Iron Mountain Baby refers both to a folksong and the subject of that song, William Moses Gould Helms. On August 14, 1902, William Helms, a 67-year-old farmer and civil war veteran, was walking along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway where it crosses Big River outside of Irondale, collecting lumber for a barn he intended to build. He saw No. 4 speed northbound over the bridge. Then, hearing a strange noise and following its source, he found what is described as "an old fashioned telescoping valise." The case turned out to contain a baby, whose age was later estimated at approximately five days. Having fallen about, the child was badly bruised, with a pronounced dent in its head. Helms took the child home to his wife, Sarah Jane Knight Helms and they nursed him back to health. The child was named for his foster father, Bill Helms, and "Gould," the owner of the railroad, but also "Moses," because he was taken from the river. The story spread throughout the United States, and gave rise to the folksong. Many women came forward, claiming to be the boy's mother. However, when the child was six years old, the elderly couple formally adopted him. After the death of the elder Helms, William and his mother moved to Salem, Missouri. He attended Braughton's University and Southwest Missouri State Teachers College ; his education was paid for by the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. He became a printer. On August 5, 1933 he married a woman named "Sally,". They had one son, William. They later moved to Texas, where William died January 31, 1953, aged 50. When the corpse was carried by train back to Washington County, it was only the second time William had ridden a train. He was interred at Hopewell, Missouri Cemetery. The funeral got no publicity; Helms did not enjoy his peculiar fame. The Ballad of the Iron Mountain Baby . The story is also the subject of the song, "Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby," from the 2013 album, Love Has Come for You, by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. A version of the events of the story contribute to the plot of Bright Star, a 2014 musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell.
