The Strange Redemption of Lewis Cooksey

Gwinnetians, this is a story 100 years in the making. Seen above, an adolescent named Lewis Cooksey, "the boy that laid the bolt that threw 38". On August 23, 1908, the #38 train derailed at Mangum's Crossing in Sugar Hill, which is now the Buford Drive/Peachtree Industrial intersection. The engineer, Benjamin Dewberry, and his assistant, Mayson Wadkins, were both horrifically scalded to death in the accident, which was blamed on a large bolt that had been placed on the tracks, allegedly by Lewis Cooksey. As the story goes, Cooksey believed the train was carrying fruit (it wasn't) and he hoped to obtain some by derailing the train, though the only fruit of his labors was a couple of felony indictments for murder and train-wrecking.

Lewis Cooksey, also spelled 'Louis Cooksie' in publications at the time (both are used in the article above), was acquitted the next month, as seen in the September 1908 article from the Atlanta Journal excerpted above. Twenty years later, the death of engineer Ben Dewberry became the inspiration for Ben Dewberry's Final Run, a country hit by the legendary Jimmie Rogers.

So the question is, what happened to young Lewis Cooksey after his 1908 brush with tragedy? Imagine our surprise when we stumbled across this press release:

As you can see, a certain Lewis Cooksey recently became the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation manager. He was first hired by the Gwinnett DOT ... in 2008, exactly 100 years after Lewis Cooksey derailed the train. Let's review the timeline:

1. A young Lewis Cooksey is accused of causing the horrific deaths of two men in a 1908 Gwinnett County train accident. 

2. Lewis Cooksey vanishes from the historic record.

3. Lewis Cooksey resurfaces in Gwinnett County and is hired by the Department of Transportation exactly 100 years later, in 2008. 

4. Lewis Cooksey is eventually made leader of the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, a position that allows him to advocate for policies related to transportation safety.

Gwinnetians, you might be about to tell us they are different Lewis Cookseys. That's a bit too coincidental for us, and here at DGHQ, we believe in facts, not coincidences. Two Lewis Cookseys, both in Gwinnett, both involved with transportation, and both exactly 100 years apart? Mr. Cooksey, if you're reading this, that's quite the redemption arc you've got there. We'd love to sit down for an interview.