Tag: The Legend of Railroad Bill

This image of Constable J. L. McGowan standing, rifle in hand, over the corpse of ?Railroad Bill? strapped to a wooden plank, sold for 50 cents in the days following the notorious outlaw's death in March 1896.

The Legend of Railroad Bill

There is a legend in south Alabama, associated with the spirit of a man known as, “Railroad Bill”. This story, from slave cultures, during the post-Civil War era, during the reconstruction of the South, documents a “Robin Hood” type character who stole from food trains and sold the items to poor, rural southern families for less than they could buy them in general stores.

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