SDolson822
Cadet
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2020
- Location
- St. Louis, Missouri
An ancestor of mine, Stephen J. Dolson, was a guard at the prison on Gratiot Street in STL during the civil war. After the war, he got a job for the Wabash Railroad Company as a switchman at their yard in North St. Louis, switching cars between rails and trains. However, in May of 1882, he was involved in an accident that ended with him being a double amputee of his legs, both above the knee. through old family stories, I have been told that he was called "peg-leg Dolson" for the rest of his life (and I have also heard that the accident occurred because he showed up to work drunk that day, but I feel that this is just a story to make light of the incident ). I have tried to find out more details about the incident, which has proven to be difficult as Wabash has not been in operation since the early '60s. I felt that if someone would know where to find documentation on post-Civil War railroads, this would be the place.