William Wortham Poole

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Wortham Poole (April 1842 – 1922) was an American bookkeeper. His name and burial site became synonymous with legend and folklore surrounding the supernatural due to a railroad tunnel cave-in that occurred in the Richmond, Virginia, district of Church Hill on October 2, 1925.

He was born in Mississippi, the son of Samuel Poole (1806-1872) and Nancy Rose Wortham (1819-1873). His siblings were John R. Poole (b. 1840); Thomas Poole (b. 1844); Albert Poole (b. 1847); and Dirdus Poole (b. 1850).[1] His father was a merchant and, in 1860, William was a clerk in Jackson.[2]

In the 1860s, Poole moved to Virginia. He was a clerk in a tobacco factory in Manchester, in 1870.[3] In 1880 [4] and 1900,[5] he was a bookkeeper. He was working as a private secretary in 1910;[6] then as a bookkeeper again in 1920 in Richmond.[7]

He and Alice Purdue (b. December 1842) were married ca. 1866. They had four children, Lawrence P. Poole (b. ca. 1867); Annie W. Poole (b. October 1872); Samuel Poole (b. March 1875); and Mary L. Poole (b. July 1881). His wife and children were all born in Virginia.

William W. Poole died at age 80. He is interred in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond.

[edit] Legend

Three years after Mr. Poole's death, there was a collapse on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad's Church Hill Tunnel, which buried several workers alive. One man, Benjamin F. Mosby, age 28, who died later in a local hospital, made his way from the disaster in a horrible state, which started a legend about the Richmond Vampire.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1850 Hinds Co., MS, U.S. Federal Census, Dec. 14, sht. 445, p. 223, line 26
  2. ^ 1860 Hinds Co., MS, U.S. Federal Census, City of Jackson, June 2, sht. 6, p. 478, line 36
  3. ^ 1870 Chesterfield Co., VA, U.S. Federal Census, Manchester, June 21, sht. 26, p. 333 B, line 19, William W. Poole, Clerk in Tobacco Factory
  4. ^ 1880 Chesterfield Co., VA, U.S. Federal Census, Manchester, June 7, sht. 2, p. 123 B, line 25, William W. Pool [sic], Book Keeper
  5. ^ 1900 Chesterfield Co., VA, U.S. Federal Census, Manchester Ward 2, 900 Bainbridge St., June 9, Enumeration Dist. 51, sht 8 B, p. 222 B, line 88, William W. Poole, Book Keeper
  6. ^ 1910 Chesterfield Co., VA, U.S. Federal Census, Manchester Dist., April 29, Enumeration Dist. 6, sht. 17 A, p. 93 A, line 6, W.W. Poole, Private Secretary, Land Company
  7. ^ 1920 Henrico Co., VA, U.S. Federal Census, Richmond Madison Ward, 721 W. 28th St., Jan. 16, Enumeration Dist. 163, sht. 14 A, p. 292 A, line 47, W.W. Poole, Book Keeper