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Witness to History - Alonzo 'Daddy' John Wemple
By Margo McCutcheon, Educator, Sam Rayburn House State Historical Site
Jan 3, 2026
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Witness to History

Photo from the Fannin Co., Texas GenWeb
Bonham, Texas -- Alonzo “Daddy” John Wemple was born on October 1, 1833, to Phoebe Chadsey and John Bunyon Wemple in Schenectady, NY. When he was 17 years old in 1851, Alonzo joined a career in the railroad industry in New York. He watched the industry change, from burning wood to coal and from trains having names to numbers.

Alonzo first worked on a train named “Buffalo.” He became an engineer in 1854, working in the Midwest around Indianapolis, Ohio, and Illinois. At one point during the Civil War (1861-1865), Alonzo worked on a train carrying Confederate prisoners of war. He transferred to New York in 1863.

Photo of a Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad engine used to carry Lincoln’s body.
In 1865, he piloted the train carrying former President Abraham Lincoln’s body from Schenectady to Troy, NY. A pilot train was ahead of Lincoln’s funeral train, both going 20 miles per hour. The funeral train tolled a bell at each station and at larger city stations, the train stopped to let people see the body as it lay in state.

Alonzo eventually moved to Texas in 1886 and worked on the Texas & Pacific Railway train between Texarkana, AR, and Whitesboro, TX. He then operated a switch engine in Bonham, TX, from 1888 until a rheumatism in his legs forced him to stop work in 1922, but an interview he gave to the New Castle News in 1922 indicated that Alonzo wanted to return to work. He married a woman named Charlotte, who died in 1892. He then married Pearlie Lou Williams in 1900, and they had one son.

Alonzo died in Fort Worth, TX, on January 21, 1929. He is buried in section C107 of Willow Wild Cemetery in Bonham.

This information was obtained from the Fannin Co., Texas GenWeb (txfannin.org) and other online sources including Texas Railroad History website. The Sam Rayburn House SHS presented this information at their 2025 Cemetery Walking Tour. For a copy of the 2025 Cemetery Walking Tour guide or for other information, contact the Sam Rayburn House at (903) 583-5558 or email Margo.McCutcheon@thc.texas.gov.