SeanPaulMurphyVille: My Family: The Murder of Adam G. Robertson?

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

My Family: The Murder of Adam G. Robertson?

I heard a lot of fascinating stories when I began investigating my family tree. And a few mysteries too, like whether my 1st cousin, twice removed Adam George Robertson was murdered.

Adam George Robertson was born on 06 June 1896 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was the son of William Robertson and Louise M. Farber. William Robertson was my grandmother Margaret Robertson Murphy's uncle on her father's side. His wife Louise was my grandmother's 1st cousin, once removed on her mother's side. In other words, Adam was my grandmother's first cousin on her father's side and her second cousin on her mother's side. He was a double cousin, which made this case doubly interesting to me.

This was not ancient, obscure family history to my grandmother. She knew Adam. I doubt they were close since Adam was eighteen years older than her and he died when she was fifteen. However, she definitely had a relationship with her Uncle William, who was a very successful and esteemed member of the community in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. She said he went to his grave believing that his son was murdered despite the official verdict. So I decided to take a look at the reports at the time and see what happened.

Pittston Gazette (Pittston, Pennsylvania), 30 Mar 1929, Saturday:

ADAM ROBERTSON

STRUCK BY TRAIN,

FATALLY INJURED

Adam Robertson, aged 32 years, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Robertson, of 23 Perkins street, Plains, was fatally injured this morning at 2 o'clock when he was struck by a northbound Laurel Line train near the No. 14 station. Robertson, who boarded with the family of William Adrian, on Stark street, this city, was enroute to his boarding house from the home of his parents in Plains when to all indications, he wandered onto the main tracks of the Laurel Line Railroad and was struck by the train.

Robertson spent a few years as a member of the State Police some time ago and was a corporal assigned to the patrol at Butler, according to reliable information obtained today. He was married to a Pittsburgh woman, who is residing with her parents in her hometown. Since returning to these parts Robertson had been employed successively as fireboss at No. 9 Colliery for a time and as a company hand at No. 8 shaft of the same company,

Conductor M.F. McGrail and Motorman Matthew Lock were in charge of the northbound Laurel Line train that left Wilkesbarre this morning at 1:45 o'clock. Fifteen minutes later, when the train reached No. 14 station the motorman perceived that there were no passengers waiting to board the car at the No. 14 station and he was not prepared to make a stop when he suddenly noticed the body of Robertson lying along the tracks. He applied the brakes instantly but the shoebeam of the car struck the man and his body was dragged a considerable distance.

The injured man was taken aboard the car and was removed to the Pittston station from where Howell's ambulance service was employed to take the man to Pittston Hospital, where he was admitted at 2:30 o'clock and died at 4:05. His injuries consisted of lacerations of the scalp and a fractured skull.

Robertson was detained at City Hall here for a few hours yesterday when a Carroll street man complained that the young man had wandered into his home the night previous in a dazed condition. No formal charge was filed against him and he was discharged yesterday afternoon.

Surviving the deceased are his widow, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robertson, and one sister, Mrs. Minnie Dautrich, of Plains.

The story above provided a great deal of straightforward information regarding Adam's death, but it left a lot of unanswered questions. What do we know? We know where he was coming from and where he was headed. Adam was leaving the house of his parents and returning to the boarding house where he lived.

What don't we know? The big question: How he ended up on the tracks.

Adam's parents were obviously questioned by both the reporter and the police. If they had any concerns regarding his physical state, i.e., he was drunk, I assume they would have relayed the information to the proper authorities. Additionally, had Adam fallen onto the tracks because he was intoxicated, I am sure the doctors at the hospital would have noted his state.

The story also hints at other details that might have contributed to his death. Adam was not living with his wife Florence. She had moved back to Pittsburgh to live with her parents. Did that lead to emotional distress? Could that be an explanation for his dazed mental state the previous night when he entered the Carroll street house? However, you'd think if Adam's parents were concerned about his mental state, i.e., he was suicidal or experiencing psychological problems, they would have relayed that information. They didn't.

William Robertson never believed it was an accident. He believed until the end of his days that Adam was beaten and dumped on the tracks by someone he had arrested when he was a State Police Trooper. The Wilkes-Barre newspaper certainly fed that theory. Adam's death was the front page headline news.

The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 30 March 1929, Saturday:

PLAINS MAN IS HELD UP NEAR STATION

BEATEN, PLACED ON TRACK AND KILLED

------

ADAM ROBERTSON IS FOUND

UNCONSCIOUS ALONG TRACK

WITH HIS SKULL FRACTURED

-----

Robbers Believed To Have Attempted To Conceal Crime

-----

POLICE INVESTIGATING

-----

No Arrests Are Made In Probe By Company Officials

-----

AN EMPLOYE OF No. 9

-----

Struck by a southbound Laurel Line train at No. 14 station at 2:30 this morning, Adam Robertson, 22, 67 Stark Street, Pittston, died in Pittston State Hospital at 4:05. He received a facture of the skull and burns to the body. Robertson never regained consciousness.

Officials of the company shortly before noon announced that they believed Robertson, whose body was along the tracks when hit, was a victim of a holdup. Spokesmen for the company expressed the belief that Robertson was robbed, assaulted and then thrown near the tracks.

The Laurel Line was in charge of Matt Lock and Frank McGraill. It is said that the train stopped at the No. 14 station which is located above Plains. Robertson's body was reported to be within fifty feet from the station.

Reports stated that when the operator of the train [saw the man along the tracks it braked to prevent] an accident. The body was dragged about ten feet. Robertson, it is said, was hit by the "shoe."

He was taken to the Pittston station and rushed to the hospital. An examination showed that he suffered from a fracture of the skull and body burns, attaches said. Later, the body was removed to the morgue of Deputy Coroner J. Miller of Plains who reported that the body looked as "though a train hit it."

Robertson was employed at the No. 8 shaft of No. 9 Colliery of Pennsylvania Coal Company. He resided with the Adrian family on Stark street, Pittston.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robertson, 23 Perkins street, and one sister, Mrs. Minnie Deitrich, Plains.

Wow. The tone and conclusions drawn by that story were considerably different than the ones in the story from Pittston. The railroad company was apparently the source of the report that Adam had been held up, beaten and thrown on the tracks. So it is easy to see why his father believed it. However, the story is remarkably fact free. No witnesses were mentioned. No evidence. In fact, the coroner concluded that it looked like a train hit his body.

I had to keep digging.

The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), 30 March 1929, Saturday:

LAUREL LINE TRAIN KILLS ROBERTSON AT NO. 14 STATION

State Police And County Detectives Discredit Rumor Man Was Killed By Thugs

Pittston, March 30 -- Adam G. Robertson, thirty-two, a boarder at 67 Stark street, this place, was found fatally injured on the Laurel Line tracks at No. 14 station early today and at first was believed to have been robbed. Robertson died at the Pittston hospital at 5 o'clock in the morning and rumors gained wide circulation throughout the city that he had been the victim of thugs.

State police, who with county detectives took up the investigation after the discovery of the body, said at 11 o'clock this morning that they did not believe that Robertson had been slugged and thrown on the tracks. Robertson was a former member of the state police and was stationed at Butler, Pa. He was struck by a northbound train at 1:56 o'clock this morning.

Saw Body On Tracks.

The train was in charge of Motorman Matthew Lock and Conductor M. F. McGrail. It left Wilkes-Barre at 1:45. Seeing no one waiting for the train at the station Motorman Lock made no effort to stop until he saw the form of a man lying in the open space between the station platform and the tracks. As he did he applied the emergency brakes, but failed to halt the train in time to avoid striking the man.

The train crew and passengers picked up Robertson, putting him aboard the train and hurried to the Pittston station. He was removed to the hospital in Howell's ambulance and never regained consciousness.

Robertson was employed at the No. 8 shaft of the No. 9 colliery of the Pennsylvania Coal company. For the past several months he made his home in Pittston. Last evening he paid a visit to the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robertson, of Perkins street, Plains. He left there between 7 and 8 o'clock and nothing further was heard of him until he was found lying in the Laurel Line tracks at the No. 14 station.

Robertson married a Pittsburgh girl while he was a member of the state police and it is said here today that she is living with her parents. Besides his parents and widow, he is survived by a sister, Mrs. Minnie Dautrich, of Plains.

Talk about editorial whiplash! In this story, the previous theory that Adam had been robbed was batted down by the State Police. The most interesting thing about these three stories is that they were all published on the same day in different times in different cities.

So which story was accurate?

To me, the most pertinent fact from the final story involved the timing. According to this version, Adam left his parents' house between seven and eight in the evening. He was not seen again until his body was spotted unconscious on the tracks at 1:45 am. That leaves a six hour window where his whereabouts were unknown. Like his father, I can't imagine Adam accidently falling off the platform and just lying there waiting for the train hit to him. I could see that happening if he had been drinking. His parents didn't mention him drinking, but who knows what Adam during the long hours before he ended up on the tracks?

You must also take into account Adam's dazed mental state the previous evening that led to his brief arrest. Was he undergoing some sort of mental collapse? If so, did he intentionally lie down on the tracks? Could this have been a suicide attempt?

The official verdict was railroad accident. Here's his death certificate:

On one level, railroad accident is certainly an accurate cause of death. Adam was alive until after the train hit him, but that verdict brings us no closer to the reason why he was lying on the tracks.

Now that's the public information. William was not satisfied with the verdict, and we must take into account that he might have had information unavailable to us today. For example, Adam's sister Minnie Dautrich is named as a survivor in all of the stories. Her husband, Charles Warren Dautrich, was also a State Trooper for many years. Did he know something they couldn't prove?

Sadly, the truth will never be known. I doubt the city of Pittston kept the police records on this case for nearly a century. Even if I found a villain responsible, he would have joined Adam in the grave decades ago. And who is left to demand justice? William and Louise had four children. Two of them died in childhood. Their remaining children, Adam and Minnie, both died childless. This line of the Robertson family is now extinct and beyond such concerns. Death is the great equalizer, of both the murdered and the murderers.

Was Adam murdered? I can't say. However, like his father, I find it unlikely that he accidently fell onto the tracks....

If you have any information, please leave it in the comments below or send me an email.

Click here for more of my genealogical blogs:

My Family: Christmas 1967

My Family: My Granddaughter Emma Renee Schwalm

My Family: The Diaries of Mary Elizabeth McLane, Part 1
My Family: The Back River Tragedy

My Family: My Three Nuns
My Family: The Murder of Adam G. Robertson
My Family: Uncle Buzzy and The Boys In Company B
My Family: 1st Lieutenant Charles Edward Farber, KIA
My Family: Cousin Tillie's Balcony
My Family: The Public Suicide of Carl "Ernie" Stark
My Family: The Public Suicide of Frank Kostohryz
My Family: Mary Marshall Mirfin, Hero
My Family: Rita Cecilia Rosenberger Protani Pollock
My Family: Vincent Klima and the Spanish Influenza
My Family: A Festival of Fathers
My Family: The Honorable George Farber
My Family: A Celebration of Mothers
My Family: The Mystery of Frank John Murphy
My Family: Kristina Bednar Kostohryz
My Family: Great-Grandmom Assunta's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined.

Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:

Chapter 1 - A Photograph

Chapter 2 - My Death

Chapter 3 - Childhood

Chapter 4 - Saved!

Chapter 5 - The Promise

Chapter 6 - The Mission

Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished
Chapter 15 - Quarter To Midnight

Be sure to check out my novel Chapel Street. It tells the story of a young man straddling the line between sanity and madness while battling a demonic entity that has driven his family members to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.

You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Watch the book trailer: