Robert Bailey: Mysterious Death at Thurmond

Thurmond 2025
Picture by Theresa

Last weekend, I investigated West Virginia's most infamous and well-known ghost town---Thurmond. I had been to visit a handful of times, but this was the first opportunity I had to actually do a little ghost hunting (a big thank you to Appalachian Ghost Tours for hosting!) Therefore, I had to do a little digging into some of the history of this fascinating town. 

One thing I noticed is that a lot of people were found deceased in Thurmond. Like, a LOT. And, the majority of them were found in or just outside of Thurmond on the banks (or in some cases IN) the New River. Some went into the water on their own accord, either by accident or by suicide. The bridge pictured in this blog, which connected Thurmond proper to where the Dunglen Hotel was located, was a favorite spot. Others were theorized to have been tossed in, the victims of foul play. A great number of the deceased turned out to be Italian immigrants, which I've addressed in my last blog post (The Mayor Who Fined a Dead Man) and I'll surely address in future blogs. But, there was at least one man who was born and raised here in West Virginia who met his tragic end in 1937. It is unknown just how he ended up in the New River, but his official cause of death was listed as drowning. Here's his story:

Robert Dow Bailey was a thirty year old man from Price Hill, WV. He worked as an electrician for a local mine. On April 17, 1937 (Saturday), he left his wife, Flora, at Mt. Hope, saying that he had $100 and was going to Thurmond. That was the last she ever saw of him. On April 23rd, his body was found along a shallow edge of the New River, across from the C&O Depot, down by the roundhouse. An unnamed African American woman who was out at the river picking greens found the body and alerted authorities. 

Thurmond Bridge, near Round House
Turntable visible to the left
Circa 1900 
Source: WV History on View

The county coroner, E.R. Daniels, ruled the cause of death to be drowning. Local physician, Dr. G.W. Grafton, noted a bruise on Bailey's right side, but pointed out it couldn't have been the cause of death. And, the mortician, C.B. Collins, stated his opinion that the body had been in the water all six days he'd been missing. So what happened to Robert Bailey?

Sam Pugh, the proprietor of a local beer garden, claimed Bailey came into his establishment around 9pm Saturday night. Bailey was drunk and wanting to order beer, but Pugh refused him. Pugh also refused Bailey's request to leave some money with him at the establishment. Bailey then left. 

Others came forward to say they had also seen Bailey Saturday evening as he arrived from Mt. Hope. They said he told several people that he had "been picked in a poker game." Somewhere along the way, Bailey certainly did seem to lose quite a bit of money. He wife claimed he left with $100, but his body was found with only $16---a $10 check and $6 in various other forms of currency. 

During my research, the number one reason given for why so many took their own lives near the Thurmond bridge was cited as losing all their money gambling. It's possible that this is what happened to Bailey, but we also have to take into consideration that he was robbed and tossed into the river, or that he was simply drunk and stumbled and fell. Whichever way he left this mortal world, his memory lives on as one of the many victims of the New River at Thurmond. 

Robert Bailey Death Certificate
WV State Archives

 

Beckley Post-Herald
24 April 1937

Was it a Ghost Seen in Barboursville?

While doing some research on a completely different topic, once again I ran into an interesting newspaper article that something in me told me to save.  In fact, its such a small story, located several pages into the publication, that I'm not entirely sure what about it caused me to stop the microfiche reader and take a look.  But, I did, and here's the tale:

From the Huntington Advertiser, September 6, 1945:

Chief Deputy Sheriff One Dunfee reported today that the and aides were unable to find a body along the Chesapeake &  Ohio Railway Co. right-of-way near Barboursville after a freight train engineer had dropped a note to station employees of Barboursville saying that his engine "probably struck a man" just west of that town.  

Tracks and adjacent territory for several miles were searched by the deputies.  A later check-up with residents of the area failed to reveal anyone missing under unusual circumstances.

At first thought, one would assume that there is a logical explanation for this episode.  It is very likely that the engineer is mistaken.  Perhaps the train came close to hitting someone, but that someone made it to safety without major (or any) injury.  It's also likely that perhaps fatigue or other circumstance led him to misidentifying a deer, a tree, or even a simple mirage.

However, I'm a paranormal researcher...and as logical as I try to be, there's always going to be the side of me that WANTS this to be paranormal, lol.  There are so many ghost stories that are linked with the railways and train disasters, and one common theme that has come up in WV ghost-lore many times is the tale of a phantom pedestrian being hit.  Perhaps the most famous of these cases is actually Screaming Jenny from the Harpers Ferry area, who is seen running down the tracks, screaming, as she finds herself engulfed in flames. More than one engineer has claimed to have hit this fiery apparition.

Could there be a chance that this engineer DID hit someone...but that someone was a ghost?  This idea has intrigued me so much, that I'm trying to methodically research if anyone has been hit and killed by a train in that area, perhaps on the anniversary of when this event was reported.  And that is where I need YOUR help loyal readers!  If you have any information, even if its just legends that have been passed down, I'd love to hear them!  I'd love to hear if anyone else has seen or reported a possible pedestrian struck in this area, or if anyone knows of any actual deaths that happened.  I did search the next few weeks' worth of papers, and there was no mention of a body ever turning up, nor any further mention of the case at all....

...but it does bring up another interesting aspect.  If this WAS an actual person that was hit, and a body not found, could that have sparked a new haunting, as an unknown person searches for his own closure to his own death?  Contact me at theresarhps@yahoo.com if you have any information on this subject, and I'll update if I find anything of note.

Photo is of a train near Barboursville in 1955.  Property of the Doors to the Past website, Barry Huffstutler