William Knight remembered in Stryker on 150th anniversary of
“The Great Locomotive Chase”

     Descendants of William Knight, on the left, came to Stryker and the community remembered the exploits of the Congressional Medal of Honor winner and his companions known as Andrews’ Raiders on the 150th anniversary of the event that would forever seal their bravery.
     On April 14, the town of Stryker hosted a day-long commemoration of the “Great Locomotive Chase.” The day was filled with historical programs, Civil War re-enacters, displays, participation for William Knight’s descendants, and displays of priceless artifacts.
     The Stryker American Legion started the day off with a hearty breakfast, while the hall was full of displays of artifacts about William Knight, who lived in Stryker for many years, “The General,” and other memorabilia related to “the Great Train Robbery.” The Stryker Heritage Council had a number of souvenirs, including t-shirts, photos, bookmarks and buttons available. Programs had been printed by the Bryan Times.
      John Marquis, well-known local train historian shown on the right, delighted the crowd with his tale of how “The General” was stolen twice in its career. The first time was during Andrews’ Raid, and the second time was when the Louisiana and Nashville Railroad slipped the train engine out of its 70-year storage area in Chattanooga and whisked it away one night. The railroad refurbished it in the early 1960’s and it began a tour that included the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.
     The city of Chattanooga eventually went to court to be able to keep the train once again in their city. A Federal judge ruled that the train belonged to the state of Georgia, and the state said the train could be kept at Kennesaw. Kennesaw used to be called Big Shanty, the site where William Knight and his compatriots stole the General from the Confederates and tried to get it to Union forces at Chattanooga. The train resides there now in a fine museum.
     Mr. Marquis spoke of how the train had been renovated by the South Louisville shop of the L & N Railroad, and he was on hand when the engine was ready to make its first trip after the work was completed in 1962.
     According to his recollection, the first official run after the work was in October of 1962. He said the railroad had “The General” parked behind the L & N offices for a week. They steamed up the engine to take a group of VIPs for a trip down the Bargetown Branch, a single-track branch that wouldn’t interfere with the mainline traffic.
     He said he had his Army greens on and the engineer offered to take him with him on the ride. However, Marquis said his folks were with him, and he didn’t want to leave them for what would be a 6-hour trip. He said he often regrets not taking the ride.
     He said neither “The General” nor “The Texas” could be run on rail lines today without extensive renovations due to Federal railroad regulations. He said that he felt those kind of changes would ruin the historical significance of the locomotives.
     Over by the Stryker depot, the Civil War re-enacters did some drills for those in the crowd who watched, invited children to learn more about their work and opened up their tents for those who were curious and perhaps wanted a souvenir or two.
     After a delicious lunch served by the American Legion, descendants of William Knight spoke to the crowd about the former Stryker resident. One of them brought the original Medal of Honor that had been pinned on his chest by President Abraham Lincoln. Stryker historians were ecstatic when he turned the medal to its back, exposing an inscription showing that it was individually made for Mr. Knight.
     A grand highlight of the day was when Joe Rath, shown here holding William Knight’s Congressional Medal of Honor, recreated the talk that William Knight used to give across the country about the “Great Locomotive Chase.” Dressed in a tuxedo complete with top hat reminiscent of Mr. Knight, Mr. Rath captivated the audience for almost 2 hours as he used Knight’s presentation coupled with historic references he has added to the program to give the listeners a true understanding of the way the event occurred from Knight’s perspective.
     Those attending the program also got a real treat as the Williams County Historical Society loaned their copies of drawings that William Knight used as backdrops when he gave his presentation across the country.
     Visitors to the day’s event were invited to tour the Stryker Heritage Center in the depot and view displays of area history including the “Great Locomotive Chase.”
     A TV program about the day was done by TV-26. It featured an interview with Bruce Zigler, one of the re-enacters, some of William Knight’s descendants and local historian Fred Grisier about the special commemoration. The program was aired on their “All Around Northwest Ohio” program, and those who missed it can see it on the TV 26 YouTube channel.