In all likelihood, Kid Murray --- age 17 --- was hitching a ride west on a freight car overnight back on Aug.1-2, 1906, when he lost his footing and fell, sustaining a fatal head wound in the C.B.&Q. rail yards, northwest Chariton (above).
The Chariton Patriot of Aug. 2 carried the first report of his death in its edition published later in the day under the headline, "Found Dead in Yards."
A young man, about 20 years of age, was found dead at 5:00 o'clock this morning, lying between the tracks near the new coal house. It is not known how he met his death, but is supposed he fell from the train. Quite a gash was cut in the back of his head and his face was bruised and scratched considerably. Nothing was found on his person by way of identification except a receipt for $2.00 from N. Murray was found, signed by the Superior Tailoring Company, Aurora, Ill. There were several different addresses found. His photograph was taken and will be sent to these addresses. No money was found on his person. The body is at N. S. Melville's (undertaking parlors).
The main east-west line of the C B & Q through Chariton had been a major thoroughfare for passengers both paid and unpaid since it opened in the years immediately after the Civil War and it was not uncommon to find the remains of careless or unlucky men who couldn't or wouldn't pay the fare scattered along it.
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The young man was identified during the ensuing week as Neal "Kid" Murray, as was duly reported in both The Leader and The Patriot of Thursday, Aug. 6.
Leader editor Henry Gittinger reported the developments as follows under the smart-ass headline, "Went Home in a Wooden Overcoat" and added a little gratuitous moralizing:
The body of the young man found dead between the tracks last Thursday has been identified as N. Murray, of Detroit, Mich., where his parents reside. He was known as "Kid" Murray. This identity was established by correspondence from the addresses in his pocket. His body was forwarded to Detroit Monday by advice from his father. The cause is still a mystery, some believing that he was sandbagged, but the general conclusion is that he was riding on the train as a stowaway and fell. He wore good clothes and his appearance was one of good raising. Like many boys he became a rambler, in all probability without aim, and has been cut down in his youth.
The editor of The Patriot produced a more factual report:
The young man found dead in the railroad yards was identified last Sunday and found to be Neal Murray of Delray, Mich. The identification of the body was brought about through a receipt found in a pocket of his clothes. The receipt was from the Superior Tailoring Co. of Aurora, Ill., and upon inquiry the company wrote, enclosing a sample of the cloth from which the suit worn by the unfortunate man was made, and stated that the youth's name was Neal Murray, known as "Kid" Murray, and that he was a son of Daniel Murray, of Detroit.
A dispatch to the chief of police of that city brought word that Mr. Murray had moved to Delray. Word was then sent to the father who directed that the body be sent to him, which was done Monday.
It was thought that the young man belonged in Leon, that he was Lew Honnold, son of J.W. Honnold of that town, who had left there a few days before, as the description of the body closely tallied with that of young Honnold, so closely that it was fully believed by Mr. Honnold that his son had met with death and he made arrangements for the funeral and then, with his son-in-law, O.E. Hull, came to Chariton to identify the body. They were greatly relieved to find that the body was not that of young Honnold.
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Lucas County death records show that Neal Murray was only 17 when he died and that the coroner had concluded that he had been "killed by the cars."
But his father was not satisfied with that verdict, as reported in The Detroit Free Press of August 12 under a multi-deck headline almost as long as the story it introduced:
SUSPECTS FOUL PLAY
Daniel Murray Thinks His Son Was Murdered
Circumstances Look Queer
Body of Young Detroiter Killed at Chariton, Ia., Was found Some Distance From Railroad Tracks; Parent Will Visit Scene of Tragedy to Investigate.
Daniel Murray, 26 Home street, eighteenth ward, will leave Monday to investigate the death of his son, Neil, aged 20 years, who left Detroit about three months ago, and who was found dead beside the railroad tracks in Chariton, Iowa, a week ago.
According to the father the boy had no bad habits. The abrasion at the back of the skull was made, the father thinks, by some blunt instrument. The fact that the body was found some distance from the tracks also leads the father to believe that the cars did not cause his death. A cap found beside the body and shipped with it to Detroit was not the property of Neil Murray.
The father is inclined to believe that his son was struck to the ground and his assailants substituted the old cap for his good hat. The papers at Chariton refer to young Murray as the "murdered man."
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I could find no indication that Daniel Murray ever traveled to Chariton to investigate his son's death, perhaps concluding that it would be a fruitless journey. And Chariton newspapers never referred to the younger Murray as a "murdered man."
Nearly 120 years have passed since the unfortunate young man's remains were found on an August morning in Chariton and while it seems highly likely his death was accidental --- we'll just never know for sure.
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