…Holland and Springfield Township Recollections
Editor’s Note: This story was submitted by the Holland-Springfield-Spencer Historical Society president Karla Miller.
Taking the Westbound
A hobo is a man of the world, who travels to see and observe, then shares those views with others. Such a person was a part of our local history.
Many senior citizens remember him clearly, so for the younger people, this is his story. He was one of the last authentic, undisputed oldtime hobos. He gave crowds what they were looking for, including a white flowing beard, a walking stick decorated with owl feathers, and many stories to prove hobos are not bums, whinos or reprobates.
Maurice W. Graham, aka “Steam Train Maury” was our hobo. He was born June 3, 1917, in Atchison, Kansas to Andrew Graham and Carrie Kraft with three siblings: Mary Alice, 1905; Lulu Mae 1912, and James A., 1907. Because of his parents’ domestic problems, Maury was shuffled between parents, his married siblings, and an aunt. He escaped that life by hopping a freight train in 1931 at the age of 14. To him, it was freedom.
Since the Civil War, itinerant men have sneaked free rides on freight trains to travel for work as field hands, loggers and miners. They were the ones who shaped the West. It stands to reason that during the Great Depression, more than 1 million desperate men rode the rails in search of work.
Maury met Wanda Marion Matyanczyk and they married April 30, 1938 in Jefferson, Texas. They settled in Toledo in the late 1930s and had two daughters, Alice and Karen.
Their address was 92 Fassett Court, and he worked at the filtration plant at Collins Park. Maury settled down, learned the cement mason trade and set up a school for cement masons in the Toledo area.
On January 28, 1944, he enlisted in the U.S. Army serving during World War II as a medical technician stationed in France and Germany. Maury also taught the cement trade in the U.S. Army.
By the 1960s, his family was grown and he suffered from bad hips and arthritic knees that kept him from working full time by the age of 52.
Maury decided to relive the experiences he had catching rides on trains as a teenager. He would be back home for the winters.
In 1971, at age 54, tensions were rising at home with Wanda, so Maury hopped a freight heading west from Holland, one of his regular spots to begin his journey, figuring to return after a cooling off period.
Maury left a note on the kitchen table, “See ya.” It was not until 1981 that he returned to Toledo after having no contact with family for more than a decade.
Maury called Wanda and she agreed to have dinner with him and talk. Wanda paid for the dinner. Maury was allowed to return to her home.
In 1990, along with RJ Henning, he wrote “Tales of the Iron Road.” He took pride in never stealing anything during his travels. Maury said the difference between a hobo and a bum was “a hobo works for his food.”
Maury came by his Steam Train Maury nickname in 1969 when a steam-powered excursion train, “the Golden Spike Special” traveled through northwest Ohio. The cost to ride the train was $995, but Maury rode free until the police caught up with him in Lima.
While traveling, Maury visited veterans hospitals and prisons to cheer up patients and inmates. He founded the Cement Mason School in Toledo and was an instructor, remaining a member for 65 years.
Among his other achievements, he was an amateur wrestler and taught classes at the YMCA. He also was a member of Seventh Day Adventist Church and VFW.
Maury even worked as “Santa Claus” for 30 years at Franklin Park Mall and appeared at private parties in the Toledo area. He was voted the number one Santa in the Toledo area.
He also was voted King of the Hobos five times by his peers and was named Caretaker of the Hobos Myth, the cornerstone of which is the hobo term for death: “Taking the Westbound.”
Maury was a true patriot and loved his country. The family moved to Napoleon, in 1992. Maury died on Saturday November 18, 2006 at 6:15 p.m., at the age of 89.
His funeral was held at Walter Funeral Home Toledo with interment at Restlawn Memorial Park in Troy Township, Wood County.
A hobo is a guy who went camping and never came back home. So when the trains began disappearing, so did hobos. Thanks to Donna Pawlicki, the historical society has a beautiful painting of Maury which now hangs by the red caboose picture at the museum, 7154 Front Street, Holland.
