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Mrs. Donnelson, Heroine in Averting a Train Wreck in 1889 Flood, Dies Sunday

Funeral rites were to be held at Marshalltown, Ia., Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. for 84-year-old Mrs. Mable Donnelson, who 65 years ago was acclaimed a national heroine for stopping a speeding train which was headed toward a washout.

Mrs. Donnelson died early Sunday at the Crowell Home here, where she had resided since 1951.

It was on June 15, 1880, then Mable Peck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Peck of west of Blair, became a hero. A torrential rain had washed out the tracks near the Peck home. Mable, then 18, knew that a freight train was due on the scene. Rushing up the track, she succeeded in halting the train.

Several weeks later a special train from Chicago came through Blair and came to a stop at the Peck home. Aboard were about 20 officials of the Chicago & North Western Railroad, and their wives, who had come to call on Mable Peck at her home. They thanked her for her heroism in stopping the train and thus preventing loss of life and heavy property damage. Then they presented the girl with a certificate plus a check for $250.

For many years thereafter all trains passing the Peck home sounded their whistles in salute to her.

She later married A. H. Donnelson, a locomotive engineer. His death occurred several years ago.

Surviving Mrs. Donnelson are brothers, Fred, Walter and Ben Peck, all of Blair, Ray Peck of Omaha and George Peck of Des Moines; and two sisters, Mrs. Blanche Warrick of Blair and Mrs. Bertha Gollehon of Lincoln. There are many nephews and nieces.

Enterprise 21 Dec 1954

MEMBER OF PIONEER FAMILY DIES

Mrs. Mabel Donnelson, a member of a pioneer Washington County family, passed away Sunday, December 19, at Crowell Memorial Home in Blair where she had made her home the past year.

Mrs. Donnelson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Peck, was born April 20, 1870 at Belle Plaine, Iowa, and came to Washington County with her parents at the age of eight years. Mr. Peck made the trip to Blair by covered wagon in February, but because of the severe cold, the family waited until April to join him, crossing the Missouri River on a train ferry.

As a young girl, Mrs. Donnelson was credited with saving lives and property when she averted a train wreck during a storm. The heavy rains had washed out the tracks, and the girl ran some distance to flag the train to a stop, thus avoiding disaster.

In 1889 she was married to Alf Donnelson, and shortly thereafter they moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where they made their home for many years. Mr. Donnelson passed away twelve years ago.

Mrs. Donnelson is survived by one son, Rev. Fred Donnelson of Springfield, Missouri, one daughter, Mrs. Laura Petersen of Marshalltown, Iowa, and several grandchildren. Also surviving her are two sisters, Mrs. Blanch Warrick of Blair and Mrs. Bertha Gollehon of Lincoln, and five brothers, Ben and Walter Peck of Blair, Fred Peck of Herman, Ray Peck of Omaha, and George Peck of Des Moines, Iowa.

Funeral services for Mrs. Donnelson will be held today at Marshalltown, Iowa.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~