Van Lumpkin was 23 years old, he was born in Little Rock Arkansas in 1883. He was black, he was married, and he worked at the NC&Stl New Shops in Nashville. It is not known where he boarded the number one inbound train,
but the nature of his injuries indicate he was riding close to the boiler in the front of the Jim Crow car.

He suffered extensive burns, covering his entire body and according to the records of Dr.Duncan Eve Jr. he died of shock at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, on July 10, 1918. Undertaker A N Johnson prepared his body for burial. He was buried at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Nashville Tennessee on July 12, 1918.