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John Andrew Mayfield was born in 1865 in Hunt County, Texas, and later moved with his parents to Bosque County. In 1885, upon reaching maturity, John married Alicia Anna Wilks, the daughter of Benjamin Carrol and Martha Harriet (Young) Wilks of Chalk Mountain, Texas. The couple lived in Walnut Springs where their nine children - eight girls and one boy - were born. John Mayfield was an engineer for the Texas Central Railroad. He was a loving husband, father, son, and brother.
He was, indeed, a friend to all who knew him. On September 26, 1905, John Mayfield was killed in a train wreck near Morgan. An account of this tragic accident follows.
In Memory of John Mayfield
26 September, 1905
One of the most disastrous wrecks that ever happened on the Texas Central Railroad occurred last Tuesday evening at 3:20 o'clock, three miles east of Morgan in which engineer John Mayfield lost his life and fireman Jack Arnold and Brakeman Byron Wright were injured. This was a work train operating between Morgan and Fowler, and was coming to Morgan when the accident occurred. The train was backing up, the tender first leaving the track; the engine and five cars were derailed, smashing everything in their wake. The engine and tank were ten feet outside the railroad right of way.
The first report reaching Walnut Springs was that Engineer Mayfield was killed and the fireman badly injured. A relief train was immediately made up and left at once, with a physician, for the scene of the disaster. A later report came to the effect that Engineer Mayfield was not dead, but was not expected to live, and that Jack Arnold, the fireman, was badly scalded and Brakeman Wright had a limb smashed by a car running over it. Mr. Mayfield was found pinned between the engine and tank with one limb mashed and was scalded and horribly burned by escaping steam. The wounded were brought to Walnut Springs and given medical attention. Mr. Mayfield died 9 o'clock Tuesday night, with his grief stricken family and friends near him. After the funeral services at the residence, the body was carried to the local cemetery the day after the tragedy, and was buried by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman of which order he was a highly respected member. After being placed upon his bed, he had faintly said: "I have made my last run.
Realizing as he did that the sand of his hour glass was rapidly running out, John Mayfield manifested that degree of coolness and calmness that had so beautifully characterized his life. He was unshaken in his expiring moments and his chief concern was more for his family than anything else.

by K. G. Wilks1 [Karl Glyn Wilks, nephew of Alicie Anna Wilks and John Andrew Mayfield]

Informant: Edwin S. Fillingame, her son