Carlton A. Wilmore papers

Carlton A. Wilmore came from Winchester, Indiana, and was born in 1884. A member of the class of 1906 at Purdue University, Wilmore was on the 1903 football team. While a part of the team, Wilmore was involved in the tragic train wreck that occurred October 31, 1903 and resulted in the death of 17 players, band members, and fans. Wilmore was seated next to his roommate Roswell Powell who was killed in the accident, and he incurred severe injuries to his legs which left him hospitalized for some time. Sometime after his release from the hospital, Wilmore’s doctor suggested he move to a warmer climate to better facilitate his recovery. Wilmore heeded the advice and moved to Alabama to attend the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) where his uncle, John Jenkins Wilmore (a Purdue graduate from the class of 1888) was a professor. Wilmore received his engineering degree from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1908, and continued on to do graduate work there the following year. He was a member of Kappa Sigma there and also maintained his interest in football by acting as a manager for the school’s team. While there, he also met and married Annie Averyt of Auburn, with whom he had two children: Margaret Ann and Elizabeth. Later, Wilmore worked as an engineer with Chickasaw Iron Works, Memphis Steel Construction Company, and Nashville Bridge Company before starting his own firm in 1928 (Wilmore, Hudson and Luke Structural Engineers). Wilmore died in 1967 in Birmingham, Alabama and is buried there in the Elmwood Cemetery.