John Luther “Casey” Jones (1864–1900) became an American folk hero overnight. Legend says that he was found dead with one hand on the brake and one hand on the whistle after the train he was engineering smashed into another locomotive. Many said that if it wasn’t for his courage to stay on his post, the wreck would have cost several more lives.
Jones was born on March 14, 1864, in rural southeastern Missouri. At a young age, his parents moved to Cayce, Kentucky, so that he would have more opportunities growing up. As a child, his friends started calling him “Casey” after his hometown. The name stuck. Eventually he legally changed his name to Casey Jones.
