Wilmington Railroad Museum
James C. Burke
The most enduring railroad legend of this region is
that of Joe Baldwin. Supposedly, Joe Baldwin, a conductor, was
decapitated in a train wreck. It was said that his body was retrieved
but his head was never found. The Maco Lights, a strange electrical
phenomenon associated with the stretch of track where Baldwin was
supposed to have been killed, was said to be the light from an
otherworldly lantern held by the ghost of Baldwin as he searched for
his missing head. The tale is very old. For generations, people would
go out to the small community of Maco and wait in the dark to see the
lights. After the tracks were taken up, the lights were no longer seen.
While doing research on the Wilmington &
Manchester Railroad, I came across several articles concerning an
accident that had occurred near Hood?s Creek (the Maco area) in January
1856. The only person to be killed in this accident was the train?s
conductor, Charles Baldwin. On the night of Friday 4 January 1856, the
locomotive on the Wilmington & Manchester Road was having
difficulty with its pumps eight to ten miles outside Wilmington.
Engineer Nicholas Walker uncoupled the engine from the rest of the
train and ran it ahead along the line to work out the mechanical
problem. On backing up to retrieve the cars, the engine collided with
the rest of the train. The mail car was smashed, slightly injuring mail
agent E. L. Sherwood. However, conductor Charles Baldwin was thrown
from the train with such force as to inflict fatal head injury (The
Wilmington Journal, 7 January 1856). Coroner J. C. Wood summoned a jury
that determined the accident had occurred because conductor Baldwin had
failed to hang a lantern at the end of the train which would have
alerted the engineer to slow down. (The Wilmington Journal, 14 January
1856). Charles Baldwin?s obituary, found in the same issue of the
Journal as the coroner?s report, indicates that he lingered till
Monday, 7 January 1856. He had moved to Wilmington from New York, and appeared to be well liked in the community.
So, is this the origin of the Joe Baldwin Legend? It
seems likely. It certainly happened in the right place. However, the
accident occurred a decade earlier than the legends say it happened.
Could there have been a second conductor named Baldwin killed at Maco?
I?ve yet to rule out that possibility.