Florida, executions recorded in county histories, 1976-1991

Jim Burrow:

70

Chapter 10
Rube Burrow

In 1890, south Santa Rosa County was wild and isolated. The
dense swamps and cane breaks of Yellow River and East River
were almost impenetrable. The few settlers lived miles apart in

many instances, with only old Indian trails er rutted roads

connecting them with their neighbors.

The cane breaks povided hideouts for bands of deserters and
draft dodgers during the Civil War era, and a refuge for
desperados and others running from the law. ‘

Reuben Burrow came to this area in December, 1889.
Members of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the
Southeastern Express Agency kept him on the run for four years.

Rube’s father was reportedly a bootlegger who migrated from
Tennessee to Lamar County, Alabama. Rube was born in 1854,
and his brother, Jim, who was associated with him in crime, was
born in 1858. Rube left Lamar County in 1872 and went to live
with his uncle, Joel Burrow, in Erath County Texas. Four years
later, he was joined by his younger brother, Jim. Rube soon tired
of working on his uncle’s farm and became a cowboy. He
roamed the Texas plains branding unbranded cattle as his own.

_ He gained fame as a marksman by constant practice, which was

an asset in his future life as king of the outlaws.

In 1886, Rube and three companions, Jim Burrow, Nep
Thornton, and Henderson Bromley, robbed a train on the Fort
Worth and Denver Railroad at Bellview Junction. In this, their
first holdup, they robbed only the passengers gaining about
three hundred dollars, and took a number of forty-five Colt
revolvers from a squad of negro soldiers who were guarding
prisoners. Rube carried a brace of these hand guns throughout
his career.

The second robbery was at Gordon, Texas, on the Texas and
Pacific Radilroad, January 23, 1887. A new man, Harrison Askew,
took part in this robbery. The mail and the express Cars were
rifled and the total loot amounted to some $2,275.

The third robbery occurred at Benbrook, Texas. The engineer
was forced to break open the express car with q coal pick. The
loss to the Pacific Express Company was $2,450. The date was
June 4, 1887. Benbrook Station was robbed the second time
September 20,1887, and the take was $2,725.

71


The fifth robbery occurred at Geno, Arkansas, December 9,
1887. This was a small station thirty miles north of Texarkana.
After firing dozens of volleys into the express car, the
expressman, who was on the inside, agreed to open the door. A
total of $2,725 was taken. This was the first time that Burrow had
robbed the Southern Express. By this time, the identity of the
gang had been determined, and rewards were offered for the
apprehension of its members. William Brock, a new member of
the gang, was arrested at his home near Dublin, Texas, on
December 31,1881. He made a complete confession confirming
the participation of Rube and Jim as the ring leaders.

In a shootout with the detectives in Montgomery, Alabama,
January 22, 1888, Jim Burrow was captured but Rube was
surrounded in a plantation cabin. He pulled off his shoes and
made a dash for the woods under heavy fire from the shotguns of
his pursurers. He escaped with his back full of bird shots. The
detective who shot him had been bird hunting and had
forgotten to take the small shot out of his gun. He went back to
Lamar County to get information about Jim. He learned that his
brother was in prison at Little Rock and was to be taken to
Texarkana for trial.

In the meantime, Rube had secured another partner in the
person of L.C.Brock, alias Joe Jackson, whom he had known in
Texas. They were determined to free Jim at all cost. They crossed
the Mississippi River at Helena, Arkansas, and boarded trains at
several small stations without finding Jim. They moved down to
Curtis, a flag staion, only to learn that the train carrying Jim did
not stop there. Their only chance was to ride to Arkadelphia
fifteen miles away. They had only one hour to reach that place
ahead of the train. At the risk of killing their horses they rode at
top speed but missed the train by a few minutes.

Disappointed by the failure to rescue his brother, Rube and
Joe Jackson eluded the detectives by riding through the dense
swamps up the east bank of the Mississippi River. They found a
safe retreat at the home of Fletcher Stevens where they hired
themselves out to pick cotton for fifty cents per hundred
pounds. This was in October 1888. They left the Stevens farm in
about two months. :;

Rube and Jackson held up the Illinois Central train as it passed
through Duck Hill, Mississippi, on the night of December 15,
1888, on its run from New Orleans to Chicago. A gun battle
ensued and a passenger, Chester Hughes, was killed. About

72

$2,000 was taken from the express car. This was the sixth robbery
for Rube. From Duck Hill, they quietly made their way back to
Lamar County, where they remained in hiding until the summer
of 1889.

From a company in Chicago, Rube ordered a wig and false
whiskers, to be mailed to the post office at Sulligent in Lamar
County, Alabama. The order was to be sent to W.W.Cain, a
fictitious name. Jim Cash, Rube’s brother-in-law, asked for the
package for Cain, When the package arrived the wrapper was
torn and the contents revealed. When Cash told Rube the
condition of the package, Rube swore that he would go to the
post office and kill Moses Graves, the postmaster. Graves and
Rube had played together as children, and when Rube went for
the package addressed to Cain, Graves refused to give it to him.
Rube pulled his gun and shot Graves through the stomach.
Graves died in a few minutes. Rube told his co-workers, in a log
camp in Santa Rosa County where he had gone in 1890, that he
had never killed but one man and that was for opening his mail.

Jim Burrow died in prison October 5, 1888. Rube recruited
Rube Smith, a cousin, who lived in Lamar County, Alabama.
Rube Burrow, Rube Smith and Joe Jackson traveled on foot
through the “Free State of Jones” (Jones County Mississippi) to
Buckatunna, where they robbed the Mobile and Ohio passenger
train September 25, 1889. They took $975 from registered mail
and $2,685 from the express car. This was the seventh robbery. By
this time, James McLung had joined the Burrow gang. He and
Rube Smith were captured and McLung gave a complete
confession. He was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison for
his participation in the robbery at Buckatunna, Mississippi.

Rube and Joe Jackson purchased a yoke of oxen at Columbus,
Mississippi, on November 28, 1889, and started south. Detective
Jackson picked up their trail but was forty-five days behind them.
He learned that on December 11, the two men, with the ox cart,
had driven into Flomaton, Alabama. Jackson went to McCurdy’s
Ferry on the Escambia River and learned that a man bearing
Burrow’s description, with a yoke of oxen and a covered wagon,
had crossed the ferry on December 15, and that he was alone.
Rube had crossed the Blackwater River at Milton December 17,
and had crossed Yellow River at Broxson’s Ferry soon after
leaving Milton.

Detective Jackson, who was a Pinkerton employee, was six
weeks behind Rube at the Milton Ferry. He learned that a man

73

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.AU.S, Supreme Court ruling that allows
Prosecutors to exclude death penalty op-
ponents from capital juries affects five
death row inmates. convicted in Marion
County since 1978. ‘ } :

Among them is Aubrey Dennis Adams

Jr., who has an appeal pending with the
U.S. Appellate Court in Atlanta. Three
death warrants have have been signed for

Adams by the governor, including two this .
year, but he managed to escape the elec-

Ruling Affects Death Re

- tric chair each time. 4 Ste nd tte
+. Adams was sentenced in 1979 for the chair by claiming

murder of an Ocala school girl, Trisa Gail

. Thornley. ais Listens ts
.. Adams’ appeal, however, is not directly -
based on exclusion of capital punishment

opponents from the jury that convicted
him. Instead, State Attorney Ray Gill

»Says, Adams challenges the. manner ‘in.

sy which a competency hearing was held at: <a convenience store clerk he raped and
Florida State Prison two months. ago ©

ae
f

“not -recognize thé impact of being

tric chair.

+ "The U.S. Supreme Court six weeks ago

y Refused to ‘overturn the Adamé§ case, and
another round of appeals followed. .-

-» Also’ affected by the ruling are Paul

«Magill, convicted in 1978 for the murder of «

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Pie

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28 OB:

| Inmates From Marion

to avoid the electric». mate from a Marion County conviction.
was insane and did ~::

The other three are Sonny Boy Oafs,
‘convicted of the robbery/murder of a con-

=venience store clerk; Dan Routley, con-
victed’ of »the robbery/murder of an
elderly resident, and Ian Lightbourne,
convicted of the murder of a woman
whose home he burglarized. Lightbourne,
sentenced in 1981, is the last death. case
‘from Marion County. ‘<->

ft ag

“robbed. He is the ‘‘senior’’ death row in- The Supreme Court’s ruling Monday
4S. ¥ PEL uk

GEARS aS

re

that death penalty opponents “can be ex-
cluded from first-degree murder juries*

signals capital punishment is here to stay,
said a defense attorney for death row
inmates. , jee - ;
The high court ruled 6-3 in an Arkansas
case that a defendant’s right to a fair trial
is not violated when: death-penalty oppo

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egree."

ember 10, 1910,
d L. D. McRae
es of the feud to
sfendant. Both
in the Chipley-
ra, it was only a
ver in the feud.
iced a series of
' fees and other

cident that indi-
WV. T. Horne, R.
e, T. A. Messer,

stand up for his
ted as foreman,

Gospel, brother
1 like to ask our

1 very important
idant the death

J. H. Rozier, T.
ger, Curtis Col-
ions and D.N.

Whittle, W. W.
V. Glover, John
app. That jury
imendation for
tending that the
Court and got a
t Court to begin

200 prospective
s of a Pensacola
. (McRae later
and State Road
uccessful candi-
He later served

e of the Florida

Supreme Court. Mallory F. Horne was the presiding judge for the fourth trial, set for
March 20, 1913.

In the years since the murder had been committed, Henry Farrior, who as Chip-
ley town marshal had arrested Whiddon, had succeeded Allen as sheriff.

While the jury was being chosen from the 200-man venire, Mrs. Salfie A. Whid-
don, wife of the defendant, died unexpectedly in the court house. This tragic turn of
events, plus the prolonged litigation, brought a dramatic change in the tide of sympa-
thy that had been running against Whiddon. It was widely reported also that the new
sheriff was considered pro-Whiddon, as Sheriff Allen, a Barfield relative, had been
considered anti-Whiddon.

State Attorney Buford, calling attention to Mrs. Whiddon’s death and noting that
the sheriff was a witness in the case, asked for a change of venue. He observed that
the case was the subject of much controversy, that the man had been tried three times
and that the trials had been widely discussed so that "it is impractical to get a qualified
jury in Washington County." Judge Horne granted the request, setting the trial for
the fall term of court in Jackson County. The court listed these witnesses:

For the State--John Williams, Mrs. W. B. Berry, C. W. Spence, Will Peters, Sim
Andrews, F. F. Pelt, W. H. McGeachy, Charles Mercer, I. N. White, Ben Pippin, Tom
Jordan, J. K. Peters, Pink Riley, Will Scott, B. Chance, Jackson Shepard and Henry
Williams.

For the Defendant--G. N. Hudson, Lanona Downs, Renie Danelly, W. W. Har-
vey, D. W. White, R. B. Slay, Wallis Sapp, Bun Davis, Lawrence Kemp and Will
Mitchell.

The attorneys, after getting the change of venue, managed to get the Court to
release Whiddon on bond for the first time since his arrest. Bond was set at $5,000.
Upon being released, Whiddon reportedly went to the home of a relative in Alabama
or Mississippi to await trial in Jackson County. He died while on the visit. Some of
the feuders had doubts. They suspected that Whiddon’s death, funeral and burial had
been faked, and they spread rumors to that effect. But no one came up with any
proof. The Court was evidently convinced. Jackson County Circuit Court records for
the 1913 fall term make no mention of the case.”

Went to Texas, and Beyond

During the frontier era, which lingered well into the 20th century in rural West
Florida, the will of the courts was sometimes thwarted by successful jailbreaks and
prisoner escapes. Law-breakers sometimes fled before being taken into custody.
Lingering legendary accounts say that a law enforcement official often placed the
notation "WTT" ("Went to Texas") beside the names of wanted individuals who
apparently had made good their escape. In those days, Texas was considered so big
and so far away as to discourage effective pursuit. Without adequate resources,
transportation facilities and the assurances of the cooperation of local authorities in
the West, rural West Florida officials were occasionally disposed to take the position
that justice had been served simply by getting rid of the offender. Few such men ever
returned.

One of the last to make good his escape was Marcus Snow, who had been
charged with first degree murder and convicted of manslaughter in Washington

297

readily returned a verdict of willful, premeditated murder in the first degree."

Whiddon was indicted by the grand jury, and his trial was set November 10, 1910,
with Judge Emmett Wolfe presiding. Charlie Allen was sheriff, and L. D. McRae
was chief counsel for the defense. The dramatic shooting fanned flames of the feud to
new heights, with opinions running strongly for and against the defendant. Both
Whiddon and Barfield were from large and well-known families in the Chipley-
Orange Hill area. With family ties being exceptionally strong in that era, it was only a
short time until their relatives were favoring one faction or the other in the feud.
Court records for that period show that Mr. and Mrs. Whiddon faced a series of
foreclosures, possibly as a result of having to borrow to pay attorney fees and other
costs.

Years later, Judge Ira Hutchison, then an attorney, told of an incident that indi-
cates the strong opinions held by the jurymen, A. L. (Lone) Harrell, W. T. Horne, R.
F. Ennis, J. E. Miller, Arch G. McQuagge, C. D. Knowles, Russ Clarke, T. A. Messer,
R. F. Purcell, W. T. Hardin, W. A. Brock and W. P. Buxton.

Describing "Uncle Lone" Harrell as a man " who had courage to stand up for his
convictions," Judge Hutchison wrote:

"..When the jury retired to the jury room, Uncle Lone was selected as foreman,
and he addressed the jury something like this:

"Gentlemen, on this jury is a good man, a licensed minister of the Gospel, brother
Charlie Knowles, and before we start deliberating on the case, I would like to ask our
good brother Knowles to lead us in prayer for Divine Guidance.

"After a long prayer, the minister, weeping said: ‘Brothers, it is a very important
duty, and the only verdict we can rightly render is to give the defendant the death
penalty.’

"Uncle Lone Harrell exploded:

"The hell you say! We will never do it as long as I am on this jury!"

"There was mistrial."

Whiddon’s second trial was held in June, 1911. Jurymen were W. H. Rozier, T.
B. D. Gainer, J. J. Holmes, Robert Yates, Z. R. Gilbert, W. D. Enfinger, Curtis Col-
lins, S. B. Marshall, J. H. Singletary, Robert Nixon, G. E. Simmons and D_N.
McDonald. This trial also ended in a mistrial.

The third trial was held in November, 1911. Jurymen were W. E. Whittle, W. W.
Fraser, L. E. Vickers, J. B. Blackwell, C. S. Russ, J. E. Skipper, J. W. Glover, John
Berry, J. W. Taylor, Joseph A. Taylor, E. M. Goodson and J. D. Sapp. That jury
found Whiddon guilty of murder in the first degree, with a recommendation for
mercy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but his attorneys contending that the
Circuit Court had erred in its procedures, appealed to the Supreme Court and got a
new trial. In the meantime, Whiddon had been ordered by the Circuit Court to begin
serving his time.

For Whiddon’s fourth trial, the court ordered a special venire of 200 prospective
jurymen. Defense attorneys were Butler, Bruce and Phillips, members of a Pensacola
law firm; L. D. McRae, H. H. Wells, A. W. Weeks and J. W. Kehoe. (McRae later
was a well-known state attorney, Wells later served as a state senator and State Road
Board Chairman, and Weeks had served in the State Senate, an unsuccessful candi-
date for governor on the Populist ticket, and a county commissioner. He later served
in the House of Representatives from Holmes County).

State Attorney for the trial was Rivers H. Buford, later chief justice of the Florida

296

Supreme Court.
March 20, 1913.

In the years
ley town marshal

While the j
don, wife of the d
events, plus the p
thy that had been
sheriff was consi
considered anti-¥

State Attorn¢
the sheriff was a
the case was the §
and that the trials
jury in Washingt:
the fall term of cc

For the Stat¢
Andrews, F. F. P<
Jordan, J. K. Pet
Williams.

For the Defi
vey, D. W. Whit
Mitchell.

The attorne
release Whiddon
Upon being rele
or Mississippi to
the feuders had
been faked, and
proof. The Cour
the 1913 fall tern

During the !
Florida, the will
prisoner escape}
Lingering legen
notation "WTT"
apparently had r
and so far away
transportation fa
the West, rural
that justice had t
returned.

One of the
charged with fii


County Circuit Court in Vernon in 1911. He was sentenced by Judge Emmett Wolfe
to 11 years at hard labor. Snow forced his way out of the jail at gun-point while await-
ing transfer to a state prison to begin serving his sentence. Seven men, most of them
charged with murder, escaped with Snow. The others were recaptured, but Snow was
never reported seen in Vernon again. It was assumed that he "went to Texas." Law
enforcement officials wondered how Snow got the pistol used in the escape. They
also wondered how he managed to elude pursuers and make a permanent getaway.

W. D. (Dan) Ward of Vernon provided some answers in 1961:

"It was a celebrated case," said Ward, "with Snow being charged with the murder
of his uncle, Joe Boutwell."

The murder occurred south of Pinelog Creek, in what is now Bay County.
Boutwell lived in that area, where he had the reputation for looking unkindly upon
visitors. He resented encroachment on what he considered his personal hunting and
grazing domain, Dan Ward related. He said it was Boutwell’s reputation, plus a shot
from ambush into a hunting camp one night, that led Ward’s uncle, P. C. "Pink" Ward,
to become personally interested in the trial. Boutwell had been charged with firing
the shot into the camp, but he was acquitted.

"Uncle Pink was convinced, however, that Boutwell had fired the shot," said
Ward. He said the incident occurred as Pink Ward, who died some 40 years later,
and two companions were camping on a hunting trip south of Pinclog. A woman in
the party was badly hurt. "Uncle Pink never forgot the incident," said his nephew.

A few years later, Marcus Snow, a nephew of Boutwell’s, moved into the area.
He didn’t find his uncle’s welcome mat out, and the two men soon found themselves
feuding. At one point, Boutwell accused his nephew of rustling some of his sheep. It
was also widely reported that Boutwell had threatened to kill his nephew. Shortly
after that report was circulated, someone gunned Boutwell down. Snow was charged
with his murder and jailed in Vernon by Sheriff C. G. Allen.

"Then Uncle Pink got interested," Dan said. "He figured that if Marcus Snow was
guilty that he was justified. Uncle Pink felt so strongly on the subject, that he engaged
a well-known Pensacola attorney, Walter Kchoc, to defend Snow."

The trial lasted several days. Members of the jury were Sam Surber, C. R.
Melvin, R. M. Hightower, G. W. Owens, J. M. Hightower, G. W. Simmons, L. M.
Ware, W. B. Coxwell, P. L. Marshall, J. S. Peel, John S. Scott and John C. Gray.

"Uncle Pink was not satisfied with the guilty verdict nor the 11 year sentence,"
Dan Ward recalled. "Walter Kehoe told Uncle Pink that he had done everything
possible, that nothing would save Snow from serving the sentence, unless he could get
from behind the locks. Uncle Pink said that would be easy; so he asked his wife to
bake a cake and put a loaded revolver between the layers.

"Uncle Pink himself delivered the cake to Snow in the jail. Dan Carter, the jailer,
let Uncle Pink in with the cake. The next time Carter approached Snow’s cell, he
found himself looking at the business end of a pistol. Snow directed Carter to ex-
change places with him in the cell. Snow then turned the other seven prisoners out to
confuse the pursuers.

"I was stgying at the old Lassiter Hotel, across the street from the jail. I had an
injured foot, and was sitting in front of the hotel. I saw some of the men as they raced
down the bank of Holmes Creek, but I didn’t know what was up until some of the
children spread the news."

In the confusion, Snow made his way down the Holmes and crossed the Choc-

298

tawhatchee at
County. Snow
place for awhil
Pink Ward’s f:
attracting too
"Uncle Pin
Dan Ward, wh

in later years. |

As the Ch
the Prohibitio
enforcement a
cheaply built ar

The enforc
tional gunfight
Bowdoin and 4
north of Washi
Bowdoin, were
joined Holmes
two men were
officers had die

Killed wer
father of Houst

Events pre
remain questio
They may neve
were wounded
some believe th

Was Bowd
the prohibition
start the gunfigl
the other kno

Speculative
subjects in the |
Pete" with good
least two allege«

A Februari
something of thi

"The death
careers in this p
sheriff in Manat

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frequently got in

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killing of a Neg

e Emmett Wolfe
oint while await-
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1e escape. They
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with the murder

yw Bay County.
g unkindly upon
ynal hunting and
ition, plus a shot
C. "Pink" Ward,
irged with firing

the shot," said
¢ 40 years later,
gz. A woman in
his nephew.

d into the area.
yund themselves
of his sheep. It
ephew. Shortly
ow was charged

arcus Snow was
(hat he engaged

Surber, C. R.
immons, L. M.
C, Gray.

year sentence,"
one everything
ss he could get
ked his wife to

r, the jailer,
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carter to ex-
isoners out to

jal. I had an
as they raced
| some of the

-d the Choc-

tawhatchee at Cowford and went to Pink Ward’s home near Bruce, in South Walton
County. Snow’s benefactor pitched a tent in a corn field for Snow to use as a hiding
place for awhile. Later, Snow was assigned quarters in an old two-story log house on
Pink Ward’s farm. But the house quickly got a reputation for being haunted, thus

attracting too much attention.

"Uncle Pink took Snow on a buggy one night and carried him into Alabama," said
Dan Ward, who explained that his uncle made no secret of his role ig Snow's escape
in later years. Snow didn’t stop in Texas. He went on to New Mexico.

Pistol Pete Bowdoin Is Killed in Gunfight

As the Choctawhatchee River region’s whiskey-making reputation grew during
the Prohibition Era, that activity attracted the attention of local, state and federal
enforcement agents. Their destruction of numerous distilleries, which often were
cheaply built and easily replaced, slowed but failed to halt the activity.

The enforcement effort reached its high tide on February 16, 1925, when a sensa-
tional gunfight erupted between Federal Prohibition Officer J. E. (Pistol Pete)
Bowdoin and alleged moonshiners. The shootout occurred inside Holmes County
north of Washington County’s Caryville. Known participants in the battle, besides
Bowdoin, were residents of Caryville. Washington County and Caryville officers
joined Holmes County officers in the investigation that followed the battle, in which
two men were killed and two wounded. The wounded men and the investigating
officers had died prior to 1987.

Killed were Bowdoin and Houston Harris. Wounded were Sumpter Harris,
father of Houston Harris, and Harvey Walker.

Events preceding the battle are somewhat vague, and details of the gunfight itself
remain questionable. Still unanswered are several questions involving the battle.
They may never be answered, since both Sumpter Harris and Harvey Walker, who
were wounded in the gunfight, have since died. If there were other witnesses - and
some believe there may have been - their secret has been well-kept.

Was Bowdoin, the nemesis of moonshiners in the region, lured into a trap? Did
the prohibition officer, who had a reputation for fast shooting, get trigger-happy and
start the gunfight without provocation or reasonable cause? Was the officer killed by
the other known principals in the battle, or was he gunned down from ambush?

Speculative answers to some of these questions in 1987 were still discussion
subjects in the region. It was well-established that many moonshiners hated "Pistol
Pete" with good reason. He had, according to reports then in circulation, wounded at
least two alleged moonshiners in the area on separate occasions previously.

A February 17, 1925, newspaper report, bearing a Tampa dateline, indicates
something of the man’s reputation. It says, in part:

"The death of ‘Pistol Pete’ Bowdoin brings to an end one of the most picturesque
careers in this part of the state. His expertness with a pistol as a marshal and deputy
sheriff in Manatee County won him the sobriquet by which he was known.

"Recently he took service with the prohibition forces under the local officers and
frequently got into the limelight with his daring fights with moonshiners.

"A little more than a year ago he was arrested in Manatee County for the alleged
killing of a Negro, but was exonerated. He broke into print a few months later by

299

Don’s Bayou at Cracker’s Neck (now Wright), we went by horse
and buggy around the head of Prairie Creek, crossing Liveoak
and Turtle Creeks on bridges and on to the Broxson home. We
always stoppéd to visit with the Davises who lived over the hill
from the bridge over Turtle Creek. From the giant walnut trees
that grew in the yard, it was evident that they had lived there for
many years. We lost contact with the Davis family when we left
the homestead and moved to the Sharp Broxson place, two miles
north of the present East River Bridge.

In 1917 we were shocked to learn that the Davis couple had
been murdered. In an interview with Sarah Jane Davis, elderly
widow of Harrison Davis, | learned her version of the brutal
slaying of the elderly couple nearly sixty years ago. According to
her, four people were involved in the murder plot. | was told that
a woman went to live with the Davises to learn where their
money was kept. After she went away, Bob and Will Blackwell,
with a man by the name of William Boyd, went to the Davis home
about dark on the day of the murder. They had blackened their
faces with shoe polish to prevent recognition. They asked for
food and Aunt Nancy gave them baked potatoes, probably the
only thing left from their dinner. After they had eaten, they went
into the woods where they started a forest fire to draw Harrison
and Melinda away from their parent’s home. The two rushed to
the nearby home of Melinda to usea telephone to report the fire
to the forest rangers. On the way back to their parent’s home
they heard shots in the direction of the house. Harrison, thinking
the shots were fired by the rangers, fired an answering shot.
Melinda’s baby had been placed in the arms of her dead
grandmother. It was thought that Aunt Nancy carried the family
savings in a money belt around her waist. The murderers,
hearing Harrison’s shot, ran away without getting the money.

The news spread quickly, creating great anger and excitement
in the county. Many people joined in the search for the killers.
Henry Hawkins of East Milton, formerly a neighbor, drove a big
stallion to death trying to reach the scene of the tragedy. He took
the harness off the horse at Prairie Pond and was picked up by
someone with a Model T. Ford. Ink Helms, also from South
Milton, joined the search.

Bob Blackwell’s confession gives. slightly different account of

the brutal murder:

178

| was working at Sylacauga and Will sent for me to come
down saying that he had a Proposition where we could
make some money and have no trouble. He sajd the old
couple had $15,000 in a trunk and we could get it without
hurting anybody and split it, each getting $5,000. We got to
thinking how easy the money could be made and we agreed
to the proposed robbery. Will said he knew the people well
and they kept the money in a trunk in their bedroom.

We got some shoe polish from Kress in Pensacola and
went to Crestview. We walked through the woods until it
seemed we had walked fifty miles. Our feet were sore and
even bleeding. We got to the neighborhood of the house
and stopped to rest and wait for nightfall.

While waiting we blackened our faces so that we
would look like negroes, and after dark we started again.
We wenta little piece through the woods and Will called for
Us to stap and wait until he returned.

He left us and stayed away alittle while and then came
back inan hour and told us everything was all right. After we
went over the robbery again, we went to the house.

Will told us to go in the house and ask for a drink of
water and Boyd and | went in and when we asked for water
Mr. Davis told us where the water was and we wen{ around
and got some water. We sawa big fire down in the woods a
good piece away from the house and someone left top gotoa
telephone to notify the officers at the forest station.

We went back to the front where Will was and he told
us to go in and demand a trunk from the old people telling
us there would be no trouble atall. We did not want to goin
without him, but he insisted and said that he was known to
the old people and they would know him through the black
polish. We finally agreed.

We went to Mr. Davis and demanded that he give us
the little trunk. ltold him I did not want to hurt him but we
wanted the trunk. He pulled a Winchester from underneath
the mattress on his bed and started to raise it. ltold him not
to shoot for all we wanted was the trunk. | begged him not
to fire that we would not hurt him but he started raising the

gun and | shot him to keep him from killing me. The first
shot staggered him and he lowered his gun but started to
raise it again and | fired two more shots at him and Will
Boyd, who was standing close to me, fired at him one time.

We heard Mrs. Davis telling her husband to shoot us
and begging him to kill us. But he did not try to shoot us
anymore and I turned and started back toward where Will

179


was. | do not know who killed Mrs. Davis, and | have been
trying to figure it out, while in jail here, who killed her and
how it was done.

Boyd followed.close behind me and when we got to
the gate we found Will. He turned and fired into the house
one time and we all fled. We left together going back
toward Crestview. When we got close to town Boyd and |
stopped and Will went on to town. It was nearly daylight
then. Will came back and brought us something to eat and
some coca cola. That night we left.

That night Boyd and ! stayed together. Will left us
going to Crestview. We walked the railroad track when we
got clear of Crestview, and, when we got nearly to Florala,
Will called to us to wait. He came out from hiding and told
us we were wanted for the shooting. He told us the deputies
were looking for us and that the Davises were not killed, but
were only scratched. He told us not to get on the train.

We walked until we got to Lockheart then got on the
train and went to Montgomery. There we went to the
barbershop in the depot and got cleaned good and got rid
of the sign of the polish. | went back to Sylacauga and went
to work atthe mill. ! learned that he Davises were killed, and
left there going to work in another mill close by.

My father wired me that Will had been arrested for
the murder and asked me to get him the best lawyer | could
find. | was afraid to come to Pensacola and when | left my
people again | went to Sylacauga. | left there again and had
been working at the other mill about a week when | was
arrested, Will threatened to killme if lever breathed a word
to anybody, several times, and | was afraid of him. | wanted
to confess to the whole crime but was afraid that Will would
kill me. We began scheming to get away and discussed
several plans. We got one finally that worked alright and
made arrangements for us to get away. A friend bought us
some saws one day and he was paid some money for them. |
am not sure but I think it was $10 apiece. We sawed out and
walked away from the jail. Nobody helped us in any way in
getting away from here at all. We walked out of town.

Phelps was accused and convicted of helping us get
away, but so far as | know he was absolutely innocent. | have
made up my mind that |am going to hang for the crime and

| am getting ready for it. | do not want to go into the next
world knowing that | have lied all the way through and |
have just got one more week. | am going to get ready to
meet God. Lhave read in the Bible that a liar shall not enter

180

into the kingdom of heaven and | am getting ready for the
better judgment.

My case was being considered by the pardon board
when the Governor was here the other day and | wanted
them to think I was innocent. That was the reason | did not
tell the Governor the truth as they have decided not to help
me, and | guess | will be hanged next week, and | am getting
ready for it.

Uncle Bud and Aunt Nancy Davis were murdered on the night
of March 21, 1917. Will Blackwell died in jail and his brother, Bob
wes hanged for his part in the crime on July 23, 1920. Will Boyd a
still in jail in Pensacola. He had turned States evidence and had
been a witness against Bob Blackwell.

About a week before his execution, Bob confessed to a
reporter. He was in the cell for the condemned which was
described by one of his friends as a light and roomy place with a
bouquet of flowers and three Bibles ona table. The friend said to
him, “Bob, if you must die and go before your God with a lie on
your lips, brace up and die like a man. If you are guilty, tell it.”

Governor Sidney J. Catts visited Blackwell in the Pensacola jail.
It was the custom of the Governor to visit all condemned people
before signing the death warrant. When he left Bob Blackwell
he told him to prepare to meet his God. Blackwell knew that his
time was short. The pardon board met on Thursday before the
execution on Friday, but turned down pleas for clemency. The
Governor wired Sheriff Haywood Sutton Thursday evening that
he would not interfere. Sutton, accompanied by Alex Richbourg
and Parker Powell, brought the prisoner from Pensacola several
days before the execution. On Thursday afternoon, a religious
meeting was held in the Circuit Court room where three or four
hundred members of the Holiness Church prayed for the
prisoner. Bob, addressing the gathering, repeated his
confession. A bath tub was brought to the courtroom from a
barber shop and filled with water and the foot-washing rites

were performed. Reverend Curry, a Holiness Minister from
Bonifay, washed Blackwell’s feet, then Blackwell was baptised in
the tub. All the people went forward and shook hands with him.
He told them he would be in heaven on the morrow, and asked to
be buried in Crestview.

On Friday, the condemned man was led out to the scaffold
about 10:50 p.m. where he spoke for about twenty minutes -

181


again confessing the crime and admonished the crowd not to
make the same mistake he had made. Several of the church
members were on the scaffold with him. He sang with the crowd,
"Nearer My God To Thee,” then told the sheriff that he was
ready. The sheriff pulled the trigger at 12:45 p.m. and Blackwell
paid his debt to society. Dr. E. Porter pronounced him dead in
about fifteen minutes. A. wire fence had been built around the
scaffold and a curtain around the lower part to shield the body
from public view.

Only two of the Davis children were living in 1975, Melissa and
Mandy. Harrison, whose widow recited this story, was an invalid
for thirty-two years before his death in 1973. He was paralyzed
from the waist down. It was thought it was caused from the bite
of an alligator while working in a nearby creek, but there is a
strong probability that it was caused by polio. He made a living
by knitting cast nets, working froma wheel chair. His widow lives
in a small house with her son not far from the site of the old Davis
homestead. .

After the jail break, the fugitives were soon apprehended and
brought back to Crestview. Boyd was tried and given a life
sentence.

The writer was attending high school in Milton at the time of
the hanging. Out of curiosity, | boarded the special train and
went to Crestview. It was a gruesome experience, but | am glad
| can tell the story in part from personal knowledge. The press
estimated that five thousand people went to Crestview to
witness the execution, so | was not alone.

Marvis Martin Davis
and wife Nancy
Donaldson Davis.

182

2 a

Risln ty Ake YT Pree
ees fee

+ eet. eee
meee eS Ss

Frank and Cecelia Nelson }

183


discontinued and moved to Mary Esther March 31, 1943. Mrs.
Claude M. Hall served as postmaster for fourteen years.

Note: Information was taken from microfilm number 841-21
secured from General Services Administration, National
Archives and Records Division, Washington D.C. 20408, and
from additional informaion from the same source regarding the
post offices in the Ft. Walton Beach area as furnished by John W.
Brooks.

June 9, 1915, Jamey R. Ridelle, postmaster at Wright, Florida,
made application to the Post Office Department, Washington
D.C., to have the location of the Wright Post Office moved one
quarter mile northeast. The office would be situated in the
Southwest Quarter of Section 34, Township one South, Range 24
West. The nearest river would be East River and the nearest creek
would be Gap Creek, a distance of one and one-half miles south.
The nearest post office would be Garniers three and one-half
miles in an eastward direction from the proposed site. Mary
Esther was listed as the post office on the same route, four miles
distant. The nearest post office not on the same route was listed
as Camp Walton, five miles by traveled road in a southeast
direction.

A letter from the Post Office Department, Washington D.C.,
to John W. Brooks, relative to a proposed office at Wright,
Florida, referred to the site as being on the Mary Esther to Gattis
rural route, by which mail was carried three times a week. J.W.
Brooks completed the application blank requesting the office on
June 29, 1910. A post office at Garniers was in operation at the
time and Annie Weekly was postmaster at Howell. :

A questionare filled out by Ettie W. Rogers on March 26, 1915,
showed the location of the Wright Post Office as being in the
southeast quarter of section 32, township one south and range
twenty-four west. The paper was signed by Ettie W. Rogers as
Postmaster. Wright was then in Okaloosa County.

During the height of the industry, a number of post offices
were established at turpentine villages throughout that the area
that is now Eglin Air Force Reservation. These places have
become ghost towns, and they can be located on a map of
Okaloosa County. Apparently Howell and Gattis post offices
were at the same location on the west side of Live Oak Creek
about a mile north of the present bridge on the creek. The Gattis
Turpentine operations were there. After the demise of the

192

Pictures courtesy of
Mrs. Marjie Wyman,
Valpariso, Florida.

lige the area was converted into a sheep ranch. The fork of
tee and Turtle Creeks is still called the Gattis Fork
e writer was not able to determine the location of the

offices called Bryan, Pr i
, Pryor, and Banna. | believe that Rol i
the Ward’s Basin Area south of Milton. cca

Emily
Wyman

193


Florida’s Last Hanging

The murder of John Tuggle, Chipley automobile salesman, and the public hang-
ing of his killers, led to the establishment of the electric chair as a means of inflicting
capital punishment in Florida. Tuggle, who little more than two years earlier had
returned from World War I service, was murdered in eastern Okaloosa County while
en route home from Milton in his automobile. His body was found in the car in a
wooded area on July 4, 1921.74

An aroused group of Chipley businessmen, displeased with early failure to appre-
hend the killers, engaged former Washington County Sheriff Henry Farrior to work
on the case. Farrior had established a reputation for tracking down criminals, with
much of his success attributed to persistence, a knowledge of the area, its people and
of native psychology. He joined Sheriff Murdock Bell of Walton County at the scene
of the crime where Florida and Alabama officers were conferring. Noting that the car
had been headed east, and that the old and then little-used "settlement road" led from
the site of the discovery toward DeFuniak Springs. Farrior and Bell reasoned that the
killers followed that route afoot. They went the same way, stopping at a remote farm
house to inquire if any strangers had been seen walking past. The housewife said she
hadn’t seen but two a few days earlier - on July 4. She had never before seen one of
the men. She had seen the other, but couldn’t recall his name. He had been a sewing
machine salesman, shg said. Bell asked if the man’s name was Martin, and the
woman said that it was.

Farrior and Bell then went to DeFuniak Springs, where they found that Jake
Martin and Putnam Ponsell had spent the night before the murder at a boarding
house. Martin had registered from Waycross, Ga., and Ponscll from Brunswick.
Farrior and Bell then traced the men as they hitch-hiked through Chipley and Cot-
tondale and to Dothan, Ala., where the trail grew cold. They went on to Bainbridge,
Ga., which they learned had been Martin’s former home. After enlisting the aid of
Bainbridge officials, they went to Waycross, where they learned that Jake Martin had
not returned home. They also failed to find the man in Brunswick. The two investiga-
tors then returned by way of Bainbridge, where they found that the wanted men had
been arrested. Martin and Ponsell soon confessed to Tuggle’s murder.

The two men said they had been given a ride by Tuggle on the morning of July 4,
from DeFuniak Springs to Milton. They had left the Tuggle car at the Blackwater
River Ferry at Milton. Tuggle had told them he would be returning sgon. They
planned his murder, with robbery as the motive, while awaiting his return.

Martin and Ponsell were convicted and sentenced to die in what proved to be
Florida’s last public hanging. About 5,000 people, the biggest crowd ever to assemble
in Crestview up to that time, showed up for the hanging. Special coaches were re-
quired for those who came by train to witness the spectacle. Newsmen reported that
a carnival atmosphere prevailed.

The public execution of the two men on the double gallows brought some stinging
criticism from thé press and the public - not at the penalty, but at the manner in which
it was imposed.” Making what was perhaps the most eloquent protest was the Rev.
I. I. Roberts, spiritual adviser to the men before their execution. These are excerpts
from his statements:

" 1 think that a public execution of human beings in the face of a morbid crowd 1s
the most demoralizing, inhuman and unnecessary thing that can happen to any

306

community. Wo
unconscious of ji
gaze of thousand
God knows, it is
"I realize we
tardly deed as th
give them time \
sake of our boys
take my boys to
The repulsio
impact on public
the execution of
at the state priso

Joyce Laver
the knife-slaying
the crime after sf

She was sent
subsequently die
the slaying on th¢

Toole was 4
former assistant
Washington Cou
Toole. Her tc
Sheriff Dan Bro
Mrs. Leaty Hicks

Miss Taylor,
ed "along with a
The other "perso
than Miss Taylor

The bizarre
cab was found at
Toole’s body was
reported finding
signs of a strug
Chipley.

Nearby bush
desperate strugg]
marked the poss
signs indicated th
ly stuffed into tk
doned.? Tracks
the abandoned c:

Alex N. Plea
that Toole and tt


judge.

criff for permis-
laining that he
urt order direct-
mplied with the
hearing. Judge
ated to me that
onners," Farrior

supreme Court)
d jury. "When
parently didn’t
ild be obtained
1¢ Bonners."

1. When court
»wen appointed
vas prejudiced,"

1 jury," Farrior
his attention to
Buford that J.
imed bailiff. I
he needs of the
) me that some
yrrupt the jury.
ild they hire so

of circumstan-
1eriff. "Despite
rosecution re-
amendation for
onment. That
‘ontrol thereaf-
es."

yunty came into

er served from

ng been named
ficers had been
Council. Cook

four-year term,

en George W.

enlisted in the Confederate Army at age 17. He was one of three men who at differ-
ent times commanded Company H (Washington County Invincibles), 4th Florida
Infantry, to return home after that war. And he came without his left arm, lost at
Murfreesboro, Tennessee. John W. Cook’s wife (George W’s. mother) was Mariah
Russ Cook. od

After the war, George W. married Elizabeth Jane Gainer, granddaughter of
William Gainer, of Econfina. He and Elizabeth Jane made their home first at Orange
Hill, but moved to Chipley soon after it was established. He owned a sawmill and
cotton gin at Chipley and was the town’s first mayor.

George W. and Elizabeth Jane Gainer Cook had ten children, Lonnie, Mittie,
Jessee, William, Tom, Bob, Walter, Annie, Lucile, and Jennie.

Lonnie’s son, Russell, was in the electrical business in Chipley for most of the
first half of the 20th Century. He married Mattie Kathryn Ellison, and they had three
children, Martha Jean, Samuel Russell, Jr., and Angelina, who grew up in Chipley.

George W. and Elizabeth Jane Cook’s daughter, Annie, was the wife of L. D.
McRae, Chipley attorney and longtime state attorney. Her sister, Lucile, was Chip-
ley’s first telephone operator. She married Stephen E. McGeachy, Chipley farmer-
druggist, on December 28, 1904, but died September 22, 1908. They had one daugh-
ter, Una, who married James V. Lewis.

Theron Cook, who was elected for a four-year term as sheriff in 1972, said he had
not been able to establish any relationship between himself and the earlier sheriffs
named Cook.

Sheriffs Named Watts

Washington County has had a sheriff named Watts for 23 of its 144 statehood
years. First of the three was L. D. Watts, who held the office from 1881 to 1885. Next
was L. D’s. cousin, Thomas Y. Watts, who served from 1886 to 1893, and the third
was George Watts, Jr., grandson of Sheriff Thomas Y. Watts.

George Watts, Jr., held the office for three successive terms totaling 12 years. G.
W. Watts, Sr., father of George Watts, Jr., had been the county’s tax assessor from
1943 to 1949. Another of their kinsmen, Thomas M. Watts, had been a county
commissioner for several years during the post-War Between the States Reconstruc-
tion period.

T. J. Watts, another member of the public service-oriented Watts family, played a
dominant role in the 19th and the early years of the 20th Centuries in bringing tele-
phone service to Chipley and several other communities, from the Alabama-Florida
line to the Gulf of Mexico.

George Watts, Jr., and his wife, Nell, had two sons, George III, and Ben, and a
daughter, Sarah. Both George III and Ben are graduates of the U. S. Military
Academy, and Sarah is a teacher at Chipley’s Roulhac Middle School. George III is
associated with a Boston, Mass., publishing company, and Ben is secretary of the State
Department of Transportation. Ben’s wife is Gardis, daughter of Hubert and Sybil

Cope of Chipley.

305


tives; and Hutchison was to become a state attorney and later a circuit judge.

Hutchison and Weeks, as attorneys for the Bonners, asked the sheriff for permis-
sion to talk to their clients in the county jail. Farrior refused, explaining that he
hadn’t finished his investigation... The two defense attorneys got a court order direct-
ing the sheriff to produce the prisoners before the court. Farrior complied with the
order by bringing the prisoners before Circuit Judge D. J. Jones for a hearing. Judge
Jones released the Bonners under bonds of $500 each. "That indicated to me that
Judge Jones thought that I didn’t have much of a case against the Bonners,” Farrior
recalled.

State Attorney Rivers Buford (later chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court)
came to Vernon to check on the cases to be brought before the grand jury. "When
Buford came to the Bonner case, he observed that Judge Jones apparently didn’t
think much of it," Farrior recalled. "I told Buford that evidence could be obtained
from about 30 witnesses and that I thought I had a good case against the Bonners."

"We’ll put it before the grand jury," said Buford. "And he did. When court
convened, the defense had me disqualificd as sheriff and had Will Bowen appointed
as acting sheriff during the trial. The defense lawyers claimed that I was prejudiced,"
Farrior said.

"The Bonners were indicted, and I helped Buford pick the trial jury," Farrior
recalled. "I stayed with the state attorney all through the trial, calling his attention to
points that might otherwise have been overlooked. I recommended to Buford that J.
R. Moody (whose home was at Red Head, south of Vernon) be named bailiff. I
didn’t think Moody could be fixed. It is a bailiffs duty to take care of the needs of the
jurymen and to see that they are not tampered with. It appeared to me that some
money was being spent on the case, and I didn’t want any of it to corrupt the jury.
Some money was being spent, all right," he said. "Otherwise, how could they hire so
many lawyers?"

"The 30 or more prosecution witnesses were used to weave a web of circumstan-
tial evidence that hopelessly entrapped the Bonners," said the former sheriff. "Despite
the brilliant efforts of the defense attorneys, the testimony of the prosecution re-
mained unshaken. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, with a recommendation for
mercy. Judge Jones sentenced each of the defendants to life imprisonment. That
ended the feud, except for smoldering embers that were kept under control thereaf-
ter. But the trial took its place among the county’s most memorable ones."

Farrior, who had been first elected sheriff in 1913 (the year Bay County came into
existence), was reelected to a second term that ended in 1921. He later served from

1925 to 1933 and from 1941 to 1945.

3 Sheriffs Named Cook

John W. Cook was Washington County’s first elected sheriff, having been named
after Florida achieved statehood in 1845. Prior to that time, county officers had been
appointed by the governor, with the concurrence of the Legislative Council. Cook
served a two-year term.

In 1872, John W. Cook’s son, George W., was clected sheriff for a four-year term,
of which he served about three Reconstruction Era years.

The Cooks made their home near Vernon prior to the war, when George W.

304

enlisted in the ¢
ent times com
Infantry, to ret
Murfreesboro, ’
Russ Cook.
After the v
William Gainer
Hill, but move
cotton gin at C
George W.
Jessee, William,
Lonnie’s sa
first half of the 2
children, Marth.
George W.
McRae, Chipley
ley’s first teleph
druggist, on De
ter, Una, who m
Theron Coc
not been able ti
named Cook.

Washington
years. First of t
was L. D’s. cous
was George Wal

George Wat
W. Watts, Sr., fe
1943 to 1949. ,
commissioner fo
tion period

T. J. Watts,
dominant role in
phone service lo
line to the Gulf ¢

George Wat
daughter, Sarah
Academy, and Sz
associated with a
Department of 1
Cope of Chipley.


e public hang-
ns of inflicting
irs earlier had
1 County while
in the car in a

ilure to appre-
arrior to work
criminals, with
its people and
ty at the scene
ng that the car
road" led from
isoned that the
a remote farm
sewife said she
re seen one of
been a sewing
artin, and the

und that Jake
at a boarding
ym Brunswick.
ipley and Cot-
to Bainbridge,
ting the aid of
ike Martin had
> two investiga-
anted men had
6

rning of July 4,
he Blackwater
ig sgon. They
boy

t proved to be
ver to assemble
aches were re-
n reported that

t some stinging
nner in which
st was the Rev.
se are excerpts

orbid crowd is
happen to any

community. Women and children fainting, others laughing, and swearing, hundreds
unconscious of just what is really going on... while two men are standing before the
gaze of thousands who regard such occasions as a picnic or a place of amusement.
God knows, it is enough to make angels weep.

"I realize we must do something with criminals who have committed such a das-
tardly deed as these men have committed...but if we are going to execute them, let’s
give them time to repent and make peace with God...And for God’s sake and for the
sake of our boys and girls...let’s do this behind closed doors...Personally, I would not
take my boys to see a public execution for all the wealth in West Florida..."

The repulsion, expressed so eloquently by the minister, may well have had greater
impact on public opinion than he had expected. Florida soon thereafter provided for
the execution of condemned prisoners by electrocution under non-public conditions,
at the state prison at Raiford.

Reluctant Witness Becomes Defendant

Joyce Laverne Taylor, 21, who once testified that she had been a lone witness to
the knife-slaying of James Dolphus Toole on May 15, 1950, was herself convicted of
the crime after she refused to repeat her earlier testimony before a jury.

She was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released several years later. She
subsequently died, thus ending the possibility that anyone would ever be convicted of
the slaying on the basis of her testimony.

Toole was a 36-year-old taxicab driver, and Miss Taylor was a waitress and
former assistant to Dr. G. W. Carter, Chipley physician. Both she and Toole were
Washington County residents. So was Ambus Peel, who Miss Taylor said she saw kill
Toole.” Her testimony was given in the presence of State Attorney Mercer Spear,
Sheriff Dan Brock, County Judge Sam D. May, Deputy Sheriff Howard Roche and
Mrs. Leaty Hicks Taylor, mother of the witness.

Miss Taylor, who was first charged with being an assessory to murder, was indict:
ed "along with a person or persons unknown," on a charge of first degree murder.
The other "person or persons” remained unknown in a legal sense, and no one other
than Miss Taylor was ever indicted in the case.

The bizarre case drew wide public attention early on May 16, when Toole’s taxi-
cab was found abandoned just outside Chipley beside the Chipley-Campbellton road.
Toole’s body was later found inside the trunk of the cab. Someone a short time later
reported finding a blood-spattered shoe and a broken-off butcher knife blade and
signs of_a struggle beside the highway on Orange Hill, nine miles southeast of
Chipley.

Nearby bushes were smeared with blood, and broken branches indicated that a
desperate struggle had taken place. A pool of blood about 75 feet from the highway
marked the possible spot where Toole’s throat had been slashed. Tracks and other
signs indicated that the body had been dragged to the highway, where it was apparent-
ly stuffed into the trunk of the taxicab and driven to the place where it was aban-
doned.?’ Tracks there indicated that at least one man and a woman had walked near
the abandoned car.

Alex N. Pleas, owner of the taxicab, had notified Sheriff Dan Brock early May 16
that Toole and the vehicle were missing. The resulting investigation led to the discov-

307

cry - and a chal-

, Was its overseer
'y of the marshal.

s, but a lingering
appearing in the
‘ntury. A few of
idents involving
icd, the eventual
e of any person

ourt jury of the
s ago. The trial
nicide,

ith his wife near
items, commit-
stable. Baxter is

Vernon for the
‘corge Morrell,
_ E. D. Schmidt,
lons.

John J. Jacobs,
the lower edge

of all his money
-d to this place
dale, where he

| deserted from
He, no doubt,
an’s noose was

wmill up there.

day afternoon
*. Chance, one
about. At the
t of justifiable

C. G. Allen, at
f B. B. Brown,
it five feet, six

inches high; weight, 155 to 160 pounds; is selfish looking; had black mustache; has a
scar on underside of left wrist from a knife. -- W. R. Gainer, Econfina, Florida.

Jan. 4, 1902 - On the night of the 24th (of December), Money Jones gave a festi-
val (in Wausau) and Lige Cotton and James Carter had a spat and used their knives
freely. In the meantime, one Abraham Potter came up and gave Cotton a pistol, tell-
ing him to shoot the rascal.

Cotton ran back a short distance and shot at Carter, but missed him and killed his
wife. Judge (Joel) Wells and Sheriff (J. A.) McKeithen then went to the scene early
next morning, summoned a jury and held an inquest. Abraham Potter is in jail as an
accessory, but Cotton made his escape.

August 4, 1904 - One of the most terrible murders ever committed took place a
few days ago near Caryville. Ed Henry, working in the turpentine business, was killed
with an axe, carried to the Choctawhatchee River and dumped into the water with a
sack of sand tied to his leg.

The body, however, arose and was discovered. A coroner’s inquest was held and
the verdict rendered to the effect that Hezekiah Savage, Adam Flowers and Joe Wil-
liams committed the awful deed.

The parties accused were immediately arrested and a preliminary hearing was
held. Adam Flowers was released, the other two implicated waived examination and
were committed to jail in Vernon.

August 17, 191(?) - One of the most horrible crimes ever committed in the county
came to light Saturday afternoon when the body of Mr. P. H. Clemmons, an old citi-
zen of this county, was found in Choctawhatchee River, just below the railroad bridge
at Caryville.

Mr. Clemmons had been missing several days, supposed to have gone on a fishing
trip the week previous. He was found near his boat stripped of all his clothing. His
neck was broken, several bullet and knife wounds were discovered at the coroner’s
inquest, which was held Sunday afternoon... The remains were carried to the family
graveyard at Westville for interment.

June 29, 1939 - Doyle Williams, 22, was cut to death by his uncle, H. L. (Boy)
Williams, in a fracas about a cow that had broken into the fields of the uncle. The
coroner’s jury returned a verdict of self-defense.

January 14, 1937 - Babe Reed was killed four miles south of Caryville. He was
shot with a gun and then beat over the head with a board. It is believed the perpetra-
tor of the deed will be caught.

August 3, 1905 - From a letter to Mr. T. D. White we learn that Marshal (Arch)
Watson passed away at the home of his brother, at Avant, Alabama, near Georgiana.
He died about 5 p.m. on the 19th and was buried next day at the old family cemetery,
among all his departed relatives. Our town lost a good, faithful officer, and it is with
many regrets that his host of friends have learned of his death. The bereaved daugh-
ter and other relatives have the sympathy of all the people here. (A prisoner shot
Watson when he opened the Chipley jail door to give the prisoner his dinner.
Someone presumably had given the prisoner a pistol).

June 16, 1910 - W. J. Coxwell of Millville was shot and killed by his son, J. J.
(Jeff) Coxwell, Saturday night. A difficulty arose between the father and son during
which the son is said to have drawn a pistol and fired three times; the first shot went
wild, the second struck the old man in the hand, and the third reached his heart,

causing death almost instantly.


aoe

SIXTEEN

Crime and Punishment

Slave Smuggling Fiasco

Eight men of African origin, found working on Joseph R. Croskey’s Econfina
Plantation in Washington County in May, 1837, were taken into custody by Samuel R.
DuVal, U.S. Marshall. DuVal identified them as Peter, who soon died, and Sam,
Jim, Coogar, Milo, Larkin, Tony and Harper.!

They couldn’t speak or understand English, according to DuVal. "Two of them
are tattooed upon their cheeks and two of them had their front teeth of the upper jaw
filed to a point," he said. DuVal added that the one named Milo "says that he is from
Africa, that he was brought here from Havanna, & he is the only one who has ac-
quired any knowledge of the English language - and the Negroes appear to be of
different African tribes and will not associate or eat together."

Importation of slaves into the United States had been prohibited since 1808.2
Penalties also had been provided by the Florida Territorial Council for importation of
slaves into Florida, and for ferrymen and bridge tenders to allow them passage with-
out the permission of their master.

Croskey had identified himself as the owner of the Africans when he conducted
them across East St. Andrews Bay by way of William Loftin’s ferry (in the general
area of today’s DuPont Bridge), en route to Croskey’s plantation.” Loftin, a former
Jackson County sheriff, reported their passage to U. S. authorities, prompting
DuVal’s visit to the plantation.

A subsequent investigation disclosed that the Africans had been brought from
Havana to St. Josephs Bay aboard the Emperor, a 72-foot schooner, of which Charles
G. Cox was master. Aboard also was Paul de Malherbe, a Frenchman residing in
Florida and partner with Cox in the smuggling venture. Ming be drowned, after
helping ferry the Africans ashore during the night in a small boat.

Croskey later explained his involvement by saying the accidental death of his
friend, de Malherbe, had prompted him to take charge of the Africans. Croskey was
Washington County’s member of the Florida Legislative Council in 1838, the year in
which the Florida Constitutional Convention began in St. Joseph.” He was editor of
the Apalachicola Courier in 1839-1840, however, indicating that he had moved his
residence from Washington County to Franklin County. His 280-acre Washington
County plantation was advertised for sale in 1843, and he then or soon thereafter
apparently departed West Florida.”

Both Cox and Croskey were indicted, but Cox was released under bail of $400
and no trial records seem to be available for either man. Cox, following a voyage to
Havana, showed up with the schooner at Pensacola, where the boat was seized by
Port Collector Robert Mitchell. The boat was sold at auction on orders of the court,
with the money being divided equally between the U. S. Government and Mitchell.
But what future had in store for Sam, Jim, Coogar, Milo, Larkin, Tony and Harper,

283


onetime involuntary Washington County residents, remains a mystery - and a chal-
lenge for some resourceful researcher.

Robert C. Adams, whose home was near the Croskey plantation, was its overseer
and had charge of the Africans until they were taken into the custody of the marshal.
Otherwise, their fate remains unclear.

History of Violence

Court records are not available for all of the county’s earlier years, but a lingering
frontier custom of gun-ownership and violence is reflected by reports appearing in the
Chipley Banner from about 1895 through the first half of the 20th Century. A few of
the many such reports are summarized here as examples of incidents involving
murder or related violence. Because these are otherwise unconfirmed, the eventual
disposition of the case in question, including the guilt or innocence of any person
named, is not always known from an official source:

June 1, 1895 - James M. Allen was found innocent by a Circuit Court jury of the
murder of J. T. Pippin. The murder occurred in Chipley, seven years ago. The trial
was a hard-fought one, with the defense claiming it was justifiable homicide.

June 1, 1895 - James M. Baxter, who was captured at a camp with his wife near
Iola, was brought to Vernon for trial for allegedly stealing numerous items, commit-
ted suicide by cutting his throat. He used a razor stolen from the constable. Baxter is
believed wanted in Alabama for murder.

May 30, 1899 - R. U. Harrell was convicted in Circuit Court in Vernon for the
fatal shooting of P. H. Carter on the streets there. Jurors were George Morrell,
Thomas Collins, E. C. Barker, J. L. Russ, L. D. McFatter, J. L. Grant, E. D. Schmidt,
John Sturrock, R. B. Hayes, J. L. Jackson, C. Cochran and S. W. Simmons.

May 31, 1902 - Cowardly murder. On last Saturday night, Mr. John J. Jacobs,
who lived near here - his family yet does - was foully murdered up in the lower edge
of Alabama by a man by the name of Martin Gray, alias Collins.

Robbery was the motive, the murderer having robbed the victim of all his money
and pistol after having committed the crime. The murderer was traced to this place
Sunday evening or early Monday morning, and from here to Cottondale, where he
was arrested and held for the arrival of the Alabama officers.

When arrested he had three pistols on his person. He said he had deserted from
the army at Pensacola a few months ago and had to change his name. He, no doubt,
will tighten hemp (an allusion to the material from which a hangman’s noose was
commonly made).

Mr. Jacobs’ family lives near here, but he was off at work at a sawmill up there.
He received his month’s wages Saturday and was murdered for it.

December 15, 1904 - An unfortunate occurrence happened Sunday afternoon
about a mile north of town, wherein John Slay was instantly killed by E. Chance, one
of his nephews. We have not learned just how the killing was brought about. At the
preliminary hearing, Chance was discharged, the jury giving a verdict of justifiable
homicide.

December 15, 1904 - I will pay $50 for the arrest and delivery to C. G. Allen, at
Vernon, Florida, Willis Robins, alias Willis Gaincr, for the murdering of B. B. Brown,
Jr., on the 27th day of November, 1904. Description--a mulatto, about five feet, six

284

inches high;
scar on under:
Jan. 4, 19°
val (in Waus*
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ing him to s!
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wife. Judge ())
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August 4,
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the verdict re:
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August 17,
came to light ©:
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Mr. Clemn
trip the weck |
neck was bro
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June 29, |
Williams, in a |
coroner’s jury :
January 14
shot with a gun
tor of the deed
August 3, |
Watson passe
He died about
among all his ¢
many regrets th
ter and other re
Watson when |
Someone presu:
June 16, |
(Jeff) Coxwell, :
which the son |
wild, the secon
causing death a!

After the shooting, Jeff Coxwell made good his escape but a posse was at once
formed. Bloodhounds, when placed on the trail, followed it readily and speedily to a
house near the scene. But when the house was searched, no evidence of his presence
was found. They went to the scene of the tragedy a second and third time with simi-

lar result.
It was after the deputy sheriff had given up and had seated himself upon a trunk

that he found that he had imprisoned under him in the trunk the man for whom he
had been searching.

Whiskey and women are said to have been the cause of the murder.

October 5, 1895 - On last Saturday night the Negroes at the turpentine still of Mr.
J. R. McColskey, just outside the corporate limits of the town, had a festival (and
were, we suppose, tolerably well loaded) at about 11 o’clock a row got up among them
and about 25 or 30 shots were fired. When the smoke of battle cleared away there
was one dead...and the lights all out.

A coroner’s jury found that the deceased came to his death from gunshot wounds,
fired by unknown parties...The...killed was struck by a .38 caliber Winchester ball.

June 2, 1900 - Last Tuesday morning our city was thrown into a stale of excite-
ment by what at one time was thought would be a riot. The excitement grew out of
the killing of a Negro man and woman at Lewis’ Still on Saturday night. It seems that
ever since the "scrap" occurred, some of the Negroes had been restless and wanted
revenge out of someone, and when Mr. Lewis went out to his still Tuesday morning,
they endeavored to mob him and one of his men, a watchman.

They escaped from the mob and came into town as fast as possible. The Negroes,
being foiled in their attempt there, pursued them into town, being well armed it
looked for a few minutes like serious trouble was imminent, but by the timely inter-
vention of Sheriff (C. G.) Allen and a few others, they were disarmed and placed in
jail.

Sheriff Allen then organized a posse and went out to the still and brought in
several others who were implicated. Altogether he placed 15 in jail and notified
Sheriff (James) Finlayson at Marianna, to come for them, which he did!

July 6, 1933 - It seems that Charley Tharp, who was quarterboss in Caryville, and
also acted as a deputy sheriff at that place, had shot and killed Mr. Joe Brock and his
son, Fred, and he received a fractured leg and was carried to a Dothan hospital.

It seems that Tharp went up to Brock and remonstrated with him about carrying
a pistol and things happened fast, for when the smoke of battle had cleared away, two
were dead and he himself wounded. Funeral for Mr. Brock and his son was held at
Bethel Sunday morning, and a very large crowd was present.

May 21, 1908 - To my friends in Washington County and near relatives of Carl
Russ:

I want to correct a falsehood that was reported on me one day before the elec-
tion. Carl Russ was shot and killed by a Negro Sunday the 17th of this month, and his
friends tried to phone me so I could go and help get the murderer.

The message was received at the Central (telephone) office, but they refused to
let me know anything about it; but still my political enemies reported that I received
the message and refused to go, which is wholly false...

Mr. Hope, the man who attends the (tclephone) exchange at night, told me that
he received the message in the first part of the night but would not let me know of it,
which could have been done within two minutes. The message was kept from the

286

early part of Su:
Vernon demande

You can rea
sent out to injure
favors shown me
the one that told
longtime politic:
phone company).

Oct. 22, 193:
Thursday night.
degree murder a;

July 26, 1906
Cole Gainer, livir
were brought int:
was discharged, }

John and C\
Wednesday and
Vernon and cam:
ing.

May 19, 1911
morning, about s
killed Whitt N. E
the scene of the |
him in jail.

As to the ine
as there were no
Harper had indu!
Everett’s farm.

July 3, 1947
death by Game \
with first degree
tenced to 20 year:

Jan, 28, 1932
with the death of
in jail here Tuesd
gation.

Riley’s muti:
crushed, both ley:
over him, but the:

Charles Rich
when officers lear

Jan. 7, 1926 -
southeast of Chir
It seems some bx
raise a rough hou

Sheriff Farric
and Joe Farrior.
set-to Sheriff Far

‘, to perform the
; term as sheriff.

.appy duty might
1c office without

: married only a
© in the commu-
non, the county

rother of John
ch mob in 1916.

nin 1971, but a
(901 executions,
ic hangings. He
ic for the hang-

ir coffins.
iat July 5, 1901,

plied a combina-
ic of West Flori-
credit belonged

man’s body was
i remember the
( 36 years ago.

omeone came to
‘. "We got some
in there several

commissioners
he board. The
letective.

( been given a

» work with the
cn the detective
‘sy and told him
ery On my own."
said. "I can’t ex-
.. But I searched
‘es searching for
c observed, "that
» in our area had
iues," he said. "I
3 point."

"The more I traveled, the more discouraged I got," said the former sheriff. "I
could find no trace of a missing woman in Holmes, Bay, Washington, Jackson or
Walton Counties. I was working on the case day and night," he recalled. "I didn’t
even remove my clothes to sleep from the time I started the search until the murderer
was caught." ™

Farrior told how he finally returned to Vernon and took another look at the cloth-
ing removed from the woman’s body. She was poorly clad, except for a silk waist or
blouse. The former sheriff said he observed some faint signs that some threads had
been removed at one point. "I came to Chipley to see State Attorney Ira Hutchison,
who owned a magnifying glass. With the help of the glass, we examined the blouse
more closely."

"We saw where we believed the letter ’A’ had been stitched into the blouse. The
letter was faintly outlined by small needle holes in the garment. It was then about 10
p.m. Judge Hutchison and his brother, Aubrey, went with me to Bonifay, following a
wisp of a clue," Farrior continued. "It had occurred to us that the blouse was a more
expensive item than the other pieces of clothing - -and maybe it had been given by
someone else, someone with an ‘A’ as an initial."

"My intuition or something directed me to Chauncey Alford, a prominent Bonifay
businessman. We went to Alford’s home about midnight," said Farrior, "to see if he
or Mrs. Alford could identify the blouse. Mrs. Alford didn’t at first, but, with the aid
of a magnifying glass, she recognized it as one she had given a year or two before to
Isaac Hand’s wife. Hand, at the time the blouse was given, had lived near Bonifay,
but had moved away in the meantime."

"Our next problem was to locate Isaac Hand," Farrior recalled, noting that at
"about daylight that morning, we found a man who said Hand had moved to Georgia.
Relatives in Holmes County were questioned, but reported that Mr. and Mrs. Hand
had recently visited the area but had returned to their home in Georgia."

"I got Aubrey Hutchison to carry me in his car that day to Donalsonville, Geor-
gia. Jackson County Sheriff Jim Lewis joined us in Marianna. Jim and I decided to
call Sheriff Jack Howell from Donalsonville," Farrior recalled. "Howell met us at a
place near Blakely. We gave him a description of Hand, and he remembered having
seen such a man. Howell led us to the place where he believed Hand was staying. It
was a log house, deep in the wilderness."

"We found out from the landlord that Hand was sleeping in a room at one side of
the house. We made the arrest quickly," Farrior said, "and sure enough it was Isaac
Hand. We left there about 2 a.m. and got back to Vernon with the prisoner the next
morning. It was the seventh day after the woman’s body had been discovered in the
well."

"I was worn out, and I went to bed," said the former sheriff. "It was the only sleep
I’d had outside an automobile or buggy during the entire seven days and nights. Next
day, I told Isaac there was no question in my mind about his guilt. Finally, he broke
down and told me the whole story. He said he had left Holmes County, where he had
been visiting his wife’s relatives, to return to Georgia. He and his wife, he said, re-
turned by way of Cottondale (where they spent the night in an abandoned house) and
went on to Neal’s Landing on the Chattahoochee River."

"Hand said, at the landing he turned the horse and buggy around, retracing their
route to Chipley and then went on south to Vernon, where the murder was commit-
ted. Hand said he choked his wife to death and then threw her body into the well,"

~ 293


Farrior continued. "Hand said he and his wife had been quarrcling.”

"Harry Wells, later chairman of the State Road Board, was one of the defense
attorneys. J. N. Daniel might have been the other man, I don’t remember," he added.
"They got some doctors from Chattahoochee (home of Florida State Hospital) to
examine Hand, and he got a life sentence. He used insanity as his defense. Hand
never explained why he came back near Vernon to kill his wife before going on to
Georgia alone," Farrior couldn’t recall what became of the detective the commission-
ers had hired?

Wildlife Officer Slain

John Roberts, 40, a wildlife officer, and his son, Marion, 17, were gunned down
by Caleb J. Clark, an aged squirrel hunter, on October 16, 1934, in Northwest Wash-
ington County. The officer had warned Clark at least twice against hunting out-of-
season, but he had made no arrest because of the man’s advanced age. Upon being
told on the October 16 occasion that he was under arrest, Clark reacted almost in-
stantly by fatally shooting Roberts. He then turned the gun on Roberts’ son, who was
accompanying his father in an unofficial capacity.

Clark shot the younger Roberts twice, once with birdshot and once with buckshot.
But the younger man lived several hours, finally firing a threc-shot distress signal from
his own gun in an effort to attract help. Ernest Worthington and Dewey Howell
responded, finding Marion mortally wounded and his father dead. Marion told the
two men that he had seen Clark shoot his father and himself and then, after apparent-
ly satisfying himself that he had killed them both, took his squirrels and departed the
scene.

Marion Roberts died soon after being carried to Chipley for medical attention.

Clark’s wife told investigating officers that her husband had told her, upon reach-
ing home with the squirrels, that he had killed two men. She said she refused to have
anything to do with the squirrels and that he fed them to his hogs.

Sheriff John P. Harrell arrested Clark, who was later convicted and sentenced to
life imprisonment for the murder of Marion Roberts.

The aging Clark, whose near-senility and emotional status was emphasized by
defense attorneys, had won a jury recommendation of mercy. Rumors were widely
circulated at the time to the effect that someone with a grudge against Roberts had
persuaded the old man to shoot the wildlife officer who had warned him earlier
against hunting out-of-season.

The rumors failed to materialize as evidence, however, but they had not been
forgotten 55 years later by relatives and friends of John and Marion Roberts. Randall
Roberts, son of the slain officer and brother of Marion, said early in 1989 that he was
convinced that such a conspiracy did take place. He said he had reason to believe that
the "real murderer" had used the aging and possibly emotionally upset man to
become his working tool in the matter.

Randall Roberts acknowledged that his father, as a law enforcement officer,
Caryville constable, Washington County deputy and onetime candidate for sheriff, had
possibly made enemies in the discharge of his duties or political activities, but that his
investigation had pointed to one prime suspect. But he said the suspect died many
years ago.

294

Henry M. F
during much of t
office. That was t
five terms were nq
stopped running fi

Henry was th
who had moved h
parents to Chiple
and John (brothe
about the same ti

- County, Alabama.

Henry, who sf
dawn of the 20th
dianna Belser Far
James, John, Inda
in 1913 and made
more times than a

In 1907 Henr
Langston. Henry
Dudley Langston,
Charles Dunn an
Shuler, who capp
County Judge. H
salesman, Depart
officer and private
ing sheriff and se

A small town
series of sensatio
neighboring count
background of the
of the area’s resid
the subsequent eff

The disagreen
1910, in Barfield’s

"On Monday 1
sion, resulting in tt
The killing was do
began firing. No w
shooting. After t
stopped by Marsha
over to county aut
coroner’s jury was


|
WASHINGTON
Florida's Twelfth County
By E. W. Carswell

Editorial, Layout and Design By Dale Cox,
Sue Cronkite and Catherine Carswell
Photographs by C. E. Pleas and David Carswell

Illustrations by H. Hammond ,
Property of |
brary

Houston-Love Memorial Li!
Dothan, Alabama


e of the defense
mber," he added.
ate Hospital) to
defense. Hand
fore going on to
the commission-

re gunned down
Northwest Wash-
t hunting out-of-
ge. Upon being
acted almost in-
rts’ son, Who was

ce with buckshot.
tress signal from
1 Dewey Howell
Marion told the
1, after apparent-
and departed the

ical attention.
her, upon reach-
> refused to have

and sentenced to

s emphasized by
nors were widely
inst Roberts had
‘ned him earlier

cy had not been
Roberts. Randall
1989 that he was
yn to believe that
ly upset man to

rcement officer,
'e for sheriff, had
‘ities, but that his
ispect died many

A Legendary Sheriff

Henry M. Farrior, Washington County Sheriff or a candidate for that office
during much of the first half of the 20th Century, served five four-year terms in that
office. That was the longest any of the county’s sheriffs had served prior to 1989. His
five terms were not successive. It was often said, with some justification, that he never
stopped running for the office, that he enjoyed the contest, regardless of the outcome.

Henry was the son of James M. Farrior, brother of Dr. Joseph Rutledge Farrior,
who had moved his medical practice to Chipley in 1886. Henry had moved with his
parents to Chipley also when the town was in its infancy. Henry’s uncles, Frank, Will
and John (brothers of James M. and Dr. Joseph R. Farrior) also moved to Chipley at
about the same time. The Farriors had moved to Florida from near Clayton, Barbour
County, Alabama.

Henry, who started his law enforcement career as Chipley City Marshal near the
dawn of the 20th Century, was the youngest of the six children of James M. and In-
dianna Belser Farrior. His brothers and sisters were William Thomas (Happy Tom),
James, John, Indabel, and Frances Idelle (Delle). He started his first term as sheriff
in 1913 and made his last bid for the office in 1950, having been elected and defeated
more times than any sheriff up to 1989.

In 1907 Henry married Jahaza Langston, daughter of T. E. and Jennie Gainer
Langston. Henry and Jahaza had eight children, Henry M., Jr., who died in infancy;
Dudley Langston, Bernice Aline, Douglas Daniel, Edward Buckner, Reuben Arnold,
Charles Dunn and Indianna Belser. Indianna Belser became the wife of Arthur K.
Shuler, who capped his career as an attorney by serving two terms as Washington
County Judge. Henry’s interests also included farming, drugstore operating, furniture
salesman, Department of Transportation employee, restaurant operator, corrections
officer and private investigator. But they were all secondary to his interests in becom-
ing sheriff and serving in that post.

Bitter Fruits of a Feud

A small town feud generated bitterness that led to murder and subsequently to a
series of sensational murder trials that captured public attention in Washington and
neighboring counties for several years in the early part of the 20th Century. Basis and
background of the feud, as well as the chief feuders, soon became vague in the minds
of the area’s residents. Not so easily forgotten was the murder of Sid Barfield, and
the subsequent efforts of Ike Whiddon to beat the murder charge in the courts.

The disagreements between the two men came to a dramatic climax on August a,
1910, in Barfield’s Chipley store. The Chipley Banner reported four days later:

"On Monday morning about 9 o’clock, four pistol shots rang out in quick succes-
sion, resulting in the death of Sid Barfield and I. L. Whiddon being taken into custody.
The killing was done in the Barfield store. It seems as Whiddon just walked in and
began firing. No words were passed between Barfield and Whiddon at the time of the
shooting. After the shooting took place, Whiddon stepped off a few yards, but was
stopped by Marshal (Henry) Farrior, who arrested him, disarmed him and turned him
over to county authorities, who later carried him to Vernon and placed him in jail. A
coroner’s jury was summoned, four witnesses examined and after deliberations, they

295


Southern Publishing COmpany, Delray Beach, Florida, 1965S. Page 245.
*Shofrier, Jerrell H., Jackson County, Florida - A History, Jackson County Heritage Association, Marian-
‘ »na, Florida, 1985. Pages 391-393.
‘Ibid.
“Ibid.
Note: A copy of the Tom J. Watts letter to Governor Napoleon B. Broward is on file in Special Collec-
tions, John C. Pace Library at the University of West Florida, Pensacola.


low days after the
nd part of one leg

cident, but without
for a campaign
ceo found.
ise Of the fire are
-roward on Octo-
ict camp burned in
lard on duty, and
‘ere cremated,"

| with their lives,
burned condi-

{ one of the men,
soroner’s inquest
ucory was "gener-

»nly used by rail-
| and that of the
charging him with
ay, and was com-
\ Strong case was

aty commis-

ic to bring the

‘ract on grounds
smber, failed to

amp was in poor
(o investigate.
id for the men."
‘he convicts will

misde-
| that he

saw Glassco enter the guard room immediately before the fire;
heard two heavy blows; saw the fire flame up, Glassco run out of the
room and run away...

I am strongly of the opinion Jones was an accessory to this
crime. There is considerable evidence indicating as much.

The scene of this terrible crime is some ten miles from the rail-
road in the logging woods of the lumber company. There is much
yet to be learned in this case by careful investigation, and I am sure
you will appreciate the importance of looking into the matter fully.

The witnesses, some of them, have already scattered off - one of
the most important ones now being in Atlanta, Georgia.

Watts offered to conduct the investigation for the governor, but the governor’s
response is not readily available. The absence of information to the contrary prompt-
ed speculation that Governor Broward chose to rely on local elected officials, rather
than a private detective from another county, in his disposition of the case.

Jackson County Commissioner J. M. Barnes reported, after visiting the scene of
the fire, that it had been caused by carelessness. "Whiskey was very much in evidence
on the night of the fire," and the "guard being drunk probably caused the fire."

"I regard this as being one of the most horrible crimes ever committed in the
state," Watts said in his letter. "It is not only murder, but robbery and arson..."

The governor’s response, if one could be found, might explain his failure to inves-
tigate fully. It might thus dispel an appearance of insensitivity that lingers as possibly
the kindest description that can be given the governor’s reaction to the incident. With
equal charity, much of the same can be said for the reaction of local officials to the
incident and its aftermath.

After the leasing practice was ended by state law in 1923, the convicts were put to
work on county roads under the direction of county supervisors. For that purpose,
Washington County had built for $650 an 18-man portable cell, sometimes called the
"iron van."

It was moved by mule-power from place to place around the county to house
convicts near their work sites. John Harrell, the former Chipley Police Chief and
former Washington County Sheriff, recalled in 1955 that the "iron van" had remained
in use until possibly as late as 1932 or 1933.

The community of Aycock, between Chipley and Cottondale, vanished in the
1920’s following completion of the area’s virgin pine tree harvest. The sawmill was
dismantled. A few old masonry machinery mounts remained to suggest that there
once stood on the site a large industrial plant. :

Not even a roadside marker along U. S. Highway 90, nor a siding along the
nearby railroad, preserved the community’s name. But the Aycock fire of October 7,
1905, did. It had intensified a movement that led 18 years later to the end of Florida’s
convict leasing system.

Notes and References

1Chipley Banner, week of October 12, 1905S.
~Tebeau, Charlton W., and Carson, Ruby Leach, Florida from Indian Trail to Space Age, Volume 1,

315


SEVENTEEN
Aycock

"One of the most hornble crimes"

A tragic fire brought national attention to Aycock, a sawmill community east of
Chipley (and to a controversial convict leasing system then practiced) on October 7,
1905.

The community was just inside Jackson County. The fire occurred at an Aycock
Lumber Company naval stores camp, ten miles south of the Aycock community,
between Alford and Oak Hill.

The leasing system, initiated in 1877, permitted the leasing of convicts to private
employers. Although controversial, it was considered "good business" by many county
officials. The leasing contracts provided for the leaseholders (mostly sawmill and
naval stores operators) to be responsible for the welfare and safety of the prisoners in
their employ.

That arrangement relieved each county of the need for a large jail. The counties
also benefited from the leasing revenue, which added substantially to each participat-
ing county’s often depleted Road & Bridge Fund. The practice was often justified on
grounds that the prisoners were simply being made to repay their debts to society for
the offenses they had committed.

Some of the companies welcomed the chance to lease the convicts, a practice that
came under attack for reasons that included allegations that convict-labor was syn-
onymous with slave-labor for which the county got insufficient pay. It was also
charged that contractors had an unfair advantage over competitors in that the convict
labor tended to depress wages for common labor. Instances of cruelty and neglect
also were occasionally reported. The practice was also condemned because it includ-
ed no rehabilitation effort on behalf of the convicts.

The leasing practice had come under fire several times elsewhere. Critical press
attention had been directed to at least one convict camp near Caryville.

The Aycock fire occurred in a woodframe stockade, where the convicts had been
chained at the end of their day’s work. The leaseholders came under severe criticism
for allegedly neglecting their responsibilities regarding the welfare and safety of the
prisoners. The incident dramatized the issue by bringing convict camp conditions
forcefully to public attention.

Few, if any, people living in 1987 witnessed the fire that occurred 82 years earlier.
Some recalled hearing others tell, however, how the chained men were burned alive.

"I remember hearing how some of them climbed as far as their leg chains would
let them through the windows and begged witnesses to cut off a foot to free them
from their chains and from being burned alive," Keener Gilbert recalled in 1978.
Gilbert, a longtime Washington County Commissioner, was a lifelong resident of the
area where the incident occurred.

Gilbert himself couldn’t recall if anyone actually rescued any of the men in that

aa)


Next morning his body was found tied to the tree and riddled
with bullets. Saturday morning the Coroner impaneled a jury, went
out and viewed the body. The verdict of the jury was to the effect
that Bill Young came to his death from "heart failure," produced by
gunshot wounds inflicted by the band of unknown persons. The
Negro did not deny his guilt; furthermore, he was identified by Miss

Barrow.

Good Bye, Cap’n

Four men were hanged from a gallows, erected beside the turrented, two-story
brick Washington County Jail in Vernon on July 5, 1901.

Three of the men had been convicted of murdering one man, and the other had
been convicted of murdering another. Both the murdered and the murderers were
black. The four convicted men mounted the scaffold at the same time to be hanged.

Elbert D. Martin, who was 97 years old in 1970, and S. A. Dykes, who died
October 19, 1970 at the age of 96, were the only surviving members of the jury in 1966
when they were interviewed. Martin considered it a coincidence that his name was
drawn for jury duty in both trials. All of the members of each jury were white.

In the first trial, John Simmons was convicted of first degree murder. In the
second, Bill Williams, Henry Harrison and Belton Hamilton were convicted of first
degree murder. There was no recommendation for mercy. The penalty was death by
hanging. In that era, such hangings were carried out in the county in which the con-
victions took place. To the sheriff, as chief law enforcement officer, fell the duty of
being hangman or executioner. Circuit Judge E. C. Maxwell of the First Judicial
Circuit presided at the trials. J. W. Kehoe was state attorney and W. C. Lockey was

clerk of the circuit court.

a A Ps

Holmes Creek Just North of Vernon.

290

A. Pippin Ww:
Nicholas, G. W..
J. Wilcox, Malco

W. P. Richz
Williams and Be
Davis, a fellow t
Tiller, J. W. Ro:
Brock, J. H. Bro

Judge Maxw
ings.

Trial record
Simmons told ¢}
before being wo
gun with saving |

Martin reca!
a turpentine cam

As a drama-
murder trial an
practice was foll
Vernon hangings
in order to be on
routc and others

There had b
the prisoners as |
possibility, Sherif
at vantage points

The crowd b
arrivals continue
a.m., the four m
beside the buildi
scaffold, which st
last words," and ¢
speeches was adv
their final presen|

No effort wa
gallows saw the n
plunge to rope’s ¢
as sheriff a few n
ropes, with each :
and the black hox

With the ar:
each condemned

Then MckKeu

The men hun
J. Dawkins, the at
in plain, neat coff
After the bodies v
people that he h:

osse was at once
and speedily to a
‘e of his presence
d time with simi-

self upon a trunk
aan for whom he

ler.

entine still of Mr.
id a festival (and
st up among them
eared away there

_ gunshot wounds,
ichester ball.

a state of excite-
ment grew out of
zht. It seems that
stless and wanted
Tuesday morning,

vie. The Negroes,
ag well armed it
the timely inter-
ied and placed in

il and brought in
jail and notified
tid 12

; in Caryville, and
Joe Brock and his
an hospital.

im about carrying
cleared away, two
s son was held at

‘ relatives of Carl |

y before the elec- ~

his month, and his

ut they refused to
ed that I received

ight, told me that
let me know of it,

vas kept from the r

early part of Sunday night until 9:30 Monday morning, and then Dr. Coleman of
Vernon demanded that it be delivered.

You can readily see why this was kept a secret from me, when this willful lie was
sent out to injure me. I have not got the language to express my gratitude about the
favors shown me on the 19th Inst. Trusting you will know why this lie was told and
the one that told it, I am always the same, C. G. Allen. (T. J. Watts, a member of a
longtime politically-active Washington County family, was then owner of the tele-
phone company).

Oct. 22, 1931 - Curtis Lewis of Caryville was shot by William Burke at Vernon
Thursday night. We understand the coroner’s jury made a formal charge of first
degree murder against Burke.

July 26, 1906 - On Sunday the 15th John Roche, better known as John Bull, and
Cole Gainer, living on the south side of Holmes Valley, had an altercation. Shotguns
were brought into play. Roche’s wife got between them, and in some way John’s gun
was discharged, killing his wife.

John and Cole, both colored, were placed in jail Tuesday. Cole was let out on
Wednesday and Saturday, John had a preliminary hearing before Justice Sapp of
Vernon and came clear. Bad rum seemed to have been the cause as both were drink-
ing.

May 19, 1911 - One of the tragedies that occur ever and anon took place Sunday
morning, about seven miles south of town, when Lester Harper shot and instantly
killed Whitt N. Everett. Sheriff C. G. Allen was notified and he immediately went to
the scence of the tragedy and arrested Harper and carried him to Vernon and placed
him in jail.

As to the incidents leading to and why the murder was committed are not known,
as there were no witnesses to the shooting. Still it is known that Mr. Everett and Mr.
Harper had indulged in words on previous occasions, Harper being a tenant on Mr.
Everett’s farm.

July 3, 1947 - Sam D. Griffin, 16, son of Daniel Griffin, was reported shot to
death by Game Warden T. L. Griffin at Gap Lake. The Grand Jury billed Griffin
with first degree murder. Griffin was convicted on second degree murder and sen-
tenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Jan. 28, 1932 - Four men were arrested at a log camp near Caryville in connection
with the death of Murphy Riley, 25, an employee of the camp. The men were placed
in jail here Tuesday, while a coroner’s jury and county officers continued their investi-
gation.

Riley’s mutilated body was found on a railroad track early Monday. His skull was
crushed, both legs were cut off and one arm severed. Officers figured a train had run
over him, but they also found what they thought were knife wounds.

Charles Rich, Majors Norris, Clarence Hicks and Jerry Godwin were arrested
when officers learned they had threatened Riley Saturday night...

Jan. 7, 1926 - Sheriff Henry Farrior was called New Year’s night to Billy Brock’s,
southeast of Chipley, to arrest some boys who had created a disturbance at a dance.
It seems some boys named Shoope had tanked up on moonshine and proceeded to
raise a rough house, using their knives in carving up some of those present.

Sheriff Farrior was accompanied by Marshal (John) Harrell, John Neal Campbell
and Joe Farrior. The boys who had created the disturbance resisted arrest and in the
set-to Sheriff Farrior got some bruises and a pistol snapped in his face three times.

287


fatal before the
; arrest, however,
ut is now getting

1an hospital early
horities said the
g an altercation
Company. Kelly

some Negro rum
‘hn) Harrell went
ture.

d pretty soon the
‘rossed Alligator
on them to halt,
his windshield.

d one member of
ed and carried to

jas held by Peace
in self defense in
were not given in

ot George Parish
ywnsen was jailed

vas later incorpo-
ver reported seen
ed by his wife and
her husband and
r found.

led the rumor in
he daughter later
ined to name the

he informant dis-
a few years later,
rther evidence) to
ves unconvicted -

The Lynching of Bill Young

Little documentary information is available about a lynching that took place in
1901 near Chipley, then a frontier railroad town that had been founded 19 years earli-
er. The only documentation about this incident found locally in 1989 - or 88 years
after the lynching - was a newspaper account from the Chipley Banner, dated Septem-
ber 14, 1901. No eye-witnesses survived in 1989, and no investigatory or court records
could be found.

That may be explained by the absence of legal proceedings, such as a possible
grand jury indictment, a petit jury trial, the jury’s findings, plus sentencing or other
disposition of the case. It was through such proceedings then, as now, that the guilt or
innocence of an accused person was determined. In such proceedings, the accused
has an opportunity to confront his accusers and to present evidence in his defense.
The lynch victim in this case had no opportunity to publicly present any evidence in
his own behalf.

That may account for some of the varied accounts and rumors that have sur-
rounded the incident unto this day. Since no records could be found, this historical
account is being confined to this Chipley Banner report:

Last Friday evening Miss Barrow, the 14-year old daughter of
Mr. Cull Barrow, who lives about two miles southwest of Chipley,
was criminally assaulted by a negro brute, Bill Young, a turpentine
hand. At the time of the assault, Miss Barrow was at home by her-
self, save two or three little children, her parents being away in the
field at work.

The Negro picked his chance. Miss Barrow’s screams and the
screams of the little ones attracted the attention of Mr. and Mrs.
Barrow, who started to their home to see what was the matter, but
before they arrived the Negro fled. When Mr. Barrow found out
what had occurred he came to town as quickly as possible and let it
be known.

By noon a hundred men were scouring the woods to find him.
In the afternoon, T. J. Watts got information that he had gone
toward Cottondale; then he and Mr. Maris Sessoms and Section
Foreman Williams started that way on the handcar; they traced him
along to Cottondale, where they found him.”~ They arrested him,
placed him on the handcar and returned to Chipley, arriving here
about 5 o’clock.

A tremendous crowd met them at the depot and lynching was
freely talked, but the coolness on the part of some few saved him for
the time.”~ A short while after night crowds from the country began
to come in, and a posse composed of the citizens generally (but of
whom none are known) was formed and about 11 o’clock they
overpowered the guards, took the Negro and went toward the coun-
try with him.!” About a mile out on the Orange Hill road they
halted, lashed him to a tree, then three fusillades the likes of which
were never heard around Chipley before, rang out on the calm night
air.

289

Marshal Harrell was stabbed in the side, which came near proving fatal before the
loss of blood could be stopped. The sheriff succeeded in making the arrest, however,
and landed his prisoners in jail. Marshal Harrell had a close call but is now getting
along nicely.

Dec. 10, 1936 - Roscoe Law, 48, sawmill operator, dicd in a Dothan hospital carly
Saturday of pistol wounds in the chest and abdomen. Local authorities said the
wounds had been inflicted by Jesse Kelly, 40, employee, following an altercation
Friday afternoon. Law was a partner in the Hughes-Law Lumber Company. Kelly
was charged with first degree murder.

April 23, 1925 - Sheriff (Henry) Farrior had a tip Friday that some Negro rum
runners would bring in a carload Friday night, so he and Marshal (John) Harrell went
out on the Bonifay road to meet them and see if he could make a capture.

Leaving here after night they went out about Holmes Creek and pretty soon the
expected car passed and they started on a chase. Just after they crossed Alligator
Creek the sheriffs car passed the rum car and Sheriff Farrior called on them to halt,
but instead they began shooting at Mr. Farrior. The first shot broke his windshield.

Sheriff Farrior brought his shotgun into play at this juncture, and one member of
the rum party paid the price. The other two in the car were captured and carried to
Vernon and placed in jail.

The sheriff also secured a five-gallon jug of rum. An inquest was held by Peace
Justice Bridges and the verdict was that the sheriff killed the man in self defense in
the performance of his duties. Names of the alleged rum-runners were not given in
the news report.

December 2, 1899 - Early last Saturday one N. S. Townsen shot George Parish
near Vernon. Mr. Parish died from the wound a few hours later. Townscn was jailed

in Vernon.

‘Maybe the Gators Et Him’

A man, whose home was in a part of Washington County that was later incorpo-
rated into Bay County, disappeared without explanation and was never reported seen
again. There was a lingering rumor to the effect that he was murdered by his wife and
father-in-law. The father-in-law and his daughter allegedly killed her husband and
stuffed his body with poles into an alligator’s cave, where it was never found.

"Maybe the gators et him," speculated an informant who recalled the rumor in
1962, perhaps 100 years after the man’s disappearance. He said the daughter later
remarried and still later became an inn keeper. The informant declined to name the
victim or his alleged killers for publication.

Both the father-in-law and his daughter had died long before the informant dis-
cussed the rumor and its ramifications. The informant himself died a few years later,
but the rumor lingers, along with an honored pledge not (without further evidence) to
publish the names of the alleged murderers, who lived out their lives unconvicted -

and indictad only by a rumor.

Little doc:
1901 near Chip)
er. The only do
after the lynch:
ber 14, 1901. !
could be found.

That may be
grand jury indict:
disposition of the
innocence of an |
has an opportuni
The lynch victim
his own behalf.

That may ac
rounded the incid
account is being c:

Last
Mr. Cul!
was crim}
hand. Aj
self, save
ficld at w
The
screams <
Barrow,
before th
what had
be known.
By nc
In the aft
toward C
Foreman
along to ¢
placed hir
about 5 0’:
A trer
freely talke
the time.“
to come in
whom no!
overpower
try with hy;
halted, las!

were neve:
air.

After his retirement with the rank of Colonel, he came back to
the home of his late father and mother. He acquired a
considerable tract of land in the area. In 1925, he personally
surveyed and laid out the town of Navarre, presumably named
for a province in northeastern Spain or a town in France by that
name. He had the foresight to leave three-fourths of a mile of
waterfront as. park area, and a parcel was set aside for a tourist
court. That was the time of “Boom Days and Binder Boys” in
Florida. Many towns set aside areas where tourists of modest
means could camp, sleep in their cars, or in tents, and eat from
tin cans (hence they were called “Tin Can Tourist.) Tourists were
beginning to go to Camp Walton by boat, and Wyman knew that
the time would come when they would seek the less congested
places. He and his wife Marjorie often sat on the beach of Santa
Rosa Sound and dreamed of the time when a bridge would be
built to the Island. Their dreams have become a reality. June 14,
1975, the Holley-Navarre Chamber of Commerce held a festival
celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Navarre.
The celebration was held in the park that Guy Wyman had laid
out, modern in every respect, abutting on a beautiful concrete
bridge which spans the waters of the Sound. Honored at the
occasion where the widow of the late Colonel Wyman, Marjorie,
and their daughter and granddaughter. A half mile of the park
area reverted to the original owners because the county had not
developed it.

Colonel Wyman was employed by Johnson, Drake, and Piper,
contractors in building the Pensacola Bay Bridge in 1930 and
1931. At one time he was master of a sailing vessel, the GENOA,
which carried freight in the inland waters. After moving to
Valparaiso, Florida, he was employed as an engineer at Eglin Air
Force Base, and he later became the first Chief of Police of the
town of Valparaiso.-He was born May 21, 1878, and died April 15,
1953. :

200

Colenel Guy Wyman as a young Captain

201


with the defendants the day before and two days after the old
couple was killed. It was brought out at the trial that Percy and
Brady Roberts had been camping in the vicinity of the Powers
home for two weeks prior to the murders - sometimes sleeping
on the Powers’ porch.

In the meantime, Elder Mitchel had made a confession
implicating the other four defendants. Dozens of citizens of East
Bay were summoned as witnesses. Several who were character
witness for the Roberts’ brothers gave Elder Mitchel a bad name.
Over 200 pages of evidence were taken at the trial which lasted
three and a half days. The trial ended at 1:30 o’clock Saturday,
after eloquent pleas from the attorneys on both sides. The jury
deliberated for thirty minutes and returned with a verdict of
murder in the first degree.‘

On Monday morning, Judge Campbell sentenced the three to
be hanged. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court which
upheld the verdict of the Circuit Court.

There was a second trial for the murder of Peter Wyman. This
time John Barbaree was included as a defendant. W.W. Clark was
one of the defense attorneys in the second trial. The verdict was
murder in the first degree with a recommendation for mercy,
which automatically meant a sentence of life imprisonment. It
also meant that the three Roberts brothers would be hanged for
the murder of Emily Wyman and that John Barbaree would geta
life sentence because he was not tried with the three for the
murder of Emily Wyman. ‘

Elder Mitchel had not been tried after fourteen months.When
asked if he would like to see the others hanged, he answered
"Yes, if arrangements could be made.” W.W. Clark appeared
before the pardoning board and asked for the sentences to be
commuted to life imprisonment, pointing out the unfairness of
hanging three and letting the fourth, who was equally as guilty,
off with life sentence.

Lumber was stacked at the jail for builing the scaffold.
Petitions were being circulated for commuting the sentences.
Memories were short and many who were the most vehementat
first, had a change of heart and signed the petitions. Sheriff
Harvell had no stomach for the job of putting the men to death,
but he was prepared to do his duty under the law. An editorial in
a local paper accused him of signing the petition. This he
strongly denied in a letter published in the Milton Gazette,

198

December, 1916. Harvell explained that he was in Tallahassee on
other business and dropped in to see his old friend, Tom West
who was Attorney General and a member of the pardonin
board. The two discussed the situation, and on his return re
Milton, he wrote a letter to West pointing out that Jim and Brady
Roberts were under twenty years of age. He expressed his belief
that Barbaree and Mitchell had planned the robbery which
ended in murder, and that Brady Roberts who was one of the
three to be hanged, was not at the house when the gun was fired.

According to evidence that is before you ip the case -
it seems to me after serious consideration of the matter that
the only reasonable solution to the problem would be to
give them all a life sentence.

The Board of Pardons did commute the sentences. Elder
Mitchel was subsequently tried and also given a life sentence
After a number of years all had received pardons. Fifty years
later, while attending a funeral at Holley, a tall elderly man
approached me with outstreched hand and sajd, ”! am Brady
Roberts.” He told me that he had returned to Holley on a
business trip. | took his hand but did not mention the past

The bodies of Peter and Emily were sent back to their old
home in Ottawa for buiral. Both were octogenarians.

Guy H. Wyman returned from the Philippines six months after
the death of his parents. The elderly couple had believed in
reincarnation. They had told Guy that they would appear before
him after their death in their soundside home. When Guy came
back from his mission in the Philippines, he spent one night in
the house but nothing happened. The next day he burned the
house. He admitted later that he did not share his parent’s belief
that the dead would return to the earth.

Wyman acquired several hundred acres of land at Navarre and
developed Crescent Shores Subdivision. He sold the old home
place of his parents to Captain R.W. Slye, U.S.N., Retired, who
has made his home there since retirement. :

Guy H. Wyman was a versatile and energetic man. he was an
engineer and a skilled surveyor. He had a long career in the
United States Army, serving in France during the first World War
He was in the Philippines when his parents were murdered in

1915. He was the recipient of numerous medals for meritorious
service.

199


Chapter 31
Colonel Guy H. Wyman

Guy H. Wyman, a Captain in the U.S. Army, was sent to the
Navarre area in 1905, to survey the coast line between Fort
Barrancas and the East Pass at Destin. He brought his father, Peter
Wyman, with him. They secured board and room with Moses
Hudson who lived at Oriole Beach.

Peter Wyman, a native of Illinois, was enchanted by the beauty
of Santa Rosa Sound. He selected a site for ahome two miles East
of the present Navarre Bridge on what was the Robert Oglesby
homestead.’ Peter and Emily Wyman lived pretty much alone.
Bob Oglesby was their nearest neighbor. The Wymans enjoyed
their retirement and kept busy fishing and making a garden.
Most of what they used was brought from Pensaocla by boat. A
rack or platform had been built opposite the house near the
channel, in water deep enough for boats to tie up temporarily
for the purpose of leaving mail and items ordered by the
Wymans and Bob Oglesby. These items were retrieved by means
of arowboat which was kept at the small dock or wharf in front of
the Wyman home. The platform served another purpose - that of
fishing. . .

The serenity of old age and living out a natural life was denied
to Peter and Emily Wyman. On the night of June 15, 1915, both
were brutally murdered in their modest home.

The. road leading from the Oglesby house passed near the
Wyman Place. Bob Oglesby, on his way to pick up mail from the
platform, noticed that Peter Wyman’s horse had not been turned
out of the stall into the pasture and that their boat deliveries
were still on the platform. Oglesby felt that something was
wrong so he decided to investigate. When there was no response
to his “hello” at the gate, he advanced to the porch and called
again. Still no response. He mounted the steps and looked

through a bedroom window. A hideous sight met his eyes.
Across a bed was the partly decapitated body of Emily Wyman. In
the other bedroom was the body of Peter Wyman - his head also

ff by a shotgun blast.
Ue ee ictiers ries Brady, and Percy Roberts, lived on the
South side of East Bay. They were engaged in net fishing, moving
their boat to Santa Rosa Sound and back again from time to time

194

to coincide with the mullet runs. At the time of the murders, they
were based some two miles west of the Wyman place, near the
home of Andrew and Pharabia Powers where the mouth of
Williams Creek provided a convenient harbor to keep small
boats.

The Roberts family had moved to East Bay several years earlier
from Five Mile Bayou near Camp Walton, now Fort Walton
Beach. | had known the family since their arrival at East Bay and
thought them to be law abiding people. The father was a modest,
easygoing person who made friends among his neighbors. |
knew little about the mother of the three brothers except that
she was reputed to be the dominating member of the family.

Oglesby quickly spread the news of the murders, créating
great excitement in the community. Captain J.H. Harvell, who
had lived on East Bay 32 years before being elected County
Sheriff in 1912, immediately went to work on the case, with every
member of his staff participating. There had been no rainand the
bare footprints of four different persons still remained around
the house and to and from the beach. There were happenings
and circumstances that pointed to the Roberts brothers. One
track stood out because of a missing toe. People talked. Rumors
flew thick and fast. One resident reportedly stated that one of
the boys sat on her porch the day before the murder taking shot
from shotgun shells and replacing them with ball bearings from
bicycle wheels. She denied making the statement later under
oath. Jim Roberts took his gun and left his father’s house on the
evening before the murder. He told authorities that he was
watching his brother’s house.

Sheriff Harvell found Percy and Brady Roberts at the home of
Andrew Powers and walked them up the beach to the inquest.
Brady had a missing toe on one foot. When the sheriff placed
Brady’s foot in the track, holding his leg with both hands slightly
above the ankle, Brady slid his foot forward in an attempt to
destroy the track.2 At 3:30 p.m. the three brothers were placed
under arrest and carried to the Milton Jail, just four days after the
murders had been committed. Harvell was accompanied by two
local deputies, Oscar Bengston and Haywood Lowery. Two days
later, there were reports that mob violence was being planned.
Harvell removed the suspects from the Milton jail, hid them out
in the woods all night, then took them to the Pensacola jail. By
this time, two other local men, Elder Mitchel and John Barbaree

195


had been implicated and placed under arrest. After J.P. Roberts,

father of the Roberts boys, and A.L. Presley swore that the boys
were totally insolvent, the State appointed McGaha and
McDuffie as council for their defense. They were charged with
shooting Emily Wyman “with a shotgun with premeditated
design to effect her death.” John P. Stokes was State Attorney at
the time. | .

The motive for murder was robbery. The five went up the
sound by boat, which they beached near the small dock in front
of the Wyman house, where Elder Mitchel remained while the
others went to the house. They thought that a large sum of
money was kept in the house. Their intention was to rob the old
couple; however, they lost their nerves. Lights were burning in
the rooms and they shot the old people through the screens.

A small amount of money was taken and such things as
watches, silverware, and some jewelry. Some of the loot was
hidden in the bushes beside William Creek where it was found
and used as evidence at the trial.

An Alabama man by the name of White was in jail in Pensacola
charged with violating a local option law. Itseems that he had the
run of the bull pen so that he became acquainted with the
Roberts boys. He carried letters that Jim Roberts wrote Elder
Mitchel. Some of the letters were turned over to the Escambia
County Sheriff by White and they were produced as evidence.
On July 10, 1915, Jim wrote as follows:

Elder don’t tell nothing on me for I like you and if you tell all
you know on me, Perce and John, it will go hard on us. You
know you didn’t go to the house. You ought to have weni. |
am sending this by G.W. White.

Your old friend, Jim Roberts

And again the same day:

Hello Elder. How are you getting along? | am worried bad.
Elder | don't (sic) you will tell anything on me and Perce and
Brady. If you tell that | won’t never forget you. Elder you
know you would not go to the house that is the reason |
wrote this. Don’t tell that Elder for Gods sake don’t. John
said while he was at the house that the boy is going to tell
this Jim we ought to make him come on. Well I guess | will
stop for they might catch me writing and then | would be up
against it. | am sending this by White. He is alright | think.

196

Well Elder | am believing in you. Now (sic) forget me old
boy.

From
Jim Roberts

Another incriminating letter was given to the Sheriff by White:

Well Elder this is the last one | am going to write and now

Elder if you tel! this we wili put it on you for there is four

against one and you know that well. | don’t believe you are

telling what you know on us. John said you would tell it and

| said you wouldn't. Elder me and Perce done afl the work so

don't tell on us for God's sake. So | won't write no more.
Your old friend
Jim Roberts

A Grand Jury was convened and returned q true bill against
the five men. The Grand Jury was composed of M.M. Fisher, J.M.
Degger, Clerk, Otto Anderson (from Holley), B.P. Burnham,
W.O. Jernigan, Riley J. Coleman, Clark Colley (Holley), M.L.
Hudson, J.D. Peterson, C.C. Ware, and J.W. Conner. A special
term of court was called for July 12. The trial jury was selected
from over 100 veniremen. They were J.H. Plant, G.L. Abbott, J.W.
Weekly, J.H. Nichols, J.B. Wiggins, A.L. McArthur, C.D. Cooper,
E.M. Pitts, W.E. Stanley, and J.D. Mock. The defendants were
charged with the murder of Emily Wyman.

John P. Stokes, renowned as one of the best criminal lawyers
in the State, tried the case as State Attorney. Tom M. West, a
resident of Santa Rosa County and Attorney General for the State
of Florida, sat with Stokes.

Two uncles of the brothers, Dr. Roberts and his brother sat
with the defendents. Circuit Judge A.G. Campbell presided.

Robert Pierson was the first witness called. He tesitifed that he
dipped turpentine with Jim Roberts until four o’clock Tuesday
and did not notice anything unusual about his actions. He said

that he left him at his home about five o'clock and saw him the

next morning. Mrs. Ellen Powers testified that she saw Percy
and Brady Roberts several times on the day of the murders, that
theii boat was off the shore near Williams Creek both the evening
before and the morning after the murders.’ Phariba Powers
swore that she saw Percy and Brady Roberts about an hour by sun
the evening before the murders, and saw them poling off to fish
early the next morning. Henry McCormick testified that he was

197


Notes and References

Ipod, Dorothy, "The Schooner Emporer: An Incident of the Illegal Slave Trade in Florida," The Flori-

da Historical Quarterly, Volume XIII, Number 3, January, 1935. Page 125.
~Ibid., Pages 125-126.
‘Adams, James Truslow, Dictionary of American History, Volume V., Charles Scribner’s Sons, New
York. Page 92.
4 acts of the Florida Legislative Council, 1827.
SWest, G. M., St. Andrews, Florida, Panama City Publishing Company, St. Andrews, Florida, 1922. Pages
32-33.
Loftin was a Jackson County sheriff when Washington County was created in 1825. He retained his
office for the remainder of his term, although technically a resident of newly formed Washing-

ton County.

Dodd, Dorothy, "The Schooner Emperor....". Pages 124-125.

Morris, Allen, The People of Lawmaking in Florida, 1822-1985, and Cash, W. T., and Dodd, Dorothy,
Florida Becomes a State, Florida Centennial Commission, Tallahassee, 1945. Page 47.

sGommercial Advertiser, Apalachicola, Florida, February 4, 1843.

Dodd, "The Schooner Emperor....". Page 128.

McColskey’s still was then actually in Jackson County. Its site became a part of Washington County as
a result of a boundary change in 1915.

12The Lewis still was in a part of Jackson County that was later to become a part of Washington County

as a result of a 1915 boundary change.

3Use of the demeaning word "brute" seems to set the tone for the Chipley Banner account, which ap-

pears to justify the lynching.

4The writer fails to tell who Mr. Barrow reported to upon reaching town, prompting critics later to ask if
he talked to law enforcement officers or mostly to less responsible men encountered on the
streets.

A handcar was a small, hand-driven vehicle used by maintenance men for transportation along the
railroad. It was light enough to be removed from the rails to avoid being struck by an oncom-
ing train.

16rhe presence of a "tremendous crowd" at the depot (railway station) suggests that a mob atmosphere

had been created.

The placement of a single guard over the prisoner in the city jail (a wooden structure northwest of the
railway station) seems to indicate that law enforcement officers were either indifferent or failed

to recognize the danger from the growing mob.

18 account based on report, following the hangings, that appeared in the Chipley banner, plus interviews
with Elbert D. Martin, S. A. Dykes and Captain W. D. Ward in 1966-1971.

19 count based on an interview with Henry Farrior by E. W. Carswell, December 5, 1955.

Account based on Washington County Circuit Court records of the trials, plus trial reports appearing
contemporaneously in the Chipley Banner, plus the author's recollections of the reminiscences
of Sheriff Henry Farrior, Circuit Judge Ira A. Hutchison, M. M. Berry and A. L. Wells, all
senior citizens in 1957-1958.

21) nterviews with Henry Farrior, former sheriff, in April, 1962, and Lee McKeithen, lifetime Holmes

Valley resident, in June, 1967.

22 Washington County Circuit Court record of trials, 1911, stored in 1974 in courthouse basement.
‘Account condensed from reminiscences of Vernon steamboat captain W. D. "Dan" Ward in early 1961.
The Okaloosa Messenger, September 13, 1935, quoting "the exact story told in a newspaper published

by W. H. Mapoles, telling of the conviction and hanging of Jacob B. Martin and Putnam F.
Ponsell on September 22, 1921, for the brutal murder of John F, Tuggle on July 4, 1921..."
25 I nterviewJune 10, 1966, with Henry Farrior, former Washington County Sheriff.
Ibid.

2 pid.

28 Okaloosa News-Journal, August 22, 1957.

"bid.

11

1

15

310

30

Ibid.
Shipia,

Investigation, grand
among Was!
testimony t
Deputy Ro

herself. Mis:
33The Washington Cou}
Signed transcript of («
Washington County ¢
om Harrell, a Flori:
37 Orange Hill.
The Washington Cou:
Ibid.
bid. June 22, 1950
Washington County ¢
Ibid.
*2 Ibid.
4Sipia. Note: The auth
16, 1950, or a

and evidence


ery of Toole’s body. Joining Brock in the investigation were F. J. Jones, Chipley
Police Chief; County Judge Sam D. May, and Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant F. B.
Jordan. Other Pleas Cab Company employees recalled that Toole had answered a
call at 10 p.m. on May 15 and that they did not hear from him again. Another witness
reported having seen Toole’s taxicab on Orange Hill at 11 p.m. Officers considered
"robbery or hatred" as possible motives. They counted about 50 stab wounds on
Toole’s body and found 88 cents but no billfold in his pockets.

Judge May on May 16 impanelled a coroner’s jury, which rendered this verdict:

"James Dolphus Toole came to his death by an act of homicide, at the hands of
Ambus Peel and possible accomplices, and we commend that said Ambus Peel be
held for action of the grand jury at the next term of Circuit Court. Members of the
jury were T. D. Webb, A. W. McDaniel, C. A. Everett, H. L. Hargrove, W. P. Atkins
and Bruce D. Thomas. Dr. G. W. Carter, a Chipley physician, was in attendance.

Sheriff Brock reported on June 22, 1950, that Ambus Peel, who was also a Pleas
Cab Company employee, had been charged with Toole’s murder.” State Attorney
Mercer Spear reported that, in the investigation leading to the charge, Miss Taylor
had testified that jealousy was Peel’s motive for the murder. Both men had been
dating Miss Taylor, Spear said, and Peel allegedly told her that he would kill Toole
unless Toole’s interest in her ceased. She said that Peel had lured Toole from Chipley
on the pretense of a haul to Orange Hill and en route had attacked him.

The grand jury delayed action in the case "in order to allow the investigators more
time in which to discover and assemble better and more substantial evidence.""~ Peel
was released on bond, and Miss Taylor remained in custody at first but was later also
released on bond.

Miss Taylor, who later refused to testify against Pecl, was herself indicted, "along
with a person or persons unknown" on a charge of first degree murder. She was
afterwards convicted, largely on the basis of her earlier testimony, and sentenced to
life imprisonment. The grand jury that indicted Miss Taylor took no further action in
the case, explaining that "the evidence presented...was not sufficient to justify the
finding of an indictment against any person for murder." The jury in a closing state-
ment, citing Article V of the U. S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, said that if anyone
should be indicted for murder now and then be acquitted because of insufficient
evidence, he could not be tried for the same crime again, even though new evidence is
turned up.

Thirty-eight years had passed by 1988, and no new evidence had been publicly
disclosed, if found. Only a few coroner’s grand and petit jurors and others who inves-
tigated the case had survived. It seemed extremely unlikely, then, that the mysterious
circumstances that seemed to hover around the case would ever be clarified.

Members of the first grand jury to investigate were W. L. Dunn, foreman; H. C.
Johnson, W. B. Grantham, Pratt Monk, H. B. Gay, Olen Ferguson, G. C. Johnson,
Les Griffin, Jerry Gilley, G. I. Owens, Coy V. Land, Jesse Gainey, Tom Sansing,
Alton Owens, W. M. Jenkins, Green Bass, Ben Carter and G. D. Harrison.

Members of the second grand jury were Euless Watford, foreman; Roland
Fowler, Felton Porter, Albert Nichols, J. G. Bass, Brown Finch, Greenwood Smith, R.
B. Donaldson, J. T. Harrell, Milton Slay, Sanders Kent, Ross Deal, A. Q. Jones, Clyde
Nelson, Julian Webb, Dallis Ellis, Buford Brown and Vance Burke.4*

Members of the petit jury for Miss Taylor’s trial were Williard Enfinger, Jack
Boone, Early Peel, Royce Pitts, Vivian Collins, Willard Jernigan, Paul Smith, A. E.

308

Edge, Jr., Dan C
Davidson was an ;

The Spring ©
invariably in con
the moon.

In that era, ir
not uncommon f
row.

Bill Craven,
summoned seve
each time, in ord
His request was |

That was fru:
first place. He'd

He was eve:
accused of the i
Their trial would
they'd manage t
fendants would é

Farmer Meri
gained from his «
criminal lawyer, ¢
by "wearing the ¢

When Merce
infuriated at seei
Besides, it was c

That combin
judge started ex:

When he go
ing" request. Me
this particular jur
cre corn crop.

"I’ve gotac
judge, in substar
ants here, and w

"If you'll just
Mercer continue
corn when it sho

"Sit down,
because of prejt

Mercer, hap;
time of the moor


Jones, Chipley
| Sergeant F. B.
had answered a
Another witness
cers considered
tab wounds on

i this verdict:
at the hands of
Ambus Peel be
Viembers of the
ie, W. P. Atkins
itendance.
vas also a Pleas
State Attorney
2c, Miss Taylor
men had been
ould kill Toole
'c from Chipley

stigators more
idence." Peel
it was later also

indicted, "along
rder. She was
id sentenced to
urther action in
{ to justify the
a closing state-
| that if anyone
of insufficient
new evidence is

! been publicly
ners who inves-
the mysterious
ified.

foreman; H. C.
G. C. Johnson,
Tom Sansing,
On,

eman; Roland
“ood Smith, R.
). Jones, Clyde

Enfinger, Jack
11 Smith, A. E.

Edge, Jr., Dan Casey, V. T. Magghall, Bernard McWilliams and Joe Carr. Sanford
Davidson was an alternate juror?

COMMENTARY: '

How to Escape Jury Duty

The Spring Term of Washington County Circuit Court in earlier years was
invariably in conflict with "corn planting season," as designated by the phases of
the moon.

In that era, in which a cadre of solid citizens were chosen for jury duty, it was
not uncommon for a man to be summoned for such service for several terms in a
row.

Bill Craven, Chipley agribusinessman, recalls that Charlie Mercer was
summoned several times in succession. Mercer sought release from the duty
each time, in order to get his corn planted in what he regarded the proper season.
His request was always denied.

That was frustrating to Mercer, who wasn’t particularly fond of jury duty in the
first place. He’d much rather be at home planting corn.

He was even more frustrated by failure of the court to convict some men
accused of the illicit manufacture of alcoholic beverages and related offenses.
Their trial would invariably end in a mistrial, or on the basis of some technicality
they'd manage to get a new trial. At any rate, it seems that the same set of de-
fendants would appear on the trial docket each court term.

Farmer Mercer let it be known that he was also fed up by the knowledge,
gained from his own observations, that an affluent defendant willing to hire a good
criminal lawyer, could postpone paying the penalty for his crime almost indefinitely
by "wearing the case out" in the courts.

When Mercer made his next annual report for spring term jury duty, he was
infuriated at seeing the same defendants that he’d seen there several times before.
Besides, it was corn planting time.

That combination brought his anger to the boiling point at about the time the
judge started examining the prospective jurors.

When he got to Mercer, he probably expected to hear the usual “corn plant-
ing" request. Mercer responded, however, by saying that he wanted to serve on
this particular jury, even if it cost him the difference between a good and a medio-
cre corn crop.

"I’ve got a good reason for wanting to serve on this jury," Mercer told the
judge, in substance. "For the past three court terms I’ve seen these same defend-
ants here, and we all know they're guilty."

"If you'll just let me serve on the jury this time, | think we can convict them,"
Mercer continued. “Then they won't be here next time to keep me from planting
corn when it should be planted. They'll be in the penitentiary,” he promised.

"Sit down, Mr. Mercer," ordered the judge. "You’re excused from jury duty
because of prejudice in this case."

Mercer, happy at the turn of events, hurried home to plant his corn at the right
time of the moon for the first time in years.

309


in Florida," The Flori-

Jay’

Scribner’s Sons, New

s, Florida, 1922. Pages
1825. He retained his

>wly formed Washing-

and Dodd, Dorothy,
‘45, Page 47.
Washington County as
of Washington County
ier account, which ap-

1g Critics later to ask if
nm encountered on the

isportation along the
y Struck by an oncom-

iat a mob atmosphere

ture northwest of the
> indifferent or failed

aner, plus interviews

l 955
ial reports appearing
»f the reminiscences
y and A. L. Wells, all

ren, lifetime Holmes,

ise basement. .

* Ward in early 1961.
newspaper published

‘artin and Putnam F.

n July 4, 1921..."

30

Ibid.

Ibid.

Investigation, grand jury, trial and appearance records, along with Miss Taylor’s testimony, on file
among Washington County Circuit Court records in Chipley, Florida. Note: Miss Taylor’s
testimony transcript is certified as authentic by the signatures of Sheriff Brock} Judge May,
Deputy Roche, State Attorney Spear, Mrs. Taylor (mother of the witness) and the witness
herself. Miss Taylor also initialed each page of the transcript to signify its accuracy.

>3The Washington County News, May 18, 1950, Chipley, Florida,

Acioned transcript of testimony, dated August 4, 1950, on file in Chipley, Florida.

Washington County Circuit Court records for 1950-1951, on file in Chipley, Florida.

om Harrell, a Florida State Road Department employee, reported finding the possible evidence at
Orange Hill.

sre Washington County News, May 18, 1950.
es

Ibid.
ibid, June 22, 1950.
Washington County Circuit Court records for 1950-1951.

Ibid.

4b,

‘Sipia, Note: The author inspected the apparent crime scene on Orange Hill at about 9:30 a.m. on May
16, 1950, or about two hours after the blood-splattered shoe, broken-off butcher knife blade
and evidence of a struggle had been reported there.

31

41

311


Eight men
Plantation in W
DuVal, U.S. \
Jim, Coogar, M

They could
are tattooed up
filed to a point
Africa, that h¢
quired any kno
different Africa

Importatio
Penalties also h

‘slaves into Flor
out the permiss

Croskey ha
them across E2
area of today’s
Jackson Count
DuVal’s visil

A subsequ:
Havana to St. J:
G. Cox was ma
Florida and pa
helping ferry th:

Croskey !a!
friend, de Ma!!
Washington |
which the Flor:
the Apalachic:
residence from
County plantat
apparently dep

Both Cox a
and no trial. rec
Havana, showe
Port Collector |!
with the money

But what futur

Ps

1901 Vernon Hanging.

a
ng

the destruction of Hi
destroyed the town
War with Britain (Wa
also been fought afte

COMMENTARY:

Text is Available for Historic Markers
4
The Washington County Historical Society in 1976 attempted to co-sponsor .| ‘
the erection of historical markers in the county, starting in the Vernon area. Estab- ©
lishment of the markers was proposed by Ross Deal, Society president, as a
Bicentennial project in observance of the 200th birthyear of the United States.
Vernon’s City Council declined, however, to become a co-sponsor of one or
more of the markers and the proposal was withdrawn. Research for several
markers was completed and the texts were written, however, and that material |
remained available in 1989 for any civic or governmental group wishing to revital- |
ize interest in the community's rich and colorful historical background. A few |
sample texts are included below: i

This was a port :
ne steamboat Era.
Eighteenth Century |
for the limestone ca
fater Indians called |
balled it "Okchai Ha
americans named it
Witt nis followers int

= aa
: bie

VALLOMBROSA E

"Four men were
Washington Count
Sentenced to hang !
hanging of John Sil
Sheriff J. A. McKeit!
good bye" to each |
nem: "Good Bye, ©

Vallombrosa, located on the western end of the Holmes Valley escarpment,
provides a view of the lower reaches of Holmes Creek, including the area in which
it merges its water with that of the Choctawhatchee River. James Bright and
Nicholas Mitchell, who in the early 1820’s established homes on the brow of the
escarpment (later called New Hope Hill), are credited with naming the place for
Italy’s Vallombrosa, centuries-old home of the Vallombrosan Monks. It is located
some 10 or 15 miles southeast of Florence. That Vallombrosa, with a view similar
to that from its Florida namesake, is today a well-known resort.
© Vernon, county
Mamed for both M
county is named, ar
Fommunity’s first po
SEederal raiding f
64 Vernon was i

JOHN D. DYKES LYNCHED HERE

Greenhead Postmaster John D. Dykes, a onetime Populist and human rights
advocate, was lynched here on April 16, 1916. He was acritic of Floridalabor |
laws, which he contended helped some naval stores operators “perpetuate |
peonage, if not slavery." Dykes had embraced the Populist liberal philosophy |
advocated by Washington County’s A. W. Weeks, who had been a candidate for
governor in 1896. The postmaster was jailed here after being accused by a ~
coroner’s jury of the shotgun slaying of S. A. Walker, manager of a turpentine ©
workers’ camp. Dykes, within a few hours, had been dragged from the jail and ©
shot. A coroner’s jury found his killers to be “unknown.” They were never legally —
identified or punished.

hal
Vernon was on
shipped by steamb
hundreds of live go
scientific classificat
lands of the Southe<
ev. of gourmet stat
Yarnon stores. Ma
foyages to provide,
Stherwise drab men

HOLMES TOWN

Creek Indian Chief Holmes (Ekanchatte Mico) and his followers fled to this
Spanish Florida area in 1814, soon after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama. |
They built a town at a site believed to be near here. Gen. Andrew Jackson sent U.
S. troops, along with their Indian allies, in pursuit of the hostile Indians into West
Florida. David Crockett, a scout for the U. S.-Indian force, left a written account of


ie

"the destruction of Holmes Town. The U. S.-Indian force, led by Major Uriah Blue,
‘destroyed the town on January 15, 1815. Blue was then unaware that the U. S.
war with Britain (War of 1812) had ended and that the Battle of New Orleans had
also been fought after a peace treaty had been signed.

a =
E.

ted to co-sponsor = RIVERPORT VERNON
ernon area. Estab-
sty president, as a
United States.

-sponsor of one or
search for several
, and that material —
) wishing to revital- 7
ackground. A few ©

This was a port site near the navigational headwaters of Holmes Creek during
“the Steamboat Era. This earlier had been a longtime center of Indian activity.
Eighteenth Century Indians called the stream “Achatto" ("Stones There"), possibly
ifor the limestone cavities from which much spring water flowed along its course.
‘Later Indians called the stream "Weekaywee Hatchee" ("Spring River’). The British
‘called it "Okchai Hatchee" ("River of the Okchais") for the Okchai Indians. The
‘Americans named it and the adjacent valley Holmes, for an Indian chief who fled
; with his followers into Spanish Florida during the War of 1812.

‘GOOD BYE, CAP’N’

; Four men were hanged from a gallows, beside the turrented, two-story brick
| Washington County Jail here on July 5, 1901. They had been convicted and
» sentenced to hang for murder. As many as 5,000 people may have witnessed the
hanging of John Simmons, Bill Williams, Henry Harrison and Belton Hamilton.
Sheriff J. A. McKeithen, whose duties included services as hangman, called out
»good bye" to each of the condemned men, and got this firm answer from each of
lonks. It is located 7 them: "Good Bye, Cap'n."

with a view similar © 4

o: 4 : VERNON

Valley escarpment,
g the area in which
James Bright and |
on the brow of the |
ming the place for

Vernon, county seat of Washington County from 1850 to 1927, may have been
' ‘named for both Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, for whom the
‘County is named, and Vernon, France, native land of Stephen J. Roche, the new
community’s first postmaster. The post office was activated on January 11, 1851.
A Federal raiding force, retreating from Marianna, occupied the place briefly in
1864. Vernon was incorporated as a municipality in 1925.

t and human rights =
tic of Florida labor ™
rators “perpetuate |
liberal philosophy 7
en a candidate for —
sing accused by a
jer of a turpentine
d from the jail and
-were never legally

GOPHER-SHIPPING PORT

Vernon was once known as the "World’s Leading Gopher-Shipping Port."
| Shipped by steamboat to Pensacola almost weekly between 1885 and 1930 were
» hundreds of live gopher tortoises, which come under the gopherus polyphemus
| scientific classification. They have thrived for thousands of years in the sandy
"lands of the Southeastern U. S. Coastal Plains. Their meat was for years a delica-
cy of gourmet status in Pensacola. Gophers were accepted in lieu of cash in
Vernon stores. Many were resold in Pensacola to be carried to sea on long
voyages to provide, in the absence of refrigeration, fresh meat to supplement an
Hotherwise drab menu.

llowers fled to this |
oe Bend, Alabama:
aw Jackson sent U. |
2 Indians into West =
1 written account of |

165


ALABAMA
=S

\!

ss

“+

7

3

£ ¢

SANTA ROSA] COUNTY, FLORIDA.

ee Oe

——ne

In The
Panhandle

A look at selected events and families as

a part of the history of South Santa Rosa
County, Florida.

By
William James Wells
ABE - MA

Weber cor, y Ader

Copyright © 1976 by William James Wells.
Printed by Jerry G. Melvin, Melvin Business
Services, Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

A

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without
permission from the Author.

F
3/7

SY
Wey

<a


called upon to do again. He affirmed that he stood ready, however, to perform the
dutics of the office and would hang all he was compelled to during his term as sheriff,

Martin recalled that McKeithen, amid speculation that the unhappy duty might
have lessened his enthusiasm for the sheriff's job, later resigned the office without
completing the term to which he had been elected.

Martin didn’t attend the hangings, explaining that he had been married only a
short time and didn’t want to leave his wife alone "with everybody else in the commu-
nity gone to Vernon." His home was about eight miles north of Vernon, the county
seat at that time. Dykes, the other jury member interviewed, was a brother of John
D. Dykes, Greenhead postmaster who was the victim of a Vernon lynch mob in 1916.
His home was in the Miller’s Ferry community.

W. D. Ward, a retired steamboat captain still living in Vernon in 1971, but a
resident of Walton County’s Red Bay community at the time of the 1901 executions,
said that he and some companions walked to Vernon to witness the hangings. He
said the group was delayed en route by heavy rains and arrived too late for the hang-
ings, but they walked by and looked at the dead men as they lay in their coffins.

The Chipley Banner, in an account of the hangings, predicted that July 5, 1901,
would be "a day long remembered" in Washington County. 8

Solves Murder Case

Henry Farrior, a five-term Washington County sheriff, once applied a combina-
tion of intuition, reasoning and unrelenting determination to solve one of West Flori-
da’s most baffling murder mysteries. But he insisted that much of the credit belonged
to State Attorney Ira A. Hutchison, who later became a circuit judge.

It was near Vernon, then the Washington County seat, that a woman’s body was
found in an open, hand-dug well near an abandoned farm house. "I remember the
day well," Farrior recalled in early December, 1955. "It was about 36 years ago.
Those were the horse-and-buggy days in this area, you know."

"County Judge’s Court was in session that day in Vernon, when someone came to
notify me that the body had been discovered,” said the former sheriff. "We got some
help and managed to get the body out of the well. It must have been in there several
weeks. It had turned black and was badly decomposed. The county commissioners
were in session," he recalled. "Doug Campbell was chairman of the board. The
commissioners, at the request of some of the people, agreed to hire a detective.

"I went into the commission room and told them that I hadn’t been given a
chance and that they were spending money foolishly. I promised to work with the
detective, however, if they hired one. They hired one for $750. When the detective
showed up," Farrior recalled, "I extended him every possible courtesy and told him
everything I knew about the case. Then I started working on the mystery on my own."

"My intuition led me toward Bonifay and Holmes County," he said. "I can’t ex-
plain what it was, but something seemed to draw me in that direction. But I searched
elsewhere, é00," he added. "I rode all over the surrounding counties searching for
anyone who had even heard of a missing woman. You will recall," he observed, "that
we didn’t yet even know the murdered woman’s name. Since nobody in our area had
reported that any relative or acquaintance was missing, we had few clues," he said. "I
figured the best plan was to find trace of a missing woman as a starting point."

292

"The more
could find no |
Walton Count:
even remove m\
was caught."

Farrior told
ing removed fro
blouse. The fo:
been removed a
who owned a ™
more closcly."

"We saw wh
letter was faint
p.m. Judge Hut
wisp of a clue,"
expensive item |
someone else, s«

"My intuitio
businessman. V
or Mrs. Alford ¢
of a magnifying |
Isaac Hand’s wi!
but had moved a

"Our next p
"about daylight t
Relatives in Hol
had recently visit

"I got Aubr
gia. Jackson Co
call Sheriff Jack
place near Blak
seen such a miin
was a log house,

"We found o
the house. We :
Hand. We left ¢!
morning. It was
well."

"I was worn <
I'd had outside a:
day, I told Isaac |
down and told m
been visiting his
turned by way of

went on to Neal’s

"Hand said, :
route to Chipley
ted. Hand said |

McDuffie went to the telegraph office and talked to the
officials of the express company at Demopolis. He was asked,
“How many pistols were found on Rube?” McDuffie answered,
"Only one.” “There must be some mistake,” said the official,
“Rube had three when he crossed the Alabama River. What is in
the sack?” “Nothing but provisions,” answered McDuffie.
McDuffie then told the official that at least forty men were
quarding the jail and had it surrounded.

When Rube’s supper was brought in, his hands were freed so
he might eat. His hands were not tied again.

By midnight all had left the jail except John McDuffie, Jesse
Hildreth, and Frank Marshall.

About four o’clock Rube claimed to be hungry. He was told
that no food could be had at that hour and that he would have to
wait until breakfast was served at the regular time. He asked
about his grub sack and was told that Frank had left it on the
courthouse steps. Rube pleaded with McDuffie to let Frank
bring the sack, saying that he had some ginger snaps he would
share with the boys. The sack was brought and for about a half
hour Rube ate and passed around the ginger snaps. Suddenly he
reached into the sack and brought out a revolver which he
pointed directly at McDuffie saying that if he moved he would
kill him. McDuffie’s gun lay ona table beside him and Rube said
to Jesse; “Hand me that gun or | will blow your head off.” Jesse
obeyed. Rube then made Jesse unlock the shackles and place
them on McDuffie and Marshall. He then took the key to the jail
yard door and made Jesse go with him. He went looking for
Carter, who had his money and his rifle. after searching for about
an hour, he was told that Carter was at a store.

Rube knocked on the door of the store and made Jesse call
out loudly to Carter: “The express people have come and they
want you at the jail quick.” Carter appeared in the doorway and
Rube demanded: “Give me my. money and my rifle or | will blow
your head off.” Carter said, ” Allright.” Placing his hand on his hip
he came out with a pistol, but Rube fired first. The ball passed
through Carter’s shoulder just above the shoulder blade. Carter
returned the fire as Rube backed away, firing as he went. At
about thirty paces, Carter fired his fourth round and Rube
jumped high into the air and fell to the ground dead.

An inquest was held, after which the body was taken to
Demopolis, Alabama, where hundreds of people assembled to

78

view the remains of the “king of outlaws.”
An estimated one thousand people waited in Birmingham for

-the arrival of the train carrying the body. Phatographs were

taken of Rube in his casket with his guns beside him. Hundreds
bought the photographs. The body was shipped to Memphis
where his father, Alien Burrow, was waiting to receive it. :

The famous outlaw’s body was buried in the graveyard of
Fellowship Church at Vernon on the 10th of October, 1890

Rube’s pistols, belt, and marlin rifle were echibned at the
one of the Memphis paper where great crowds gathered tosee

m.

Willie Broxson, who as a boy had warned Rube Burrow of the
trap set for him at his father’s ferry landing, where the present
bridge crosses Yellow River, became a useful and civic minded
citizen. He told the story of Burrow many times to his children
and friends. | have recently talked with his brother, Richard
(Uncle Dick), about the Burrow incident. He told me about Rube
taking the shells from his father’s rifle. He remembered the color
of Rube’s oxen, one with a white head and the other with a blue
head. Also, he remembered their names, “Mack and Brandy.”

The identity of Rube Burrow was not known to the people of
East Bay until after the detectives made their appearance there in
pursuit of the outlaw. So ”Mr. Ward” made friends by his friendly
disposition and the frequent jokes he was adept in telling. After
his identity became known, most residents were either afraid to
expose him, or regarded him as a sort of hero; perhaps a second
Jesse James.

Many stories were circulated about the exploits of Rube
Burrow. Some were true; however, many were not. Although he
was an expert marksman, few of the stories about his
markmanship were true. My father worked as a cook at the log
camp where Rube was engaged in hauling feed. Ellis Colley also
worked there. Ellis was an expert marksman and challenged
Rube to shoot against him. Rube was reluctant to do so but
finally agreed. He centered a target the size of a silver dollar at
seventy-five paces. The contest was so onesided that no one in
camp ever challenged him again.

A recent story in a local paper about Rube winning a hundred
dollars in a shooting contest at Milton, Florida, is, in all
probability, without foundation in fact. Rube crossed the
Blackwater ferry at Milton, December 17, 1889, and became

79


John Barnes went to the Wells home on Prairie Creek and
pretended he wanted to join Rube. Wells arranged a meeting
between the two on a certain day. Rube did not remember
Barnes but was suspicious and did not appear.

Rube slipped away from Prairie Creek. On the night of
September 1, 1890, he robbed the Louisville and Nashville train
at Flomaton, Alabama. Only $256.19 was taken from the express
car. This was the first time Rube had staged a robbery alone. This
was his eighth robbery. He went back to Prairie Creek and found
the country swarming with detectives. Several days after the
Flomaton robbery, he crossed into Alabama and stopped at the
home of John Barnes for breakfast. Barnes recognized him as the
man he had taught to saw logs two years before. He was afraid
that Rube had come to kill him because of his activity in Santa
Rosa County in trying to trap the outlaw, but Rube did not
recognize Barnes. According to Agee’s account of the incident,
Barnes managed to send for a neighbor to help him capture
Rube, but no one answered his urgent request. Mrs. Barnes
prepared food for Rube to take with him and he paid her well.

Recently, | visited Mrs. Nettie Stafford at Wright, Florida, who
was a baby in the Barnes home at the time Rube stopped for
breakfast. Nettie married John Stafford in 1910. John was our
neighbor and worked for my faher. He was a stepson of George
Broxson and lived at Buckeye, a short distance from my father’s
home. Nettie Stafford told me that when she grew up her father
told her about Burrow, and how heaided in the capture. She said
that Barnes’ brother was visiting him at the time. They went out
of the house on some pretext and discussed a plan to take Rube
while he was eating breakfast. The brother was to hit Rube witha
pan of dishes that sat ona table behind him, and John Barnes was
to grab him at the same time. When a movement was made
toward the dishes, Rube swung around with his rifle across his
lap. The plan failed and Rube left the house with his grub sack
well stocked.

Soon after the departure of Burrow, John Barnes rushed to
Casselberry and sent the following telegram to Detective
Jackson: “Ward, the man you call Rube Barrow, ate breakfast at
my house this morning. He left going north by way of Repton.”
The chase was on again. Rube eluded his pursuers for several
days. All plantation workers had been alerted and instructed to

be on the lookout for the outlaw.

76

When Rube entered Marengo County, many of the
inhabitants had been deputized and were watching for him to
appear. He entered an abandoned cabin and built a fire. A black
man by the name of Jesse Hildreth saw the smoke and, on
entering the cabin, found Rube asleep. When awakened, Rube
told Jesse that he was looking for work and asked Jesse to go and
get him some coffee. Jesse went away; however, when he saw
Rube preparing to leave, he went back to the cabin and
pretended to try to sell Rube his horse. Rube did not want to buy
a horse but asked the way to Blue Lick. Jesse offered to go along
and show the way. They left the cabin with Rube riding Jesse’s
horse. About noon it started to rain and Jesse suggested that they
stop at the house of Gerald Ford, who had another black manasa.
visitor. Rube, being hungry, decided to stop. While dinner was
being prepared another colored hand, Frank Marshall, rode up
to the house. When Jesse went out to meet him, he quickly told
Marshall that the fugitive was in the house. At the same time they
saw two of the white deputies, McDuffie and Carter,
approaching the house on horses. Jesse and Marshall walked
down the road to meet the two horsemen and told them that
Rube was in the cabin. McDuffie and Carter could not approach
the cabin without being seen through an open field. They sent
Jesse and Marshall back to the cabin to seize and overpower
Rube.

It was raining and Rube began to wrap his rifle in a piece of
oiled cloth. Jesse suggested that he wrap the gyn for Rube and
upon handing it back to him purposely dropped it on the floor.
Rube quickly stooped to pick up the gun and Jesse wrapped his
long, strong arms around him. A struggle ensued in which
Marshall joined. Jesse was barefooted and Rube was stomping
his bare feet with his heavy shoes. Rube bit into Marshall’s
shoulder with his teeth.

Carter and McDuffie heard the commotion and ran to the
cabin and held Rube on the floor while his hands were being
tied. A colt revolver and $175 was found on his person.

The capture was made about one o’clock p.m, eighteen miles
from Demopolis, Alabama. Linden was only nine miles away and
was a county seat. It was there that Rube was carried. Reaching
the jail just at dark, they found that the sheriff was away with keys
to the cells. They carried Rube toa room in the jail and put heavy
irons on his legs and fastened them to the floor with chains.

Eo


engaged at Allen's log camp soon after. Detecti

ve Jackson was six

weeks behind him and could not have been in Milton on
Christmas day. Rube stayed alive as long as he did by avoiding
public places. He very seldom slept in a house.

Agee, in his life of Burrow, condemned my grandfather for
harboring the outlaw. He characterized Wells as an unsavory
character who had harbored many criminals. My grandfather
was paralyzed in one side from a snake bite and walked with the
help of a walking stick. He died in 1895. | have never heard of any
other criminals in South Santa Rosa County that he could have

harbored. '

“King of Outlaws”

Rube Barrow in casket.

80

All previous reward circulars issued by this Agency, referring to this
robbery are annulled.

Wt. A. PINKERTON, Gor, Suey.

ras WESTERN DIVISION,
CHICACO, ILLS.

Y
a ‘ RY oR Ayr 4
Roe A, Precerron, Gur. surr, eee AN DE Pr ks
GAL ARAN PE

EASTERN DIVISION, RF We fos ALS. PIER
W YeERK. ie tw Re) oe Zo, J) J,

if

s ie, hy - e ra
; PGs ho » Wr muvtnautt? oe” if I
Lins Ausn Princeton
* PeiLADEL PHA: New Yoan: Boston; SY. Pau Ocnver:
Ab SOUTH THIRD BTALET 68 EXCHANGE PLACE, 42. & 44 COURT BTALLT, #9 TO 64 UNION BLOCK, 162 OPERA HOUSE BLOCE
R, J. LIMDEN. Suet Geo. D. Banas, ver. dJOHM CORNISH, bet. W.d, LOADER, Burr Cras. O. Eames, duet
ATTORNEYS FOR THE AGENCY.
r® v Bunn, Cricaco, Iie Crsnance A, Sawanc, New Yorn Lewis C. Casmoy, PrnscrLena

se $700 REWARD,

REUBEN HOUSTON BURROW alias RUBE BURROW = charged with highway rob.
lery, having, with bis brother, JAMES BUCHANAN BURROW . ang others, wearing mask« on
the night of FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1887, boarded the north bound train on the St. Louis, Ar-
knnaus & Texas R. R. at Genoa Station, Ark., and compelled the mesenger of the SOUTHERN
EXPRESS COMPANY to surrender the keys of his sufe, which they rifled of %3,900, James
Buchanan Burrow and three others of the robbers, have since been arrested.

In an attempt to arrest Reuben Burrow and Jim Burrow in Montgomery, Alabama, on
January 23, 188%, Reuben Burrow shot Mr. Neil Bray, a componitor on the deertiser, who ad been
called on and was aiding the officer in his arrest. :

DESCRIPTION.
REUBEN HOUSTON BURROW ix about 32 years of age, 6 fept in height, weighs about Tao

pounds, blue eyes which do not look a person full in the face, round head, wears 7] hat, full: forehead,
face broad under the ears but thin near the month, short, inclined to pug-shaped nose, swarthy or sandy
complexion, light sandy huir, thin light moustache, uxes Hair Vigor to darken hair; left arm isa little
shorter than the right, caused by having been broken at bend of arm; rather a lounging gait, carrying
his hands in his pockets in # leisurely way.

Usually wears dark clothes and woolen shirts, a No. 8 boot, but no jewelry. Does net use to
lueeos drinks, but not to excess; doex not gamble, but can play the game of sxeven-up; ix somewhat of a
country story teller, relating stories of snake, dog and cat fights, ete. Is a good horseman, carries a 45-
calibre pistol and is a good shot.

Ie was born in Lumar county, Alabama, is married, and has two children who are new with his
father in Alabama. is wife is residing with her father, Mr. Hoover, yt Alexandria, Alabama. Te
resided for 14 years in Wise and Erath counties, Texas; has worked for thy Mexican Central R. R., and
ix a member of the Masonic fraternity.

‘The Southern Express Company, aud the St, Louls, Arkansug and Texas Railroad Co.
have jointly offered a reward of Five Hundred Dollars (8500), aud jn addition the Governor of
the State of Arkansas has offered u reward of Two Hundred Dollars (8200) for the arrest, de-
livery to the authorities of the State of Arkansas, and conviction of Keuben Houston Burrow

Send information to
C. T. CAMPBELL,
Supt Texas Expresa,
Texarkana, Ark.

Or to any Superintendent of
Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency,

At Elther of the Above Listed Offices.

Wit. A. PINKERTON, General Superintendent Western Divisign, Chicago, Il).
Chicago, February 20, 1888.

81


Gulfview Hotel which they owned. About 1915 a Church
building named St. Mary’s was completed on First Street.

Bilowery Baptist Church, later spelled “Billory.” The picture was
taken around 1904. Although the picture is faded, the author can
be seen in his father’s arms in the front row.

176

Chapter 28
Marius Martin Davis

There were three Davis families living in Santa Rosa County, in
or near Mary Esther, in 1880. They were Martin Marius Davis,
born in Alabama in 1836; Thomas Davis, born in Alabama in
1834; and William (Billy) Davis born in Alabama in 1838. Their
parents were born in South Carolina. They were living in the
vicinity of Cracker’s Neck shortly after the Civil War, Marius M.
Davis enlisted in Company ”E” First Florida Infantry in April, 1861,
and was mustered out April 4, 1862. He reinlisted the same
month. William Davis enlisted in the same company March 11,
1862.!

The wife of Thomas Davis was named Margarette, born in
Mississippi in 1836. Their children were: James born jn Florida in
1859; William and Willis (twins) born in Florida in 1861; Martha
born in Florida in 1863; Margarette born in Florida in 1869; and
Mary born in Florida in 1871.

The wife of William was named Savannah (probably Savannah
Donaldson) who was born in Florida in 1845. Their children, all
born in Florida were: Harmon born in 1860; Jesse born in 1865;
Joseph born in 1867; Priscilla born in 1872; Susan born in 1875;
and Jefferson born in 1878. Many of these names were familiar to
the author in the early years of his life.

More familiar to me was the family of Marius Martin Davis,
whose second marriage was to Nancy Donaldson at Mary Esther,
"North Station.” The ceremony was performed by Reverend
John Newon July 13, 1869.2 Nancy was the sister to my maternal
grandmother, Saphronia Donaldson Lowery.

Children of the first marriage were: William J. born in 1862;
Martin, Jr., born in 1864; and Sarah born in 1866. Children of the
second marriage were: Harrison who married Sarah Jane Allen;
Coleman who died in his early teens; Minda who married Dallas
Barns;3 Indiana who married Bert Brown; Melinda who married
Robert Littlefield; and Manda who married Henry Hicks.

For anumber of years my family made rather infrequent visits
to the home of Uncle “Bud” and Aunt Nancy Davis. We livedona
homestead between the Donaldson Ford on Big Panther Creek
and the head of Little Panther Creek. When we visited my
mother’s sister, Mrs. John Broxson, who lived at the head of

177


cer told officers
lis statement to
-d to the shoot-

a quarter of a
immediately to
igh waist deep.
he swamp. He
up, carried him
enry Farrior of
1 Roberts, and

with his feet in
boat. Officer
id resting on a
ison and Judge
ediately to the
f the two dead

. The body of
ather, Sumpter
yin was carried
n Undertaking
1 taking place

, E. F. House-
> here Tuesday
amination was
mith were the
ibove. Sheriff
sheriff Johnson
yhat they found

ooting actually
-d the court to

[o gather addi-

acquitted. He
vered from his

ington County
d scene of the
enhead, was a
shed the back-

ground for a dramatic murder trial that ended with lifetime sentences for three men.
Convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence were a father and his two sons.
They later confessed.

Some of the region’s finest legal talent, men who had gained or were to gain
statewide prominence, helped prosecute or defend the accused. A central figure in
the prosecution was Farrior, whose dogged determination had provided the evidence
on which the trial was based.

Farrior was in Panama City when he heard that Tom Morrell had been waylaid
and murdered in the Sand Hill country, between Vernon and Greenhead. The sheriff
had been to Calhoun County to bring a prisoner to Washington County for trial for
murder. He had brought the prisoner from Wewahitchka to Panama City by log
train. Already tired and weary, he had planned to remain in Panama City that night
before bringing the prisoner to Vernon, then the county seat of Washington County.

"A telephone call awaited me at the hotel in Panama City," said Farrior a half
century later. "It was from Carlton Jackson, county jailer at Vernon, who gave me
some details of the murder. He said the killing had occurred that morning about
daylight." Farrior recalled.

It was then possibly 7 or 8 p.m. The sheriff then placed his prisoner in a county-
maintained calaboose in Panama City (most of Bay County was then a part of
Washington County) and headed for the scene of the crime. "Panama City was just
a little place then," Farrior recalled. "I had no means of transportation northward,
so I started walking. At Lynn Haven, | got someone with a motor boat to carry me
across North Bay to Southport," he recalled.

From there Farrior walked through the night to Greenhead, where he arrived
about daylight. Then he got a mule and buggy to furnish transportation westward for
another seven miles to the possible murder scene. It was a long time before he got a
chance to sleep, and he still had some more walking to do.

He found three sets of tracks leaving the supposed murder scene. One of three
tracks indicated a patch on the shoe sole, and he observed evidences of a scuffle and
signs of shooting at the site. Evidence at the scene showed that two pistols and a rifle
had been used in the shooting, he recalled.

He then followed the tracks, walking three more miles through the sand hill
country. The tracks led to the home of Col Bonner. Farrior came to a pond before
reaching the Bonner house, noticing that one set of tracks had disappeared at the
water’s edge. The sheriff later had the pond dragged in search of rifle used in the
shooting, but it was not found.

"I was convinced that Col Bonner and his sons, Cleve and Melt, had done the
shooting," said Farrior. "The Bonners had been feuding with their neighbors, Tom
and George Morrell. So, I figured the Bonners waylaid Tom Morrell as he returned
after spending the night at George Morrell’s home. So," he said, "I arrested the
Bonners and put them all three in jail in Vernon."

The Bonners then retained Bob Mathis and A. W. Weeks, Bonifay law partners;
Joel Wells and Harry Wells, of Panama City, and Ira Hutchison of Chipley and later
of Panama City. Mathis later served as Bay County prosecuting attorney, and Weeks,
a former State Senator and onetime candidate for governor, was later to serve several
terms in the Florida House of Representatives from Holmes County. Harry Wells
was a future State Senator and State Road Board Chairman; Joel Wells was a former
Washington County Judge and former member of the Florida House of Representa-

303

the shots which struck the car came from the boat. It is said that Walker told officers
Smith and Houghton that Harris did the shooting and he also made this statement to
Dr. L. H. Paul in a signed statement. Harris is alleged to have confessed to the shoot-
ing at first, but since has denied that he fired a shot.

"Officers Smith and Houghton, who had left with Bowdoin’s car a quarter of a
mile from the scene of the shooting, upon hearing the firing, put out immediately to
see what happened. It was necessary for them to wade through a slough waist deep.
Just across this they found Walker, who was making his way out of the swamp. He
begged to be carried at once to a doctor and the officers picked him up, carried him
to the car and rushed him to Caryville, where they procured Sheriff Henry Farrior of
Washington County, and two of his deputies, J. H. Black and John Roberts, and
returned to the scene of the battle.

"They found young Harris lying balanced on the side of the boat with his feet in
the water. His father, Sumpter Harris, was lying in the bow of the boat. Officer
Bowdoin was found on the barge in a kneeling position with his head resting on a
brace running from the car to the side of the barge. Sheriff T. W. Johnson and Judge
James R. Carswell of this county were notified and they went immediately to the
scene. A coroner’s jury was empaneled, and after viewing the bodies of the two dead
men, adjourned to meet at the courthouse in Bonifay Tuesday morning.

"The bodies of the dead men were carried by truck to Caryville. The body of
young Harris was carried to the home of his parents, where also his father, Sumpter
Harris, and Harvey Walker, were carried. The body of officer Bowdoin was carried
by hearse to Chipley, where it was prepared for burial in the Blackburn Undertaking
Parlors, and later shipped to his home in Tallahassee, the funeral taking place
Wednesday afternoon.

"The coroner’s jury, composed of Dr. L. H. Paul, T. D. Richards, E. F. House-
man, Bud Sellers, Tan Sellers and John Callahan, met at the courthouse here Tuesday
morning, and heard the testimony of a number of witnesses. The examination was
conducted by State Attorney L.D. McRae. Officers Houghton and Smith were the
first witnesses examined. They testified substantially as reported above. Sheriff
Farrior of Washington County and Deputies Black and Roberts and Sheriff Johnson
of Holmes County were examined. Their testimony dealt largely with what they found
at the scene and the position of the barge and boat.

"Neither of the officers was able to throw any light on how the shooting actually
occurred. At the conclusion of the testimony the state attorney asked the court to
postpone the hearing until Saturday in order to give the officers time to gather addi-
tional information..."

Harris was subsequently charged with shooting Bowdoin, but was acquitted. He
was killed several years later in an automobile accident. Walker recovered from his
wounds but died several years later.

Determined Sheriff Solves Murder Case

Henry Farrior, starting his first of five four-year terms as Washington County
sheriff, walked 30 milcs to begin a murder investigation at the supposed scene of the
crime. The murder, which took place about seven miles west of Greenhead, was a
product of the region’s long-festering Bonner-Morrell Feud. It furnished the back-

302

ground for a dra
Convicted on th
They later confes
Some of the
statewide promi
the prosecution |
on which the tria
Farrior was
and murdered in
had been to Cal
murder. He ha
train. Already t
before bringing
"A telephon
century later. "I
some details of
daylight." Farrio
It was then
maintained cala
Washington Co
a little place the
so | started walk
across North Ba
From there
about daylight. —
another seven m
chance to sleep,
He found th
tracks indicated
signs of shooting
had been used i
He then fo
country. The tri
reaching the Bo
water’s edge. T
shooting, but it
"I was conv
shooting," said }
and George Mo
after spending |
Bonners and put
The Bonner
Joel Wells and I
of Panama City.
a former State S
terms in the Fl
was a future Sta
Washington Cot

arresting Sheriff Gates of Manatee County on a charge of drunkenness."

Many people in the Washington-Holmes-Walton County area remembered for
decades the battle north of Caryville, plus the events that followed. Washington
County Deputy Sheriff Ross Aycock, a hotel operator in 1925, recalled more than 30
years later that Bowdoin and other members of his party remained overnight at his
hotel prior to the battle.

Did anyone in the area know "Pistol Pete’s" identity or the purpose of the party’s

visit to the area?
Maybe. Unconfirmed reports linger which say that he conferred the night prior

to the shooting with a group in neighboring Westville, in Holmes County. No one
seemed to know in 1987, however, if the alleged conference was actually held - and, if
so, With whom? Did he meet unwittingly with intriguers, rather than informers? Was
it at this meeting, which no one today seems to know for a certainty was held, that
"Pistol Pete" was lured to the death spot?

Bowdoin’s actions the next day indicate that he was well-armed with information,
as well as with a shotgun and a pistol. Surely, unless his plans had been well-set in
advance, it would have been foolhardy to go alone into the depths of the Choctaw-
hatchee swamp to make an arrest, or to break up an alleged moonshining operation.

Yet, "Pistol Pete" did just that, leaving other members of his immediate party
behind. Does that act lend credence to the theory that he was lured there?

A speculative answer may depend to some extent on the personality pattern of
the man. His reputation, then well-known, suggests that he loved to live dangerously,
that he had confidence in his ability to use a gun and welcomed the opportunity. To
some observers, his well-known exploits suggested that he deserved the reputation he
already enjoyed.

Washington County Sheriff Henry Farrior joined Holmes County Sheriff Tom
(Long Tom) Johnson and Judge James R. Carswell in making the investigation.
Johnson died in 1928, and both Farrior and Carswell died several decades later. Their
recall of events involving the shooting substantiated newspaper accounts following the
incident. One such account, carried by Bonifay’s Holmes County Advertiser, told just
about all that seemed to be known then about the incident. Not much had been
added, except through the realm of rumor and speculation, by the end of 1987.

Here, in part is the newspaper’s account:

"J. E. Bowdoin, better known as ‘Pistol Pete,’ federal prohibition officer, was shot
to death and Houston Harris was killed and Harvey Walker and Sumpter Harris,
alleged moonshiners, were seriously wounded in a gun battle Monday afternoon on
Choctawhatchee River at a point known as the Berry Hewett Landing, five miles
north of Caryville, just over the line in Holmes County.

"Bowdoin and Houston Harris, son of Sumpter Harris, were killed instantly, while
Walker received seven wounds from a load of buckshot... Sumpter Harris came
through the duel with a broken leg as a reminder of one of the most exciting gun
battles ever staged in Holmes County.

"The shooting affray with its attendant fatalities has created intense excitement in
this entire section... While fears were freely expressed that further outbreaks might
take place any minute, no other trouble has occurred and peace and quietude has
about settled down while relatives and friends bury their dead and minister to the

needs of the wounded.
"A large force of federal agents have been sent to the scene and augmented by

300

the sheriff and
investigation is
the former in C

"Officer Ba
with gun or pis
Sunday, accom
information co
and had been 1
notorious for it
ject of numero
carved six notd
shootouts... H¢

"The office!
where the shoq
going on the
Whitehead. Bc
ton, who proce:

"After goin
the river. Herd
car while he re
Sumpter Harris
disposal.

"At the lan
motive power.
the alleged mo
hove into sight
it is said, Bowd:

"At this poi
known, unless
known now, th
called upon the
was then that B
ton Harris, and
his jaw bone.

"Then follo
himself. Bowd«
square in the fo
shells were fou:
so far been fou
sumed they wer

"Another ve
boat and give t
ing young Harr
Bowdoin. Still
was shot from 4
on the opposite

"An examin
or Icaning, tend


membered for
|. Washington
| more than 30
vernight at his

> of the party’s

he night prior
punty. No one
y held - and, if
formers? Was
was held, that

ih information,
cen well-set in
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investigation.

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y afternoon on
ling, five miles

instantly, while
r Harris came
st exciting gun

© excitement in
utbreaks might
 quietude has
minister to the

augmented by

the sheriff and his forces of the county, and also Washington County, a searching
investigation is being made. Both Harris and Walker are under guard at the home of
the former in Caryville where they were taken after the shooting.

"Officer Bowdoin, generally referred to as ‘Pistol Pete’ because of his accuracy
with gun or pistol, and who had become a terror to moonshiners, wegt to Caryville
Sunday, accompanied by a force of state enforcement officers. They had received
information concerning activities of moonshiners along the Choctawhatchee River
and had been instructed to break up bootlegging in that section, which had become
notorious for its outlawry. A colorful and flamboyant officer, Bowdoin was the sub-
ject of numerous legends. According to one, he carried a pistol on which he had
carved six notches, one each for six moonshiners Bowdoin had allegedly killed in
shootouts... He liked to work alone.

"The officers had laid plans to make a raid Tuesday in the immediate vicinity of
where the shooting occurred. The officers divided into squads Monday, one squad
going on the west side of the river. In this squad were officers Davis, Rabb and
Whitehead. Bowdoin headed another squad composed of officers Smith and Hough-
ton, who proceeded up the eastern side of the river.

"After going some five miles the car was parked about a quarter of a mile from
the river. Here Bowdoin instructed officers Smith and Houghton to remain with the
car while he reconnoitered a point on the river bank where he had information that
Sumpter Harris was operating a rum still and was preparing to bring out a load for
disposal.

"At the landing Harris had anchored his barge, equipped with a Ford car as the
motive power. On this car ‘Pistol Pete’ seated himself and awaited the approach of
the alleged moonshiners. Soon the boat, occupied by the two Harrises and Walker,
hove into sight and headed straight for the landing. When it was about 20 yards away,
it is said, Bowdoin called out for the men to surrender.

"At this point many conflicting stories have been told and the truth may never be
known, unless it falls from the lips of either Harris or Walker, who are, as far as is
known now, the only surviving witnesses... One version of the affair is that Bowdoin
called upon the men to surrender, they reached for their guns lying in the boat and it
was then that Bowdoin fired upon them with his shotgun. The first shot killed Hous-
ton Harris, and the second shot struck Walker full in the breast and head, breaking
his jaw bone.

"Then followed a duel between Bowdoin and Harris, the latter being a crack shot
himself. Bowdoin’s left arm was broken, it is thought, before he was hit with a bullet
square in the forehead. It killed him instantly. Harris’ left leg was broken. Six empty
shells were found in Bowdoin’s pistol and two in his shotgun. No gun or shells have
so far been found in the boat occupied by Harris and his companions, and it is as-
sumed they were thrown overboard after the battle was over.

"Another version of the affair is that Bowdoin did not wait for the men to land the
boat and give themselves up, but opened fire as soon as the boat came in range, kill-
ing young Harris and wounding Walker, Sumpter Harris then opening fire and killing
Bowdoin. Still another version, believed by many to be the true one, is that Bowdoin
was shot from ambush by parties who had been secreted near the spot or by parties
on the opposite side of the river.

"An examination of the bullet holes in the Ford car on which Bowdoin was seated,
or leaning, tend to discredit the latter theory and officers are of the opinion that all

301


| riddled
iry, went
he effect
duced by
ns. The
by Miss

rented, two-story

nd the other had
-murderers were
- to be hanged.
Dykes, who died
f the jury in 1966
iat his name was
‘re white.
murder. In the
convicted of first
alty was death by
n which the con-
, fell the duty of
he First Judicial
¥. C. Lockey was

A. Pippin was foreman of the jury in John Simmons’ trial. Other jurors were J. J.
Nicholas, G. W. Hudson, S. A. Wesley, W. H. Taylor, Frank Gainer, Willis Taylor, T.
J. Wilcox, Malcolm Blue, J. B. Varnum, E. S. Lee and Elbert D. Martin.

W. P. Richardson was foreman of the jury of the trial of Henry Harrison, Bill
Williams and Belton Hamilton, all turpentine hands charged with the murder of Jeff
Davis, a fellow turpentine worker. Other members of the jury were A. S. Jones, T. F.
Tiller, J. W. Roche, J. C. Vickery, A. W. Potter, J. W. Bruner, S. A. Dykes, Simon
Brock, J. H. Brock, J. W. Peel and Elbert D. Martin.

Judge Maxwell passed sentence May 20, and set July 5 as the date for the hang-
ings.

Trial records available in 1966 were incomplete, but Martin recalled that John
Simmons told the court that he also attempted to shoot Sheriff Charlie Allen just
before being wounded and arrested by Allen. Martin said Simmons credited a faulty
gun with saving the sheriff.

Martin recalled that the other three killed Davis while "trying to run him off from
a turpentine camp."

As a drama-packed crowd-attracting spectacle, there was little to compare with a
murder trial and perhaps nothing to equal a public hanging in the days when that
practice was followed. Estimates ranged from 2,000 to 5,000 in attendance at the
Vernon hangings in 1901. People from outlying areas began arriving at Vernon July 4
in order to be on hand for the hangings the following day. Some camped overnight en
route and others camped in Vernon, for lack of public accommodations.

There had been some vague talk of a possible riot, including an effort to rescue
the prisoners as they were brought from the jail to be hanged. To guard against that
possibility, Sheriff McKeithen had stationed guards, armed with high-powered rifles,
al vantage points in the jail yard. The riot and rescue reports proved to be just talk.

The crowd began arriving in the jail yard shortly after daylight on July 5, and the
arrivals continued in a steady stream until after the men had been hanged. At 10
a.m., the four men were escorted under heavy guard from the jail to the gallows
beside the building. Linked together with handcuffs, they climbed the steps to the
scaffold, which stood 10 feet high. Each was given a traditional chance to "speak his
last words," and each took advantage of the opportunity. General theme of their brief
speeches was advice to those present to take warning from their sad fate. They ended
their final presentations with singing, exhortation and prayer.

No effort was made to have the executions private. Everyone within view of the
gallows saw the men fall, as Sheriff J. A. McKeithen sprang the trap, causing them to
plunge to rope’s end, all within view of the audience. McKeithen had succeeded Allen
as sheriff a few months earlier. The men had stood without show of fear under the
ropes, with each submitting without protest as the noose was placed around his neck
and the black hood or cap drawn down to cover his face.

With the arrangements completed, Sheriff McKeithen called out "good-bye" to
each condemned man, and each answered: "Good-bye, Cap’n."

Then McKeithen sprang the trap and the four bodies plunged into space.

The men hung SO minutes before being cut down. Dr. W. E. Coleman and Dr. N.
J. Dawkins, the attending physicians, pronounced them dead. The bodies were placed
in plain, neat coffins and buried by the county, as no relatives called for the remains.
After the bodies were cut down, Sheriff McKeithen ascended the scaffold and told the
people that he had that day done something which he trusted he would never be

291

who called himself Ward was engaged in hauling feed from
Broxson’s Ferry to Allen’s log camp at the head of Doe Branch on
Live Oak Creek, about eighteen miles distance. Jackson
returned to Milton and secured the help of the express agent
and four other men. He hired a hack, and went again to the ferry
where they set a trap to capture Rube when he went to the ferry
to load feed from a boat, which brought it from Milton. It was
Rube’s custom to leave the camp in early morning and reach
Broxson’s place about two o'clock in the afternoon. After
loading the feed, he would spend the night with Joseph R.
Broxson and make the trip back to the camp the next day.

February 6, 1890, the detectives hid themselves behind some
large fallen cypress trees, and waited for the arrival of the
unsuspecting Rube. Broxson, the ferryman, had a seventeen
year old son by the name of Willie, who was detained with his
father by the posse at the ferry on the day of the attempted
entrapment. It was feared that anyone leaving the ferry landing
might warn Rube of the presence of the detectives. Broxson was
placed where he could see the road and was told to signal the
approach of the team. Broxson was apprehensive for the safety
of his son and said to the detectives, "When Rube Burrow comes,
there is going to be some shooting going on and | don’t want this
boy to be here!” So Willie Broxson was allowed to go to the
Broxson home which was about a mile from the ferry near the
road by which Rube would come. The posse grew impatient
when Rube failed to arrive on schedule. A negro worker came
from the log camp and reported that one of Rube’s oxen was sick
and that it would probably be the next day before he would
arrive. :

The men at the ferry were disappointed. They became
careless and built a big fire and, according to Broxson,
proceeded to get drunk.

Rube did arrive, but late. When he stopped at the Broxson
house and inquired as to “Bud’s whereabouts,” Willie Broxson
said to him, “Mr. Ward, there is a group of men waiting for you at
the ferry. They say they are going ona hunting trip and want you
to go along.” Rube knew they were hunting for him. He unyoked
his oxen and turned them loose. He went into the house and said
to Willie’s mother, “Mrs. Broxson, lam going to take three shells
from Bud’s gun.” He took the Marlin rifle from a rack on the wall
and ejected three shells. Leaving the Broxson home, he walked

74

toward the ferry. He listened to the men talking in the dark fora
few minutes then disappeared into the night, once more eluding
his pursuers.

When Rube Burrow drove his ox cart into Santa Rosa County

- on December 14, 1889, it was his intention to meet L. C. Brock at

Dyers Station a few miles east of Mobile on February 20, 1890.
The purpose of the meeting was to rob the Louisville and
Nashville train at that station. Brock had gone back to Lamar
County, but returned to keep his rendezvous with Rube. By
listening to conversations, he learned that the detectives were
hot on Rube’s trail and, after waiting one day, he left Lamar
County where he was arrested and imprisoned. On the day set
for his trial at Jackson, Mississippi, he committed suicide by
jumping from a balcony four stories above a carridor in the jail.

After the failure to capture Rube at the ferry, Detective
Jackson ordered Bud Broxson to drive the team to the ferry so
that it could be taken to Milton. Broxson refused saying, “You
can shoot me if you wish, but |am not going to be killed by Rube
Burrow.” One of Jackson’s men drove the team to the ferry by
lying on the wagon tongue between the oxen to protect himself
from Rube’s bullets, should he be hiding in the bush.

When Burrow, alias Ward, first went into Santa Rosa County,
he secured board and room with James H. Wells, my paternal

' grandfather, who lived on Prairie Creek. After the ferry incident,

Rube remained in the area around East Bay. During the summer
of 1890, he hid out in the swamps. Detective Jackson again
organized a posse and returned to the pursuit af the outlaw. My
grandfather’s house was watched from a distance for several
days, but Rube did not go to the house. The lgwmen closed in

and put the family under house arrest. They tgok Rube’s trunk

containing a suit of clothes and $35.

John Barnes, who was part Indian, lived 12 miles from
Casselberry, Alabama. He followed logging operations and was
working at Dunnaway’s log camp on Lovett’s Creek in Baldwin
County, Alabama, in March 1888, when Rube and Brock applied
for jobs. Barnes taught Rube hew to saw logs while Brock drove a
log team. When Dunnaway moved to Perdido Station, the
outlaws quit, fearing they would be recognized ina public place.
Two years later John Barnes joined the detectives in trying to
capture Rube. His father lived in Milton:and both men knew
about Allen’s log camp on Liveoak Creek.

75


manner, but a letter written by Chipley detective Tom J. Watts a few days after the
fire says that each of the two survivors "suffered the loss of a foot and part of one leg
besides being badly burned otherwise."

Press reports locally gave only basic information about the incident, but without
much speculation or elaboration. The daily press made it a basis for a campaign
against the convict leasing system. Few investigatory records have been found.

A vivid description of the burning incident and the probable cause of the fire are
contained in the letter written by Watts to Governor Napoleon B. Broward on Octo-
ber 23, 1905, a little more than two weeks after the incident.

"On the night of October 7, Aycock Brothers Lumber Co. convict camp burned in
Jackson County," Watts wrote. "In this fire, James Longino, the guard on duty, and
eight convicts, were burned to death. Four or five of the bodies were cremated,"
Watts continued. "The only two remaining victims...barely escaped with their lives,
and are now lying in Aycock’s stockade at Aycock, Florida, in a badly burned condi-
tion..."

Watts said the chances were "very much against" the recovery of one of the men,
William McCoy. Watts told the governor that "it appears that no coroner’s inquest
was made - in fact, but little investigation by anyone." He said the theory was "gener-
ally accepted that the fire originated from the accidental explosion of a lamp."

I have recently had occasion to inquire into the matter, and in
doing so find that the guard and one convict were murdered by Jim
Glassco, a free-laborer employed in the camp.

I find the motive for the crime to have been robbery. Longino
had on his person $48.10 and the convict had $5. Longino had drawn
a gun (for cause) on Glassco the same night of the fire.

"The weapon used by Glassco was a spike maul, such as commonly used by rail-
road trackmen," Watts explained. He added that Longino’s skull and that of the

convict had been crushed. "I arrested Jim Glassco on last Saturday, charging him with ~

murder," Watts continued. "He had a preliminary trial the same day, and was com-
mitted to the Marianna Jail to wait the action of the grand jury. A strong case was
made out."

The jury apparently failed to indict Glassco, but called upon the county commis-
sioners instead to cancel the Aycock contract and do everything possible to bring the
persons responsible to justice.

Jackson County Commissioners responded by revoking the contract on grounds
that the "leasees have failed to make payments for October and November, failed to
give bond, and their negligence caused the death of several prisoners."

Sheriff Hays Lewis had responded earlier to rumors that "the camp was in poor
condition, convicts over-worked and poorly fed" by sending M. Wester to investigate.

Wester reported that "the bosses were doing about all they could for the men."
He said a new stockade was nearing completion, and "when ready, the convicts will

have comfortable quarters.’
In his letter to Governor Broward, Watts continued:

The principal witness for the state was Sam Jones, a misde-
meanor convict who was a trusty in the camp. Jones testified that he

314

———

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