This week, for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, we are to talk about a genealogical theory we are working on. This one is not pleasant, but it's been nagging at me.
In the obituary for my granduncle Edmund McKee Reed (1893-1921), who died in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, there is mention of Edmund's brother, my grandfather Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Reed, who also died in Detroit.(1)
Frank died 20 October 1917, when he was hit by a yard engine in the Wabash Railroad yard in Detroit.(2)
His death certificate states the cause of death as "crushing injuries to head, run over by steam engine."(3) The mention of Frank's death in Edmund's obituary states, "It will be remembered that a brother of [the] deceased, Frank Reed, was decapitated in an accident in Detroit about two years ago."
This raises some questions . . .
Frank Reed was married to Ruth Nave. They wed 25 November 1913. Their first child, a son named Donald Francis Reed, was born 19 May 1913. A tad early. Donald was followed in making his entry into the world by sisters Margaret Elizabeth in 1914 and Martha Shideler, my mother, in 1916. There is no way of knowing for sure what their home life was like. The only photograph I have of my grandmother Ruth is one taken about 1920, with her and Donald and Margaret, Martha having already been taken from Ruth by the Reed family and placed with Frank's oldest brother Perry and his wife Mary LeSourd after Frank's death. In that photo, Ruth has a very slight smile, but to me her eyes hold a sadness. My Aunt Margaret, Ruth's other daughter, told me that Ruth had lived a sad life. There might have been stress in the marriage caused by the rapid arrival of three children, close in age, and all the exhaustion and tension involved in child care. The possibly unhappy couple had not begun their marriage with time alone to explore their relationship and engage in any family planning.
I just wonder if Frank saw no other way out of a stressful and possibly deteriorating situation except suicide.
Is it possible to be partially or totally decapitated when hit by a railroad yard engine while standing up, walking, or running? Did he cross in front of the engine, badly underestimating its speed and/or distance from him? Or did he, in a moment of despair and psychic pain, lay his head down on a rail with the engine bearing down on him?
I want to find out if any records of the Wabash Railroad exist, and if, in those records, there is a report on the incident. Would the Detroit police department have had any cause to investigate the death? Where would a report issued by that department on the incident be housed, if it exists?
I just would like to know.
(1) "Obit of Edmund M. Reed" Newspapers.com, database with images, The Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana, United States) 28 Jan 1921, page 6, Imaged: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pharos-tribune-obit-of-edmund-m-ree/189449669/ (accessed 21 January 2026).
(2) "Engine Kills a Switchman," Newspapers.com, database with images. The Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana, United States) 22 October 1917, page 3. Imaged: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pharos-tribune-death-notice/95893929/ (Accessed last 26 January 2026).
(3) State of Michigan, Department of State, Division of Vital Statistics, Transcript of Certificate of Death, Benjamin Franklin Reed. Verified by Glenn Copeland, State Registrar, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing, Michigan, 3 April 2009. Registered no. 10695.
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