OH OH - Charles Collins, Cleveland, 1877: Murder (or Suicide?)

[Ohio Mysteries]

This is such a fascinating topic. I'm sure it won't ever be solved, but since the history books appear to have it wrong, I thought some of you might find it worth discussing.

Charles Collins was the construction engineer for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway when the company built an experimental train bridge in Ashtabula, Ohio. He objected, but the company built it anyway using wrought iron in a new iron design.

11 years later, on Dec 29, 1876, the bridge failed, sending nearly 100 people to a fiery death.
Three weeks later, Collins was found dead in his bed, a gunshot to his head. The coroner ruled suicide and many attributed it to the open grieving Collins had done since the accident.

But in 1975, a man in Northeast Ohio discovered a box of papers his mom had purchased at an auction, and when he leafed through them, he found documents showing a pair of New York medical college doctors had done an independent autopsy and determined Collins had been shot in the head while sleeping. It doesn't appear to me that anyone has reclassified his death to at least set the history books straight.

I'm cohost of a podcast called Ohio Mysteries and we decided to share this story with our listeners. Direct links can be found on our "The Tragic End of Charles Collins" episode on any podcast app or at Ohio Mysteries. (We don't get paid for the podcast and it's free to listen to - this is how we share our research into unsolved crimes.)

After we recorded our podcast, we learned a documentary is being made about that train accident. You can follow their progress at their Facebook page called "Engineering Disaster: The Ashtabula Train Disaster." (I think linking to that here is against the rules so you would have to search it yourself."

Charles Collins, by the way, is the guy that Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood is named for.

So who killed him? Someone connected to the railroad company fearful over what he might know? A family member who lost a loved one? LIke I said, it's an old case not likely to get resolution, but I still think there is a form of justice in acknowledging that he was murdered and did not commit suicide. Thoughts?

 

[Tssiemer]

Iiiiiiiiinteresting.

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Is it legally possible to change his cause/manner of death after all these years? At the very least, the independent autopsy should be attached to his death records.

 

[Ohio Mysteries]

Is it legally possible to change his cause/manner of death after all these years? At the very least, the independent autopsy should be attached to his death records.

Good question. If they at least acknowledged this at the Cuyahoga County coroner's office, it might at least be considered a historical record. I found several post-1975 publications that continue to simply refer to his death as a suicide. Which really seems a shame.

 

[Richard]

On 29 December 1876, the most deadly (at the time) US train disaster occurred in Ashtabula, Ohio. A poorly designed bridge collapsed. The train caught fire and between 92 and 97 persons lost their lives.

There were several investigations following the disaster, including one by a special committee of the Ohio legislature, where Charles Collins, chief engineer for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (LS&MS) Railroad testified.

Collins, whose responsibilities included inspecting the bridge and assuring its safety, had been at the site of the accident and reportedly broke down and wept uncontrollably.

After his testimony, he was found dead at his home in Cleveland, Ohio from a gunshot wound to the head, pistol by his side.

Though Collins' death was initially ruled a suicide, two years later his skull was sent to a medical expert in New York. Judging by the bullet wound, he said, Collins might have been murdered. If so, his killer was never found.

Some think it was possibly a relative of someone who died on the train, or someone from the railroad trying to shut him up because they didn't want him to testify again.

Collins' death might have had something to do with the builder of the railroad bridge that collapsed, Cleveland industrialist Amasa Stone, director of the LM&MS railroad (who coincidentally would kill himself with a gun in 1883).

LINK:
Saga of Ashtabula train disaster endures after 140 years (photos, videos)


"Some people think it was possibly a relative of someone who died on the train, or someone from the railroad trying to shut him up, they didn't want him to testify again," Brown said.

Turzillo wonders if Collins' death might have had something to do with the builder of the railroad bridge that collapsed, Cleveland industrialist Amasa Stone, director of the LM&MS railroad (who coincidentally would kill himself with a gun in 1883).