32 Nebraskaland • August-September 2022
n 1905, George Poell was a railroad fi reman, soon to be a
hero. One day the Grand Island resident was shoveling coal
into a locomotive's red-hot furnace as the train rounded
a curve. Suddenly, the train lurched as the engineer put
on the emergency brake. Poell looked out the window to see
what was wrong.
He saw a child walking on the track, a toddler with blond
curls bobbing.
"The little fellow seemed to have heard us," Poell recalled,
"and in his childish way appeared to turn partly around and
then toddle off straight ahead of the engine, as if to run away
from us and beat us."
The train was near Powell, northwest of Fairbury. Reports
of the train's speed vary widely; Poell described it as "a pretty
good rate … on a down grade with a heavy train." It was not
going to stop in time.
Knowing the engineer could not leave his post, Poell
crawled out of the cab and climbed forward along the
locomotive's running board until he reached the "pilot" or
"cow-catcher" at the front. From here, he "snatched the child
from certain death, and threw it to the side of the track," said
the Chicago Tribune, but in the process tumbled from the pilot
and "was dragged 300 feet, bumping over the ends of the
ties. His right foot was torn off at the ankle, both arms were
broken, and his fl esh frightfully torn and bruised."
But Poell survived and was hailed as a hero. Just before
Christmas, Poell received a letter from President Theodore
Roosevelt informing him that he had been named the fi rst
recipient of a new medal of honor recently authorized by
Congress, the Railroad Lifesaving Medal.
"No man could have shown greater coolness, skill and
daring, or more heroic indiff erence to his own safety,"
Roosevelt wrote.
The president added, "It is not in my power to make you
I
George Poell with Paul Ussary, Grand Island Democrat,
Oct. 20, 1905. This was a common way to dress little boys in
that era. At the time of "breeching," a boy would be given a
haircut and dressed in short pants.
Rescuing a Child from
the Path of a Speeding
Train
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
