A
COTTON BELT FAMILY
by Charles D. Tipton
Garland, Texas
Click
on photos below for larger images
Commodore
Perry Tipton (that was his name not his rank) moved to Texas from Tennessee
sometime after 1870 and settled in Johnson County near the town of Grandview.
Commodore and his wife Celeste Emiline had six sons, all of whom became
railroad engineers. My grandfather, David Butler Tipton, the eldest, started to
work for the Cotton Belt in Tyler as a machinist helper in 1885.
A year later he was promoted to fireman and in 1889 he became a
locomotive engineer. By 1892, the
year he married Minnie Simpson, he was working a run out of Sherman Texas.
Then he was transferred to Commerce, Texas where he lived until 1914 at
which time he was assigned as a passenger engineer for the run between Waco and
Stephenville, Texas. I don't know
just how long he stayed on this run, possibly until shortly before they closed
it ,ca 1941. He was still driving
and engine at the time of his final illness in 1943.
I am not sure of the run, it may have been between Waco and Texarkana.
At the time of his death he was the oldest engineer in point of service
on the Cotton Belt lines. He had 57
years of seniority. At some point in his service, he switched from running steam
locomotives to motor cars, possibly around 1914 when he took the Stephenville
run.. The first picture in the
attachment shows David Butler Tipton at the window of his motor car with his
conductor (unidentified) standing by the train.
He is again at the window of his motor car in the second picture, but
this time the conductor is standing at the door. The names or roles of the other men in the second photo are
unknown as is the station, though the station may be Hico, Texas since the photo
is on the front of a postcard bearing
the inscription "Finished by Wiseman, Hico, Texas."
All five of David
Tipton's brothers, Commodore P. Jr., William Thomas, John R., Alexander Mc., and Samuel W., became railroad
engineers and it is not unlikely that they all followed pretty much the same
path as their older brother since all except John R. finished their careers with
the Cotton Belt in East Texas in or around Tyler.
I don't know whether or not John
R.. started with the Cotton Belt, but by 1938 he was working for the Santa Fe
out of Clovis New Mexico.
Commodore Perry Jr.
was killed when a locomotive he was driving turned over on him in 1900.
I do not know the location of the accident, but since he was living in
Mount Pleasant Texas at the time, I assume that it was not too far from that
town. One clue to the stretch of
track lies in the fact that my grandfather told me in that he very nearly lost a
locomotive at the very same spot a few years later.
Since my grandfather worked out of Waco subsequent to 1914, I assume that
the track in question was out of either Sherman or Commerce and connected to
Mount Pleasant.
RETURN
TO "CB Scrapbook"
Commodore
Perry Tipton (that was his name not his rank) moved to Texas from Tennessee
sometime after 1870 and settled in Johnson County near the town of Grandview.
Commodore and his wife Celeste Emiline had six sons, all of whom became
railroad engineers. My grandfather, David Butler Tipton, the eldest, started to
work for the Cotton Belt in Tyler as a machinist helper in 1885.
A year later he was promoted to fireman and in 1889 he became a
locomotive engineer. By 1892, the
year he married Minnie Simpson, he was working a run out of Sherman Texas.
Then he was transferred to Commerce, Texas where he lived until 1914 at
which time he was assigned as a passenger engineer for the run between Waco and
Stephenville, Texas. I don't know
just how long he stayed on this run, possibly until shortly before they closed
it ,ca 1941. He was still driving
and engine at the time of his final illness in 1943.
I am not sure of the run, it may have been between Waco and Texarkana.
At the time of his death he was the oldest engineer in point of service
on the Cotton Belt lines. He had 57
years of seniority. At some point in his service, he switched from running steam
locomotives to motor cars, possibly around 1914 when he took the Stephenville
run.. The first picture in the
attachment shows David Butler Tipton at the window of his motor car with his
conductor (unidentified) standing by the train.
He is again at the window of his motor car in the second picture, but
this time the conductor is standing at the door. The names or roles of the other men in the second photo are
unknown as is the station, though the station may be Hico, Texas since the photo
is on the front of a postcard bearing
the inscription "Finished by Wiseman, Hico, Texas."