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Reno County: “She Jumped from the Train”

May 26, 2021 by Jim Potter 4 Comments

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(To listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)


 

“She Jumped from the Train”

•

The new Reno County Jail, 15 Avenue East, Hutchinson, KS, was opened in 1888. Sheriff Daniel E. Miller, and his wife, Cecelia Edmunds Miller, lived in the attached residence with their children. Photographer W. B. Glines, ca. 1889. Credit to Reno County Historical Society.

It’s Wednesday, April 3, 1889, in Hutchinson, Kansas. Daniel Miller, Reno County sheriff, 45, returns home to the sheriff’s residence at 15 Avenue East. Cecelia Edmunds Miller—Mrs. Sheriff—41, spots a new gray hair on her husband’s head.

*

“Hello, honey, how are you and the children?” asked Dan, as he entered the sheriff’s residence, gave his wife a kiss, and hung up his hat.

“We’re fine,” answered Cecelia. “How did Sarah respond to the Topeka Insane Asylum once she got past the beautiful gardens?”

Dan took a deep breath, rubbed his jaw, and closed his eyes. “Sarah jumped out a train window,” said Dan. “She’s nearly dead.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Cecelia, as she held up a hand to her gasping mouth. “That poor girl!”

Dan slowly raised a hand and pressed four fingers to his lips.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Cecelia. “She was a troubled, young lady.”

“I’m a smart lawman,” said Dan. “I’ve tracked and captured many a criminal who thought they were home free, but I underestimated Sarah Kelley.”

“How did it happen?” asked Cecelia.

Passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway around 1895. Image from Wikimedia.

“Soon after the train left Osage City, Sarah requested the use of the water closet,” answered Dan. “I agreed and remained outside the door. When she didn’t come out, I opened the door and discovered she had jumped out the window while the train was moving at about 40 m.p.h.

“I had the train stopped. H. A. Chamberlain, special agent of the Santa Fe, and I, went back to find her. We discovered her about a mile west of the coal town, Peterton. Her body was bruised and mangled and she was unconscious. We had her taken to Osage City and placed in the care of physicians, but they advised us she wouldn’t see another sunrise.

“I knew Sarah was worried,” said Dan. “She was anxious, but for good reason. She was sane enough to be scared of going to the insane asylum.”

“We’ve seen men and women much worse than her be declared insane,” said Cecelia. “If only we had a sanitarium here in Reno County, we could have a safer and saner place for the less-troubled individuals.”

“It would make our job easier,” said Dan. “Reno County’s fortunate to have the state spend money on the Reformatory. A sanitarium is a private, for-profit business, but it would help alleviate some of the heartache of family members. If it was here in Hutchinson, visits could occur more often, when allowed. Sadly, for those destitute, they’d still end up at a state-run facility.”

“The Reformatory is for young criminals,” said Cecelia. “This is different. Sarah didn’t commit a crime. She deserved better. Sarah decided to try and escape from the train, or to kill herself quickly rather than face a lingering death at the asylum. We’ll never know her true intensions.”

The Topeka Insane Asylum was a publicly funded institution for the care & treatment of the mentally ill. It opened its doors in 1879, after the Osawatomie State Hospital became overcrowded with mentally-ill patients.

“We know some individuals who have been released from the asylum and returned home,” said Dan, “but the fear of spending years there was too much for Sarah. In a way, I don’t blame her. Selfishly, I wish her fatal injuries hadn’t happened on my watch.”

“We’ve talked about this before,” said Cecelia, “the commissioners can pay for female prisoners to be escorted by a woman. I’m already caring for the female prisoners and cooking. I can’t be everywhere. In this situation, Sarah would be in the asylum today if she’d been allowed a proper escort.”

Dan listened. Treatment of women wasn’t a new topic of conversation. He knew what Cecelia would say next.

“And another thing,” said Cecelia, “the law states that adults should be judged by a jury of their peers. In probate court, Sarah Kelley was pronounced insane by a jury of men.

“Years before we arrived here in Kansas, the vote failed for impartial suffrage, but two years ago women gained the right to vote in city elections. Women captured several local offices, especially at Syracuse and Argonia. In Syracuse, women won all five positions on the city council. At Argonia, Susanna Madora Salter became the first woman mayor in the nation to be elected.

“In Wyoming, women vote for every office for which their brothers do and on the same terms.”

Dan was quiet, listening. Cecelia had forgotten to mention that Mayor Salter was only 27 years old when she was elected.

“In the two weeks Sarah was with us,” continued Cecelia, “her mind was comparatively clear, except for a few clouds now and then. If only she’d had the opportunity to be placed in a sanitarium, a pleasant home-like surrounding with the care of a good nurse and physician. Instead of having horrible nightmares of the lunatic asylum—which she feared more than death—she might have been saved.”

Dan heard the approaching whistle of an inbound train. He put his open hands together like a church with a steeple and thought to himself: What could I have done to prevent this tragedy?

The sheriff relived his train trip that morning. Knocking on the water closet’s door, hearing no response, calling out loudly: “Mrs. Kelley, can you hear me? Are you well?” Then, his hand slowly opening the door, the horror of a vacant water closet and open window, shocking his heart.

Dan’s body heated up. Drips of perspiration formed on his forehead. His stomach felt queasy. His head was spinning as he viewed Sarah’s deep wounds. She lay unconscious beside the railroad tracks.

“Mrs. Kelley was bright and sympathetic, and just entering the prime of her useful womanhood,” said Dan. “She will be dearly missed.”

*

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

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  1. Alex says

    Go Cecelia!
    I want her on my side!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      At the time of the women’s suffrage movement, we forget that not every woman supported the effort. Just like today when a political figure may not respect women but he can still receive the support of many women. In both cases, the issues go beyond one factor.

      Reply
  2. Marilyn Bolton says

    Dan & Cecelia Miller certainly cared. How desperate Sarah Kelley must have felt.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Yes, agreed. I’ve run across a few prisoners jumping out train windows & making successful escapes. Generally though, the train was traveling slower than 40 mph.

      Reply

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Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a… Read more “Larry Kruckman, anthropologist”

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Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental… Read more “Morgan Penner”

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Retired police officer Potter’s novel centers on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to… Read more “Sean McArdle, Winchester, England”

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I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller… Read more “Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist”

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Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

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I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters… Read more “John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement”

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I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

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Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

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Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

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Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

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