THE MYSTERY PASSENGER
Tragic Train Tales of the 1900s
By Hans M. Broder, Jr.
On June 23, 1900, Old No. 7 was on her regular run from Macon to Atlanta. Record rains had fallen the entire month flooding the creeks and fields. When arriving at McDonough Station, the engineer, James Sullivan, received orders to wait on the delayed connecting train from Columbus. After two hours Old No. 7 proceeded to Atlanta with forty-eight passengers and crew aboard unaware of the danger ahead. Just north of the station the earthen trestle had been undermined by the swollen Camp Creek. Just as the locomotive reached the northern edge of the trestle the weight of the train caused the trestle to collapse sending the entire train and occupants fifty feet into the creek below.
A PEEK INSIDE
“I looked up. The trestle was gone. The two ends of rails that were one the tracks were sticking out, dangling over the edges from both sides of the ravine like large two-prong pitchforks. It was over in a matter of seconds. There was deafened silence. I heard only the rushing muddy stream passing through the huge gap that was once a trestle. What a mess! I reckoned there was little hope that any could have survived.”
MAY ALL OF YOU AND GOD FORGIVE ME
True Double Murder Mystery with Tragic Outcome
By Hans M. Broder, Jr.
Jerry Banks was arrested on December 11, 1974 for murders of the band director and college student. He was arraigned and bound over to the Grand Jury who determined the evidence was sufficient for a jury trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair on March 28, 1975. All this took only one hundred and seven days.
A PEEK INSIDE
“Immediately in front of the now quiet and sniffing dog is a body partially covered with a blanket. As Jerry gets closer it appears that there are two bodies underneath. As he peels back the blanket, he sees two people lying face down and covered with blood. Jerry mumbles under his breath, “Oh, my God!” Jerry rests his shotgun against a tree. As he folds back the blanket a little further, he can tell with certainty that they are dead. With all that blood it appears that a shotgun probably killed them.
It is approximately 5 p.m. when Jerry Banks is able to stop the first motorist and explain that he had come across two dead bodies in the woods. Somewhat apprehensively, the driver in a pickup stops, rolls down his window and listens to Banks’ incredible story. He chooses not to get involved and drives off. The next motorist, Andy Eberhardt, sees Jerry waving his arms while holding a shotgun, and slows down but does not stop. As he drives away, he thinks that there may be a possible hunting accident, so he stops and backs up. He listens to Jerry’s story and promises to call the police department.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hans Melchior Broder, Jr. was born July 6, 1947, in Bern, Switzerland and immigrated with his parents to Stockbridge in 1951 where he currently lives. Raised on the family’s dairy farm, he is the oldest of eight siblings. He is married and has four children and ten grandchildren. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia. He began his working career as a Business Education teacher at Stockbridge High School in 1969. In 1971 he accepted a lending position with The First State Bank and became its CEO in 1975. He is a past Chairman of the Henry County Chamber of Commerce and served on several bank, civic organization, and church boards.
He is the author of This Too Shall Pass, a book about the failure of community banks during the Great Recession, the causes, and consequences. Motivated by the closing of the Enterprise Banking Company in 2011, which he organized and managed; he takes his bank from its creation to its takeover by the F.D.I.C. The book provides insights and details of the challenges faced by the community bankers during that period.
He penned a second book that recalls a tragedy that occurred in his hometown of Stockbridge. Many of his neighbors, classmates and bank customers contributed to the events that occurred during a twelve-year period in Henry County’s past. It is those relationships that inspired him to author his first historical book, May All Of You And God Forgive Me.
The inspiration for this book were his grandfathers. Both made their livelihood by working for the railroad in Switzerland. His book retells the 1900 horrific train accident in McDonough, Georgia. At the time it was the most tragic train wreck as thirty-nine on board died. The Mystery Passenger mixes real life facts with a touch of fiction. A mystery passenger who slipped on board miraculously survived the crash to tell the story. The book covers railroads and the railroad men who are a part of its history.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Michael Felix Broder is the brother of author, Hans Broder. He was born on December 18, 1952, and currently lives in Florence Alabama. Raised on the family’s dairy farm in Stockbridge, he is one of eight children of Hans and Margrit Broder. He is married to the former Jacqueline Dale from West Lafayette, Indiana and has four children and three grandchildren. He received an undergraduate degree in ag engineering from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from Purdue University. He retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) after a lifelong career as an environmental engineer.
He realized he had a talent for art at an early age, impressing his teachers with his sketches and paintings in grammar school. Devoting his free time to the arts became an adult passion. His mosaic depiction of an Indian chief, crafted from arrowheads he had found, won acclaim from Art Prize, an international art competition.