Casey

Jones, Casey, 1864-1900, American locomotive engineer celebrated in ballad and song, probably b. Jordan, Fulton co., Ky. His real name was John Luther Jones, but at the age of 17 he went to Cayce, Ky., and there he was employed as a telegraph operator; from the name of the town he was given the nickname "Casey." In 1888 he entered the service of the Illinois Central RR as a locomotive fireman and soon (1890) was promoted to engineer. He was famous among railroad men for his boast that he always brought his train in on schedule and for his peculiar skill with a locomotive whistle. Given the "crack" assignment of driving the Cannon Ball express from Memphis, Tenn., to Canton, Miss.—a particularly dangerous run on which several accidents had occurred—Casey Jones was determined to bring the overdue train in on time but met with disaster. On the morning of Apr. 30, 1900, confronted with a stationary freight train ahead of his speeding locomotive at Vaughan, Miss., he ordered his fireman to jump. He applied the brakes, and although the Cannon Ball crashed and Jones was killed, the passengers were saved. A fellow railroad worker, Wallace Saunders, soon composed a popular ballad about him; one version of it, Casey Jones, was published by T. Lawrence Siebert and Eddie Newton. Monuments commemorating Jones stand at Cayce, Ky., and Jackson, Tenn. He was buried at Jackson, Tenn.

Casey, William Joseph, 1913-87, American public official, b. New York City. After graduating from Fordham Univ. (B.S., 1934) he obtained a law degree from St. Johns Univ. (1937). During World War II he became an important official in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and helped supervise clandestine operations in Europe. After the war he became a successful tax lawyer. A conservative Republican, he held several high positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1973-74) and head of the Export-Import Bank (1975). In 1980 he served as chairman of President Reagan's campaign committee. Between 1981 and 1987, he served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he was responsible for an aggressive expansion of clandestine activities. He was one of the central figures in the complex sequence of covert activities known as the Iran-contra affair. On Dec. 15, 1986, shortly after the affair became public, Casey suffered a serious stroke. He died of brain cancer the next year without revealing the details of his involvement in the events.

Stengel, Casey (Charles Dillon Stengel), 1891-1975, American baseball player and manager, b. Kansas City, Mo. Stengel began playing professional baseball in 1910, and from 1912 to 1925 he played with the Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston clubs of the National League. Here he compiled a lifetime major-league batting average of .284. After 1925 he managed baseball teams in the American Association and the Pacific Coast League. In 1949 he became manager of the New York Yankees of the American League, and under his astute leadership the Yankees won ten pennants (1949-53, 1955-58, and 1960) and seven world championships. The colorful "Perfesser" holds a spectacular major-league record for managing his team to five consecutive pennants and five consecutive world championships. A colorful figure, especially noted for his conversational ability, Stengel managed the New York Mets of the National League from 1962 through 1965. Stengel was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

orig. Charles Dillon Stengel

(born July 30, 1891, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.—died Sept. 29, 1975, Glendale, Calif.) U.S. baseball player and manager. Stengel played outfield with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1912–17), Pittsburgh Pirates (1918–19), Philadelphia Phillies (1920–21), New York Giants (1921–23), and Boston Braves (1924–25). He became a coach and manager of the Dodgers and Braves but achieved his greatest success with the New York Yankees (1949–61), leading the team to 10 pennants (5 in consecutive years) and 7 World Series championships (5 in consecutive years) in 12 years. He later served as vice president and manager of the newly formed New York Mets (1962–65), a team that became noted for its dismal performance during these early years. Throughout his career Stengel was known for his showmanship and his idiosyncratic use and misuse of English, called “Stengelese” (for example, “I've always heard it couldn't be done, but sometimes it don't always work”).

Learn more about Stengel, Casey with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. John Casey

(born March 30, 1880, Dublin, Ire.—died Sept. 18, 1964, Torquay, Devon, Eng.) Irish playwright. Born to a poor Protestant family, he educated himself and worked from age 14 at manual labour. He embraced the Irish nationalist cause, changed his name to its Irish form, and became active in the labour movement and its paramilitary Irish Citizen Army. By 1915 he had turned from politics to writing realistic tragicomedies about Dublin slum dwellers in war and revolution. The Abbey Theatre produced three of his earliest and best plays—The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924), and The Plough and the Stars (1926)—which caused riots by Irish patriots. When his antiwar play The Silver Tassie was rejected by the Abbey, O'Casey moved to England, where it was produced in 1929. His later plays include Red Roses for Me (1946); he also published a six-volume autobiography (1939–56).

Learn more about O'Casey, Sean with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. John Casey

(born March 30, 1880, Dublin, Ire.—died Sept. 18, 1964, Torquay, Devon, Eng.) Irish playwright. Born to a poor Protestant family, he educated himself and worked from age 14 at manual labour. He embraced the Irish nationalist cause, changed his name to its Irish form, and became active in the labour movement and its paramilitary Irish Citizen Army. By 1915 he had turned from politics to writing realistic tragicomedies about Dublin slum dwellers in war and revolution. The Abbey Theatre produced three of his earliest and best plays—The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924), and The Plough and the Stars (1926)—which caused riots by Irish patriots. When his antiwar play The Silver Tassie was rejected by the Abbey, O'Casey moved to England, where it was produced in 1929. His later plays include Red Roses for Me (1946); he also published a six-volume autobiography (1939–56).

Learn more about O'Casey, Sean with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Charles Dillon Stengel

(born July 30, 1891, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.—died Sept. 29, 1975, Glendale, Calif.) U.S. baseball player and manager. Stengel played outfield with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1912–17), Pittsburgh Pirates (1918–19), Philadelphia Phillies (1920–21), New York Giants (1921–23), and Boston Braves (1924–25). He became a coach and manager of the Dodgers and Braves but achieved his greatest success with the New York Yankees (1949–61), leading the team to 10 pennants (5 in consecutive years) and 7 World Series championships (5 in consecutive years) in 12 years. He later served as vice president and manager of the newly formed New York Mets (1962–65), a team that became noted for its dismal performance during these early years. Throughout his career Stengel was known for his showmanship and his idiosyncratic use and misuse of English, called “Stengelese” (for example, “I've always heard it couldn't be done, but sometimes it don't always work”).

Learn more about Stengel, Casey with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Casey is a city in Clark and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,942 at the 2000 census.

The Cumberland County portion of Casey is part of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Casey is located at (39.299543, -87.990056). Most of the city lies in Clark County, although a small portion extends into Cumberland County. In the 2000 census, 2,940 of Casey's 2,942 residents (99.9%) lived in Clark County and 2 (0.1%) lived in Cumberland County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,942 people, 1,266 households, and 758 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,385.0 people per square mile (535.8/km²). There were 1,454 housing units at an average density of 684.5/sq mi (264.8/km²) 87.The racial makeup of the city was 98.67% White, 0.4% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.03% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.24% of the population.

There were 1,266 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 80.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,089, and the median income for a family was $36,941. Males had a median income of $30,809 versus $16,496 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,266. About 11.5% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

• Casey History at Genealogy Trails.