One of the most famous things in Grabill history, every now and then someone mentions it, in event that was hurt around the world, even Hitler talked about it.
I believe it was January 1932, a train hit a car at the crossing and killed 12 people in the car. Many people wondered if it could have been murder, suicide. They had no food in their home, but he stopped to get a bit of candy for the kids at the gas station. They were at his sister’s house in Fort Wayne that day for a good meal. But there was a blinding snowstorm the entire day, the tracks are on a nasty grade, and there was a depot on a south side of the road and was impossible to see the train coming.
There was a man from our church killed years ago, and people wondered if it might have been suicide. When they put the Cedarville dam in they took nearly his entire farm. Beautiful sandy soil. This was at the crossing north of Grabill. It’s a nasty crossing and to this day there is a crossing without a gate. A train going south is behind you. Probably 160° angle. A bit more than a normal 90. So he could have simply not seen the train. There are many things we will simply will not have an answer…