Jimmie Rodgers is recognized as the “father of country music”. Born in 1897 in either Alabama or Mississippi, he influenced contemporary country music and blues music and during his lifetime was nicknamed “The Singing Brakeman” and “The Blue Jodeler”. Jimmie was known during the Great Depression and gained recognition during the early years of music, first being commercially recorded by the Victor Talking Machine Company. He died – too early in his life and tragically – in 1933 from complications of tuberculosis.
Jimmy recorded and performed hundreds of songs between 1927 and 1933, and one of the songs has direct ties to a train wreck that occurred in 1908 near Mangum’s Crossing in what is now Sugar Hill.
In his early teenage years, Jimmie ran away from home and joined travel shows. His father later found him and got him a job with the railroad as a water boy. In a recent PBS series by Ken Burns titled “Country Music,” it is noted that, although he already had an affinity for musical entertainment, he learned much more about music from train operators, hobbies, and African-American railroaders. Jimmie would later become a brakeman for the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad. He was also occasionally employed as a switchman by the South Pacific Railroad. Jimmie worked away and continued for the railroads until he began recording music in 1927. The diagnosis of tuberculosis ended his career with the railroad but probably created the track he needed to be recognized for his musical ability. The railroads and his past of constantly moving as a brakeman greatly influenced his music and songs.
The first railroad song, sung and recorded by Jimmie in November 1927, was “Ben Dewberry’s Final Run.” The song, written by an Atlantic-based pastor and gospel and folk music writer named Andrew Jenkins, recalled a 1908 train wreck that occurred in what is now Sugar Hill. Benjamin Dewberry, the train engineer, and his assistant, Mayson Wadkins, were the only individuals who lost their lives in this train wreck on August 23, 1908, near Mangum’s Crossing. The song was later officially released on Jimmie’s first album in 1928 titled “Train Whistle Blues”. The first verse has a good, popular tempo when performed on guitar and sung by Jimmie:
“Ben Dewberry was a brave engineer
He told his firefighter if you should ever be afraid
I just want the water and coal
Put your head through the window, watch the drivers roll. ”
Ben looked at his watch, shook his head
We may do Atlanta but we will all be dead
The train flew next to the stable and switch
Without any warning then she took the ditch “
History does not give us information on how Jimmie became acquainted with the song – “Ben Dewberry’s Final Run”. Pastor Jenkins was a well-known gospel and folk music writer, and probably Jimmie heard the song while working for railroad companies and traveling across the country on trains. The song was later performed by other artists, including Johnny Cash. Regardless of the details, Jimmie’s connection with our community makes for interesting information and history for Sugar Hill.
Listen to Jimmie Rodgers’ recording of “Ben Dewberry’s Final Run” by clicking here.
Brandon Hembree serves as mayor of Sugar Hill. He is a 20-year-old resident of the city, and he uses his interest in history to detail Sugar Hill’s rich past.
PHOTO PHOTO: Jimmie Rodgers in 1931. Victor Talking Machine Company taken from Moss Photo, NYC.
