About 70 people gathered on a plot of land accessible only by dirt roads on Easter weekend to commemorate the unveiling of a Nebraska Historical Marker detailing the rescue performed by Carnegie Hero Marion R. Lux.
On Sept. 26, 1904, locomotive fireman Lux saw an 18-month girl on the railroad tracks ahead. With no possibility to stop the train in time, he crawled out over the engine’s footboard to as near as the front of the train as he could.
Right before the train reached the child, he dove toward the toddler, grabbed her, and rolled down the track’s embankment with the girl in his arms.
“He snatched the child from the very jaws of death,” stated one account of Lux’s heroism.
In the leap from the train, Lux’s shirt was torn from his body and steam from the train scalded his back. He handed the uninjured child to her mother and then re-boarded the train as it continued toward Lincoln, Nebraska.
Lux maintained contact with the girl, Gladys Dixon, and her family, who eventually moved to Oregon.
In fact, when Lux died 41 years after saving her, Dixon (now, Mrs. Carl Fox), sent a telegram to his children.
“Sorry to hear of your dad passing away,” she wrote. “Our love and sincerest sympathy to the family. Would like to come, but wouldn’t make it in time.”
Lux was the first Nebraska resident to receive a silver Carnegie Medal.
“This was a story that was told in our family for decades,” said Donna Rios who largely coordinated the installation of the marker. “We all knew that my great grandfather saved a baby on the train tracks, but, outside our family, the story was lost to time.”
It was during the COVID pandemic that Rios first got the idea for a marker.
In an effort to overcome cabin fever, Rios and her husband drove to visit a number of Nebraska Historical Markers. The state provides a free app that contains the locations of the markers, photos of the site, and the text listed on each marker.
“After seeing so many markers, I thought my grandfather’s story would be a good fit for the markers,” Rios said.
In order to go ahead with the project, Rios needed to raise the $6,000 to create and install the marker. She turned to her family and a fundraising website, and after a year, she had the funds.
She also needed to provide primary sources in support of the family tale.
“I grew up hearing the story of the rescue, but it wasn’t until I started working toward the marker that I learned so many details,” Rios said.
For example, she learned that the rescue was just outside of Seward, not in Ravenna, Nebraska, where Lux lived. She also learned that Lux’s medal had been donated to a Ravenna bank for display, where it remains today.
Rios said she believes the site of the marker is very close to where the actual event occurred.
“I found mention that it happened on a curve leading into Seward from Milford so that the men in the caboose were able to witness the act,” she said.
In addition to the officials who made the installation possible, the dedication was attended by about 40 descendants of Lux. Also in attendance was Jewels Phraner, who represented the Hero Fund.
“This is incredible for our family,” said Gayleen Wick, who attended the dedication. “I’m so proud of Donna for all her work to preserve Marion’s legacy.”
Bigger things are planned for the plot of land, which was donated by a local family to the Seward-Blue River Historical District. Located about 1.2 miles south of Seward, Nebraska, eventually the site will include a log cabin, a pollinator garden, a marker honoring Chief Standing Bear and more.
