Otis H. WHITAKER

Other Events:

• _UID: E3821A144AE341D78D668FBC64A44B61CA3B

Notes:

Otis never married and was killed in 1917 under mysterious circumstances while guarding a railroad bridge at Cedar Bluff in World War I. His death certificate says he was a watchman for the N&W Railroad, but the Clinch Valley News says he was working for the Baldwin-Felts Agency. The family thought his body was placed on the bridge and was run over by the next train.

During World War I, the agency?s talents were given freely to the United States Government for the protection of industries and apprehension of German spies and others considered enemies to the United States. U.S. entry into World War I in 1917 sparked a boom in the coal industry.

The Baldwin-Felts Agency oversaw security operations in the Norfolk & Western Railway?s coalfield district. The company investigated train robberies, wrecks, and thefts as well as providing guards for railway and mine payrolls, as well as to accompany coal trains into the coalfields. Among labor union members of the coal mines, Baldwin?Felts agents were regarded as hired thugs, as evidenced in the shoot out at Matewan, WV, known as the Matewan Massacre. After the agency closed its doors in 1937, most of the company's files were destroyed or lost. The largest collection of extant files is housed at the Eastern Regional Coal Archives in Bluefield, West Virginia.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Clinch Valley News, 6 April 1917

Guardsman Killed

Otis Whitaker, age 23 years, a Baldwin-Felts guard, was run over and killed by train No. 85 near Cedar Bluff Monday morning. Whitaker was one of the guards employed by the railroad company in watching the bridges and tunnels on the Clinch Valley. He went to work Saturday night. An inquest was held yesterday morning, and the investigation developed that from the position in which the body was found he had evidently gone to sleep on the track. His feet and legs were several feet from the rest of his body. A pocketbook containing several dollars in money and a fine watch were found on the track, the watch having stopped at 3:21. Whitaker was placed in charge of three bridges near Cedar Bluff in keeping with the purpose of the N. & W., to use every precaution to prevent the interruption of traffic by enemies of the United States who might be incited to acts of
violence by the declaration of war against Germany. The dead boy is a son of Hiram Whitaker, a well known citizen of
Cedar Bluff.

CENSUS RECORDS

1900 United States Federal Census
Name: Otis H Whitaker
Age: 6
Birth Date: Jun 1893
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1900: Maiden Spring, Tazewell, Virginia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: Hiram Whitaker
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Name: Lillie B Whitaker
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Otis H Whiteaker
Age in 1910: 16
Birth Year: 1894
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1910: Maiden Spring, Tazewell, Virginia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: Hiram Whiteaker
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Name: Bell Whiteaker
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Buried:
Grave location and tombstone photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=119724905



Died:
Virginia, Deaths, 1912-2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia

Name: Otis H Whitaker
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age at Death: 23
Birth Date: 13 Jun 1893
Death Date: 2 Apr 1917
Death Place: Cedar Bluff, Tazewell, Virginia
Cause of death: "was run over by a train. dead when found. thought to have went to sleep on track."
Registration Date: 28 Apr 1917
Father: Hiram Whitaker
Mother: Lillie Belle Christian
Certificate Number: 1917010799