JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
NameEugene Fraser 
Birth21 Jun 1849, Hartford, Washington, WI
Death24 May 1926, Hospital, Sioux City, IA
Burial26 May 1926, Floyd Cemetery, Sioux City, IA
OccupationTrain Conductor
FatherEliada Parish Fraser (1821-1910)
MotherCynthia Jane Keyser (-1866)
Notes for Eugene Fraser
1. Eugene was born at Hartford, Washington County, Wisconsin, June 21, 1849. He attended the Cole School in the Township of Herman, Dodge County, from 1852 to 1855. His parents then moved to what is now the Village of Woodland. He studied at the Vedder School in that district in 1856, until a public school was established in the village. He studied there until 1865, with the exception of two months, when he was employed as freight brakeman by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Janesville, Wisconsin.
In the spring of 1866, he left school to enter the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad as freight brakeman on the line between Milwaukee and La Crosse. He held this position until 1876, when he resigned from their service to accept a position with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, running between Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Winona, Minnesota. After five years, he returned to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, running on the Chicago and Council Bluffs Division for four years.
In 1886, Eugene was promoted to passenger service as extra conductor. In June, 1887, he was transferred to the Sioux City, Iowa, branch as regular passenger conductor between Sioux City and Menilla. He was transferred to the Sioux City and Mitchell branch in 1920. In the fall of 1925, the passenger traffic became unusually heavy and Eugene asked to have his run changed to the Sioux City and Platt line. His health became so much impaired in October, 1925, that he gave up his train and was appointed station master of the Sioux City depot.
On May 14, 1926, he was taken very ill on his way home and was taken to a hospital, where he passed away May 24, 1926, at the age of seventy-seven years. His desire was to continue as passenger conductor until he reached his eightieth year, at which time he would retire after having served the railroads sixty-two years.
During Mr. Fraser’s long years of service, he never had a serious accident, nor was a passenger entrusted in his care injured in any way. He had a splendid record for his strict attention to duty, efficiency, and carefulness. The traveling public called him “the grand old man” and he was justly popular with them.
He had no public ambition but to do his duty to the best of his ability; his life was one of purity, goodness, and fidelity in all relations.
Mr. Fraser had been a member of Division 233, Order of Railroad Conductors, since 1882, and was also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Funeral services were held at the Wescott Undertaking Parlors at 3:30 the afternoon of May 26, 1926, with burial in the family lot at Floyd Cemetery, Sioux City, Iowa, beside his wife who had predeceased him twenty-two years.
He married, July 4, 1869, Marietta Smith, of Oxford, Wisconsin, born January 23, 1851, at Much Church, Pennsylvania; she died August 10, 1904. Child: Rev. Arthur Eliada, born at Portage, Wisconsin, December 23, 1870. On September 30, 1898, he married Thedora Lyman Wells, born in Madison, Wisconsin, November 8, 1871, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Wells.
In the spring of 1866, he left school to enter the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad as freight brakeman on the line between Milwaukee and La Crosse. He held this position until 1876, when he resigned from their service to accept a position with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, running between Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Winona, Minnesota. After five years, he returned to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, running on the Chicago and Council Bluffs Division for four years.
In 1886, Eugene was promoted to passenger service as extra conductor. In June, 1887, he was transferred to the Sioux City, Iowa, branch as regular passenger conductor between Sioux City and Menilla. He was transferred to the Sioux City and Mitchell branch in 1920. In the fall of 1925, the passenger traffic became unusually heavy and Eugene asked to have his run changed to the Sioux City and Platt line. His health became so much impaired in October, 1925, that he gave up his train and was appointed station master of the Sioux City depot.
On May 14, 1926, he was taken very ill on his way home and was taken to a hospital, where he passed away May 24, 1926, at the age of seventy-seven years. His desire was to continue as passenger conductor until he reached his eightieth year, at which time he would retire after having served the railroads sixty-two years.
During Mr. Fraser’s long years of service, he never had a serious accident, nor was a passenger entrusted in his care injured in any way. He had a splendid record for his strict attention to duty, efficiency, and carefulness. The traveling public called him “the grand old man” and he was justly popular with them.
He had no public ambition but to do his duty to the best of his ability; his life was one of purity, goodness, and fidelity in all relations.
Mr. Fraser had been a member of Division 233, Order of Railroad Conductors, since 1882, and was also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Funeral services were held at the Wescott Undertaking Parlors at 3:30 the afternoon of May 26, 1926, with burial in the family lot at Floyd Cemetery, Sioux City, Iowa, beside his wife who had predeceased him twenty-two years.
He married, July 4, 1869, Marietta Smith, of Oxford, Wisconsin, born January 23, 1851, at Much Church, Pennsylvania; she died August 10, 1904. Child: Rev. Arthur Eliada, born at Portage, Wisconsin, December 23, 1870. On September 30, 1898, he married Thedora Lyman Wells, born in Madison, Wisconsin, November 8, 1871, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Wells.