Blount and Beyond Online Magazine - Magazine - Page 121
TRAIN SAM: NEXT GENERATION "SAMMIE" By the late Eddie
McClanahan
Samuel McClanahan who I call train Sam who was tragically in the train accident in 1917 and died a week later at the
Wonderland Hotel in Elkmont on March 13, 1917, legacy would have gone no further but for one interesting fact. Sam
had a girlfriend named Josephine (Josie) McCampbell. Josie was pregnant with Sam's daughter Juanita, who Josie called
Sammie after the father of her child. Sadly, Sam never saw his daughter, nor did she see her dad. Sammie was born less
than a month after Sam was killed in the train accident. Sammie was born April 4, 1917.
Now Josie's parents Andrew and Eliza Jane Tipton McCampbell along with their children and grandchildren moved on to
Idaho. Josie had a sister Myrtle who had been married to Dave McClanahan Sam's brother and they had a son named
David Leo McClanahan. Myrtle's son was born in September of 1917. Dave had been sent to prison and I assume the
McCampbells decided to leave Blount County soon after Myrtle's son was born.
The McCampbells settled in Idaho for a while but finally wound up in California. Josie used McCampbell for Sammie's
last name for a while but eventually started using McClanahan for her last name. In 1937 Sammie got married to Otto
Anderson a first generation American from Finland. Sammie and Otto had 5 children Sandra, Susan, Steve, Scott, and
Shannon, all Train Sam's grandchildren. All of these children eventually had children and grandchildren and even a few
great grandchildren. So even though Train Sam had died many years ago and Train Sam's legacy still rolls on today and
into the future. I have had the opportunity and privilege to get to know some of this family. Sadly 3 of Sammie's children
have passed on but Susan and Shannon are still living. Train Sam would sure be proud of the family he never got to meet
and love.
Sammie passed away in 1977 and was buried at Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery in Napa County, California but her husband
Otto didn't pass until 2009 and was cremated and his ashes were scattered over Sammie's grave. Rest in peace Sammie
your father and you and your family are all remembered and thought highly of and remembered often.
Train Sam McClanahan's Daughter Juanita "Sammie" McCampbell McClanahan at age 4