokes on my Mother.
"He would take me to town to the Bradley Store and buy me the largest apple he could find just to watch me try to eat it. They had a huge candy counter there, and Daddy would give me a nickel - which would be the equivalent of about a pound of Hershey bars (although it was Carcher's Candy). The clerk at the candy counter would intentionally pick at me that my Daddy wasn't a good man, etc., and the more I defended my Daddy, the more candy they'd put in the sack. They got a big kick out of how mad I'd get, because I loved my Daddy, and I got more candy because I fought back!
"My Daddy was also the Bradley Store's Santa Claus. He dressed as Santa, talked to the children, and was paid a few dollars a day for this job. However, he loved children, so he would have done it anyway without the money.
"Getting close to Christmas, Daddy would start telling me about a beautiful little tree along the railroad tracks, and he'd tell more about the tree every day or so. We'd pack a lunch, drive down into the forest where there were hardly any roads, cut the tree, have our picnic lunch and take the tree home. When the tree was brought in the house, it had miraculously turned gold (he had spray painted it gold). We decorated the tree with pine cones and garlands made of leaves in the forest.
"I'll always remember those Christmases and my Daddy, whom I miss very much."
[March 27, 2011; added by his granddaughter.]
