Type of Officer: Railroad Special Agent
Jurisdiction: Union Pacific Railroad
County: Jefferson
Death Date: July 27, 1918
Added to Memorial: 2024
Circumstances of Death: Automobile Crash
George R. Stewart, age 57, a railroad special agent employed in his first year with the Union Pacific Railroad, was assigned bridge security duties near Perry, Kansas. During World War I, the railroad received frequent threats to bomb or sabotage railroad bridges that carried military troop trains. The railroad assigned special agents to security duties which required agents to cross bridges immediately behind passenger train movements to protect against potential threats. While performing his law enforcement duties at the railroad’s Delaware River bridge near Perry, Special Agent Stewart was following on foot behind a westbound troop train that had just passed. Agent Stewart failed to see an eastbound train which struck him, killing him instantly. Special Agent Stewart was survived by his wife, two daughters, two sons and three stepsons.
Panel: 25