People around town described J. Alfred Holt as a “long drink of water.”
From the soles of his brogans to the top of his stripped railroad cap, his muscular frame measured 6 feet 9 inches.
He had the discipline of a railroad engineer and what it took to live in rugged times. He worked for Southern Railway for 20 years, moving up in the ranks from a water boy to an engineer, one of the highest-paying non-supervisory jobs in the company. He was highly regarded by railroad management, who made him aware that Spencer, N.C., “was the place to be.” Holt took the hint and moved his family to Spencer from Goldsboro around 1902 and made his home on Carolina Avenue.
On the morning of Dec. 2, 1908, Alfred Holt and fireman J.J. Taylor left the Spencer Shops at daybreak on Southern Railway locomotive No. 732 for a run to Selma, Va. Bitterly cold air had drifted south from a stiff blizzard that hammered the Northeast. The temperature in Spencer had hovered for days in the 20s under gray clouds that appeared to be filled with snow. No. 732 had an open cab. They were moving 32 freight cars north, not knowing what the weather might bring.
Holt and Taylor discussed a layover in Selma, but Holt’s 10-year-old daughter, Kilton, had been sick all night, coughing and running a fever. He had given her a spoonful of whiskey and sugar, and she had finally gone to sleep around 3 a.m.
Holt was concerned and insisted on returning as soon as possible, and Taylor agreed.
The 416-mile round trip, circling the Alleghany Mountains would make for a long, cold and tough day. But Alfred Holt and J.J. Taylor were tough railroad men.
The trip went slower than expected. They pulled into Selma in late afternoon. Big oak trees lined the single track and rose starkly into the crisp winter sky. Sleet began slapping the ground. They uncoupled the 32 cars and picked up 10 more for the return trip to Spencer. An hour later, Taylor pointed out that water in the boiler drum was running low. They agreed that they could make it to Durham where a water supply was available.
Durham, North CarolinaMinutes after midnight, Engineer Alfred Holt took No. 732 on a side track off the main line for a good half mile and then slowed the train to a crawl. He was entering the coal chutes near the East Durham switch yards. The wheels of the locomotive squeaked as excess steam puffed out around them. The boiler was belching gray smoke. A gas light on the front of the locomotive glinted off the shiny black coal piled along the tracks. Taylor’s lantern winked as it swung at his side, his feet crunching the gravel at the edge of the cross ties. The sky was pitch-black. There seemed to be no one around except Holt and Taylor.
Suddenly a bright yellow flash and the unmistakable sound of a blast from a shotgun cut through the darkness. The locomotive abruptly stopped. Taylor turned and, through frightened eyes, saw a shadowy figure in a slouch hat standing 15 yards in back of the engine, reloading his shotgun. Then he faded into the darkness.
Taylor ran to the cab and found the tall engineer slumped over. Holt’s weathered hand was still gripping the throttle. His right foot had slipped from the “dead man pedal” that had immediately stopped the train. His eyes were wide open and a big hole was in his back. Blood ran down on the steel floor and dripped off onto the frozen ground. Alfred Holt was dead. Taylor found the yard watchman quickly and police officers were on site within minutes.
The headlines in the Durham Morning Herald screamed “Spencer Engineer Victim of Senseless Slaughter.” The time of death was given as 12:20 a.m., Dec. 3, 1908. The newspaper thundered editorially for a solution “to the cold blooded crime” and implied that railroad men should “start packing pistols.” Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers swarmed into Durham. They offered reward money and financed the employment of three Pinkerton detectives. Holt’s body was moved to Spencer where 4 inches of snow had fallen that night.
Back in Spencer
In response to an outcry of local people, Spencer Mayor J.R. Thomas, a railroad man himself, sent a wire to the governor’s office requesting that the state put up a “suitable reward for the capture of the assassin.” The mayor explained that the Durham Police Department had made the case a top priority and that Pinkerton detectives where looking for clues “between Spencer and Selma” that might lead to the killer.
Mrs. Holt decided that her husband would be buried in the family plot at the First Baptist Church in Goldsboro with the Rev. J.M. Dunaway of Spencer conducting the service.
Southern Railway provided a special train to Goldsboro for Rowan County citizens. A large delegation from the B. of L. E. chapters in Greensboro and Spencer sat together at the church. Mrs. Holt did not attend the funeral because of the serious illness of her daughter. Kilton had not been told about her father’s death.
Suspect charged
Reuben Barbee was a familiar name at the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department. He was dubbed “a restless fellow who more than once had thumbed his nose at the law.” A week after Holt was slain, he was picked up and charged with murder. Five years earlier, he had been charged with the murder of William Cole, a railroad brakeman who was off duty when he was killed. After a long trial, the jury acquitted him. In addition, a year earlier, Barbee had been convicted of shooting at a moving train, and served time on a chain gang. Although he was small in stature, he had a loud mouth, and many people were afraid of him.
Then destiny rolled a natural for Barbee. The Durham Morning Herald picked up a story that a “Negro by the name of Sollomon Shepherd had been arrested in Columbia, Ohio, where he confessed to killing Holt.” Shepherd was wanted in Durham for burglary. He confessed again on the witness stand in Durham and Barbee went free.
A true bill charging murder was returned against Shepherd on Dec. 7, 1909, but also ruled him “mentally weak.” He was found guilty of second-degree murder and given 30 years. Shepherd was later shot to death after making an escape attempt from the chain gang in Granville County.
Today, in the large wooded cemetery at First Baptist Church in downtown Goldsboro, lies the grave of J. Alfred Holt, buried there on an icy cold day in December 1908. On that day, a Durham reporter wrote his epitaph, “He was of magnificent physique and muscular in every limb. A typical railroad engineer and in all inches and pounds … a man.” It took 134 pellets from a 12-gauge shotgun to bring him down. It was a tremendous loss to his family, the community and the railroad. Most people believed the real killer went free.
Buddy Gettys is a former mayor of Spencer and writes occasionally for the Salisbury Post.