Grandpa Keyes Birth fact and fiction

This is the youngest photo that I have of my grandfather Charles W. Keyes. If anyone has any of him as a baby I would love a copy.

I have always been intrigued by the events surrounding my Grandpa Charles Washington Keyes birth. (14 June, 1903 in Alexandria, Virginia) Here is the family legend as I remember it. (I even called my mom and had her tell it to me as she remembered it and it was the same as I remembered.)


My Great Grandfather Harry Keyes worked for the Railroad in Alexandria, Virginia. One day in June of 1903 when he went to work a man who had the same position as him on another train asked him if they could trade trains as Great Grandpa's was to return earlier and this man had an appointment he needed to get to. Grandpa Harry agreed to make the switch but they didn't tell anyone. Well the train the Grandpa Harry was supposed to be on was in a horrible accident and the man that he had switched with was killed. Since they hadn't informed anyone of the change, the officials from the railroad went to Grandpa Harry's home and told his wife Emma who was 7 1/2 months pregnant that her husband had been killed in a train wreck. She was distraught, but the real shock came a few hours later when Grandpa Harry returned home. The shock of seeing him after she thought he had been killed put her into labor and my Grandfather Charles Washington Keyes was born within the next few days. He was 6 weeks premature, and was so tiny that they used his father's felt hat as his bassinet.


This story has always fascinated me and for some reason I have always wanted to know more about the train wreck and the man that died. Well after doing some searching I found 3 different articles online about what I believe to be the accident. It appears to be the only train wreck near Alexandria, Virginia mid June of 1903. Because of the information given in the article, I now question parts of the story. I no longer believe that Grandpa traded places with anyone. I believe the reason that someone may have contacted Grandma Emma was because of a mix up with names. The man that was killed was a Railroad Insurance Salesman. (I have never know Grandpa Harry to sell insurance.) The deceased man's name was Charles Keyes, son of George W. Keyes. (Harry's father is George A. Keyes). I even question if it was the railroad that informed Grandma Emma of her husband's death, or was it maybe a friend or neighbor, that just heard the name Keyes. In one article it mentions an H. J. Keyes that was a fireman on the other train in the crash, who was able to jump to safety. The engine that overturned had 1 injury, the fireman, and one fatality, Charles Keyes.


Read the article and see what you think the possibilities for the real story are. We may never know exactly how things transpired. But there obviously was a fatal train wreck and I am sure that someone told Grandma Emma that her husband was involved. But who told her. Also I am wondering if Grandpa could have possibly been named after the man that was killed.

Alexandria Gazette, June 11, 1903

Richmond, Virgina, "The Time Dispatch" June 12, 1903