[6] Rawn began his railway career with the Big Four Railroad in 1880 as a telegraph operator and was subsequently promoted to trainmaster.

[2] Although his family members claimed that the wound was incurred in self-defense from a burglar, investigating police at the scene disputed this assertion.

[14][15] But a subsequent inquest into his death ruled after lengthy deliberation on July 29 in favor of the opinion that Rawn was killed by a shot from his own weapon that was fired by his own hand.

The inquest did not, however, affirm whether it was a suicide attempt or an accident; the jurors worded the verdict in such a way as not to jeopardize the family's claims on Rawn's life insurance policies,[16] which were valued in excess of $100,000.

[14] A month after his death, there was an attempt to steal papers related to the scandal from the home of his daughter and son-in-law while they were out of town, but the theft was interrupted by a watchman.