Boone County Democrat June 25, 1909
A fatal shooting affray occurred on a Northwestern freight train near Vail, Iowa, shortly after midnight Saturday night, in which one brakeman, Lee C. Warner, of this city, was killed instantly and his companion, Alva C. Brechtel, also of this city, seriously, if not fatally wounded. The shooting was done by two Negro hobos, who after the shooting escaped from the train, but were captured Sunday morning at Manilla, Iowa. One was lodged in jail at Dennison and the other at Carroll. They gave their names as Henry Clark and Chelsey Hubbard. They admit the shooting, but each charges the other one with the crime. In company with a number of other hobos they boarded the train at Council Bluffs and rode to Missouri Valley, where they were put off. It seems, however, that they got back on the same train again and continued the ride. At Vail the brakeman discovered them on an oil tank car, where the shooting occurred. Just what transpired before the shooting is not known. It is thought that the shooting was done from the top of a car as the bullets in both bodies range downward. The first shot struck Warner in the neck and penetrated downward, striking a vital spot and killing him instantly, the second one struck Brechtel in about the same location and inflicted a serious wound. It is thought that five shots in all were fired. Some white tramps on the train witnessed the shooting and are being held as witnesses.
Brechtel was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he lies in a precarious condition. His family here was notified and went at once to his bedside. Everything possible is being done by the doctors to save his life and it is thought now that he many possibly recover. The bullet has not yet been located.
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Boone County Democrat
July 16, 1909
Alva C. Brechtel, the young brakeman who was shot at Vail June 20th, while assisting his companion to put a couple of negro tramps off his train, died at the family home here Tuesday afternoon. Warner was killed outright, and he was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he was treated until July 4th, when it was seen that he could not live and he was brought to his home here. One of the shots severed the spinal cord and death was inevitable. The lower part of his body was paralyzed, but he remained conscious to the last and suffered considerable pain. Alva C. son of George F. and Sarah A. Brechtel, was born in Boone county, November 23, 1886, and died at his home in Boone, Iowa, July 13, 1909, in his 23rd year. He attended the public schools and the Sacred Heart parochial school, and about three years ago entered the employ of the Northwestern Railway Co., in which service he lost his life while in the faithful performance of his duty. The funeral services were held from the First M.E. church at 1:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Hohanshelt and attended by a host of sorrowing relatives and friends, burial in Bass Point cemetery. He was a member of the B. of R.T. Woodmen of the World Red Men, Pocahontas and of Company I., I.N.G., and these orders all attended in a body. He leaves to mourn his tragic and untimely death his parents, three brothers, George C., of Clairmont, California, and Charles H. and E.C. of Springfield, Missouri, and four sisters, Mrs. C.H. Elliott of Los Angeles, California, and Mrs. C.F. Klugh, Mrs. W.E. Conklin and Mrs. Arthur L. Downing of Boone. The family have the sincere sympathy of a host of friends in their sad bereavement.
A fatal shooting affray occurred on a Northwestern freight train near Vail, Iowa, shortly after midnight Saturday night, in which one brakeman, Lee C. Warner, of this city, was killed instantly and his companion, Alva C. Brechtel, also of this city, seriously, if not fatally wounded. The shooting was done by two Negro hobos, who after the shooting escaped from the train, but were captured Sunday morning at Manilla, Iowa. One was lodged in jail at Dennison and the other at Carroll. They gave their names as Henry Clark and Chelsey Hubbard. They admit the shooting, but each charges the other one with the crime. In company with a number of other hobos they boarded the train at Council Bluffs and rode to Missouri Valley, where they were put off. It seems, however, that they got back on the same train again and continued the ride. At Vail the brakeman discovered them on an oil tank car, where the shooting occurred. Just what transpired before the shooting is not known. It is thought that the shooting was done from the top of a car as the bullets in both bodies range downward. The first shot struck Warner in the neck and penetrated downward, striking a vital spot and killing him instantly, the second one struck Brechtel in about the same location and inflicted a serious wound. It is thought that five shots in all were fired. Some white tramps on the train witnessed the shooting and are being held as witnesses.
Brechtel was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he lies in a precarious condition. His family here was notified and went at once to his bedside. Everything possible is being done by the doctors to save his life and it is thought now that he many possibly recover. The bullet has not yet been located.
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Boone County Democrat
July 16, 1909
Alva C. Brechtel, the young brakeman who was shot at Vail June 20th, while assisting his companion to put a couple of negro tramps off his train, died at the family home here Tuesday afternoon. Warner was killed outright, and he was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he was treated until July 4th, when it was seen that he could not live and he was brought to his home here. One of the shots severed the spinal cord and death was inevitable. The lower part of his body was paralyzed, but he remained conscious to the last and suffered considerable pain. Alva C. son of George F. and Sarah A. Brechtel, was born in Boone county, November 23, 1886, and died at his home in Boone, Iowa, July 13, 1909, in his 23rd year. He attended the public schools and the Sacred Heart parochial school, and about three years ago entered the employ of the Northwestern Railway Co., in which service he lost his life while in the faithful performance of his duty. The funeral services were held from the First M.E. church at 1:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Hohanshelt and attended by a host of sorrowing relatives and friends, burial in Bass Point cemetery. He was a member of the B. of R.T. Woodmen of the World Red Men, Pocahontas and of Company I., I.N.G., and these orders all attended in a body. He leaves to mourn his tragic and untimely death his parents, three brothers, George C., of Clairmont, California, and Charles H. and E.C. of Springfield, Missouri, and four sisters, Mrs. C.H. Elliott of Los Angeles, California, and Mrs. C.F. Klugh, Mrs. W.E. Conklin and Mrs. Arthur L. Downing of Boone. The family have the sincere sympathy of a host of friends in their sad bereavement.
Boone County Democrat June 25, 1909
A fatal shooting affray occurred on a Northwestern freight train near Vail, Iowa, shortly after midnight Saturday night, in which one brakeman, Lee C. Warner, of this city, was killed instantly and his companion, Alva C. Brechtel, also of this city, seriously, if not fatally wounded. The shooting was done by two Negro hobos, who after the shooting escaped from the train, but were captured Sunday morning at Manilla, Iowa. One was lodged in jail at Dennison and the other at Carroll. They gave their names as Henry Clark and Chelsey Hubbard. They admit the shooting, but each charges the other one with the crime. In company with a number of other hobos they boarded the train at Council Bluffs and rode to Missouri Valley, where they were put off. It seems, however, that they got back on the same train again and continued the ride. At Vail the brakeman discovered them on an oil tank car, where the shooting occurred. Just what transpired before the shooting is not known. It is thought that the shooting was done from the top of a car as the bullets in both bodies range downward. The first shot struck Warner in the neck and penetrated downward, striking a vital spot and killing him instantly, the second one struck Brechtel in about the same location and inflicted a serious wound. It is thought that five shots in all were fired. Some white tramps on the train witnessed the shooting and are being held as witnesses.
Brechtel was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he lies in a precarious condition. His family here was notified and went at once to his bedside. Everything possible is being done by the doctors to save his life and it is thought now that he many possibly recover. The bullet has not yet been located.
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Boone County Democrat
July 16, 1909
Alva C. Brechtel, the young brakeman who was shot at Vail June 20th, while assisting his companion to put a couple of negro tramps off his train, died at the family home here Tuesday afternoon. Warner was killed outright, and he was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he was treated until July 4th, when it was seen that he could not live and he was brought to his home here. One of the shots severed the spinal cord and death was inevitable. The lower part of his body was paralyzed, but he remained conscious to the last and suffered considerable pain. Alva C. son of George F. and Sarah A. Brechtel, was born in Boone county, November 23, 1886, and died at his home in Boone, Iowa, July 13, 1909, in his 23rd year. He attended the public schools and the Sacred Heart parochial school, and about three years ago entered the employ of the Northwestern Railway Co., in which service he lost his life while in the faithful performance of his duty. The funeral services were held from the First M.E. church at 1:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Hohanshelt and attended by a host of sorrowing relatives and friends, burial in Bass Point cemetery. He was a member of the B. of R.T. Woodmen of the World Red Men, Pocahontas and of Company I., I.N.G., and these orders all attended in a body. He leaves to mourn his tragic and untimely death his parents, three brothers, George C., of Clairmont, California, and Charles H. and E.C. of Springfield, Missouri, and four sisters, Mrs. C.H. Elliott of Los Angeles, California, and Mrs. C.F. Klugh, Mrs. W.E. Conklin and Mrs. Arthur L. Downing of Boone. The family have the sincere sympathy of a host of friends in their sad bereavement.
A fatal shooting affray occurred on a Northwestern freight train near Vail, Iowa, shortly after midnight Saturday night, in which one brakeman, Lee C. Warner, of this city, was killed instantly and his companion, Alva C. Brechtel, also of this city, seriously, if not fatally wounded. The shooting was done by two Negro hobos, who after the shooting escaped from the train, but were captured Sunday morning at Manilla, Iowa. One was lodged in jail at Dennison and the other at Carroll. They gave their names as Henry Clark and Chelsey Hubbard. They admit the shooting, but each charges the other one with the crime. In company with a number of other hobos they boarded the train at Council Bluffs and rode to Missouri Valley, where they were put off. It seems, however, that they got back on the same train again and continued the ride. At Vail the brakeman discovered them on an oil tank car, where the shooting occurred. Just what transpired before the shooting is not known. It is thought that the shooting was done from the top of a car as the bullets in both bodies range downward. The first shot struck Warner in the neck and penetrated downward, striking a vital spot and killing him instantly, the second one struck Brechtel in about the same location and inflicted a serious wound. It is thought that five shots in all were fired. Some white tramps on the train witnessed the shooting and are being held as witnesses.
Brechtel was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he lies in a precarious condition. His family here was notified and went at once to his bedside. Everything possible is being done by the doctors to save his life and it is thought now that he many possibly recover. The bullet has not yet been located.
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Boone County Democrat
July 16, 1909
Alva C. Brechtel, the young brakeman who was shot at Vail June 20th, while assisting his companion to put a couple of negro tramps off his train, died at the family home here Tuesday afternoon. Warner was killed outright, and he was taken to the hospital at Carroll, where he was treated until July 4th, when it was seen that he could not live and he was brought to his home here. One of the shots severed the spinal cord and death was inevitable. The lower part of his body was paralyzed, but he remained conscious to the last and suffered considerable pain. Alva C. son of George F. and Sarah A. Brechtel, was born in Boone county, November 23, 1886, and died at his home in Boone, Iowa, July 13, 1909, in his 23rd year. He attended the public schools and the Sacred Heart parochial school, and about three years ago entered the employ of the Northwestern Railway Co., in which service he lost his life while in the faithful performance of his duty. The funeral services were held from the First M.E. church at 1:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Hohanshelt and attended by a host of sorrowing relatives and friends, burial in Bass Point cemetery. He was a member of the B. of R.T. Woodmen of the World Red Men, Pocahontas and of Company I., I.N.G., and these orders all attended in a body. He leaves to mourn his tragic and untimely death his parents, three brothers, George C., of Clairmont, California, and Charles H. and E.C. of Springfield, Missouri, and four sisters, Mrs. C.H. Elliott of Los Angeles, California, and Mrs. C.F. Klugh, Mrs. W.E. Conklin and Mrs. Arthur L. Downing of Boone. The family have the sincere sympathy of a host of friends in their sad bereavement.
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