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James Bond Harrell was born on November 17, 1888, in the small community of Bacons Mill in Craven County. At the age of 19, he went to work for Norfolk and Southern Railroad, working freight trains throughout eastern North Carolina and Virginia. On May 26, 1918, he answered the call of his country and joined the army. His vocation at the railroad was to become a valuable asset to the war effort. “I can only imagine what the enlistment board was thinking when they saw that he had been working on the railroad for eleven years,” said Stephen Farrell, curator of special collections at Brown Library. “Harrell was assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces, 25th Transportation Corp. From July 18, 1888, to September 22, 1919, he served as a conductor/engineer transporting troops and supplies to the front lines of battle. Rarely do we hear about the Transportation Corp and the vital role they played during the war.”

When Harrell came home after the war, he went back to work for Norfolk and Southern Railroad. In 1925, he moved to Beaufort County and lived in several neighborhoods in Belhaven and Washington. In 1947, he purchased a home at 510 E. Main Street in Washington, where he lived the rest of his life with his wife, Ray Waters Harrell. They had one daughter, Caroline Harrell Ransom. He retired from the Norfolk and Southern in 1957 after fifty years of service as a chief engineer and known by many as ‘Captain Jimmy.’ He passed away in Washington in March of 1982.

Farrell became aware of Harrell’s story after receiving a call from his grandson in Charlotte, who had seen the story in the Washington Daily News about the WWI exhibit at the Turnage Theatre. “His mother, who is now 104, still lives in a retirement community in Belhaven, and he said the next time he came to visit her, he wanted to bring his grandfather’s WWI uniform, along with a photo album,” said Farrell. “The uniform was in immaculate condition, and I couldn’t help but notice the colorful patches on the left sleeve. One for years of service, his rank as a private, and at the very top the Transportation Corp patch. And to have an actual picture of him in the uniform is just extra special. Once again, we can now put a face with a name that is a part of our history here in Washington, which humanizes them in a sense. The WWI generation is now gone, so it is vitally important to keep their memories alive as we honor those who served our country on Veterans Day.”

Farrell also took pause when thinking about Harrell’s 50 years with Norfolk and Southern Railroad. “I can only imagine what all he must have witnessed,” said Farrell. “Between 1907 and 1957, he would have seen some of the most rudimentary steam engines to modern diesel locomotives. He started at a time when autos and trains being used in war was a new concept and retired in the jet age. Now that is an incredible life.”