Maurice W. Graham (June 3, 1917 – November 18, 2006), also known as Steam Train Maury, was the five-time holder of the title "King of the Hobos", and was later known as "Patriarch of the Hobos". Born to a broken home in Ohio, he was shunted from father to mother to aunt to married siblings. In 1931, at the age of 14, Graham began riding the rails as a

hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. E ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He settled in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, with his wife Wanda in the late 1930s, where he worked as a cement mason and founded a trade school for masons. During World War II, he served in the military as a medical technician. In 1969 he returned to the hobo life for another eleven years, finally retiring in 1980. Maury Graham adopted the nickname "Steam Train" in 1969, when the "Golden Spike Special" steam train came through Ohio, returning home from the 100th anniversary of the completion of the first US transcontinental railroad. He was one of the founding members of the National Hobo Foundation. He also helped established the Hobo Museum in

Britt, Iowa Britt is a city in Hancock County, Iowa, United States, and is the home of the National Hobo Convention and the Hobo Museum. The population was 2,044 at the 2020 census. History A train depot was built at Britt in 1870, with tracks running fro ...

. Mr. Maurice Graham died due to complications from a stroke at the Northcrest Nursing Home in

Napoleon, Ohio Napoleon is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Ohio, United States, along the Maumee River 44 miles southwest of Toledo. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 8,749. History The area around the town was once k ...

. He was 89.

Sources

*''Tales of the Iron Road: My Life as King of the Hobos''. Marlowe & Co., 1989. Reprinted in 1992. .

References

People from Toledo, Ohio 1917 births 2006 deaths Hoboes People from Britt, Iowa {{US-bio-stub