"According to the number of documented murders &
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| Dallas Herald | 1 May 1860 | James F Moore was killed by N J Gibbs. (see this murder detailed in a letter dated 6 May 1861 HERE) | Guilty - sent to prison - See more HERE, also |
| Galveston Weekly News | 14 Dec 1864 | From the Kaufman Enquirer: We regret to learn that on last Thursday night, Capt. Graham, enrolling officer of Van Zandt county, while searching with a small company of men in Kaufman County for a squad of deserters, was ambushed and shot.. | The deserter was never captured |
| Dallas Herald | 19 May 1866 | William Warenskold, a Norwegian, was shot and killed at Prairieville on the 17th inst., by N T Dickerson. Said Dickerson fled and has not been found. | Dickerson found not guilty several years later |
| Dallas Herald | July 21, 1867 Sunday | Henry Ratts - Killed by his Bull | |
| Dallas Herald | 11 Nov 1868 | Jasper Carver of Cedar Grove was found shot to death on the Canto to Kaufman road two days ago. John Pierce has been arrested for the murder, and another man, Milton Choate, is though to have fled. | Pierce - 2 years Choate - not guilty when tried in 1891. He had been living in Texarkana all that time. |
| Galveston News | 13 Aug 1873 | Daniel O Valentine (Vollentine), age 21, son of Henry K Valentine, was killed by Eratsus S Griffin, age 21, son of Thomas Griffin, on August 18, by hitting him in the head with a board. See more HERE | Griffin left and hid in the Indian Territory until 1877 - returned & married, then went back to IT where he died in 1924 |
| Galveston News | 19 Nov 1874 | John Parmlee was killed eight miles below Kaufman, shot from his horse while crossing Kings Creek. Robbery was evidently the motive for the deed. | unknown |
| New York Times | 10 Dec 1874 | Mr. Reasoner kills Mr. Parmalee. | Reasoner not arrested |
| Galveston News | 7 Sep 1875 | J Willingham was killed by Robert Long on September 3rd near Terrell in Kaufman County. | Long went to trial June 1881 but died from TB before he was sentenced |
| Galveston News | 26 May 1876 | John Love was murdered in Kaufman May 24th, 1876. He was a bachelor about forty-eight. *subsequent article - Aug 17, 1876 - Two negroes have been arrested and tried for the robbery and murder of John Love last May in Kaufman County. They are known by names Bill Payne and Eugene Catchings. | Catchings & Payne were hung on the Kaufman Co square for this murder on Nov 3, 1876. SEE BELOW |
| Galveston News | 3 Oct 1876 | A C Stark, ex-sheriff of Rockwall County was murdered at Lawrence. *Subsequent article: Lawrence times - 21 Jun 1877 - George W Garner murdered A C Starks. Garner's wife procured some poison, visited her husband in the county jail and they both were found dead there hours later, though evidence indicated she had a broken neck. | |
| Dallas Daily Herald | 11 Mar 1877 | Bailey Daugherty, the cattleman, was crushed to jelly by train cars near Forney. It was determined he died from foul play and his body placed on the tracks. Bob Perry was arrested. | Perry Acquitted |
| Dallas Herald | 17 Jul 1880 | Mr Heacock died one day last week. Post Mortem examination resulted in death by poison. His wife, Effie, and a dentist, Dr. Ball of Wills Point are accused of the deed. | Effie Heacock got 99 years. Ball escaped & was never caught. |
| Kaufman Sun | 16 Jul 1880 | Joe Howell, a well-known citizen and ex-marshal of Terrell, was arrested in Ft Worth last Friday for killing a citizen there. When Howell left Terrell he ran away with a lewd woman | Guilty - sent to prison |
| Kaufman Sun | 17 Sep 1880 | Dick Hooper was shot and killed by J M Thompson. Hooper pulled a knife on Thompson and Thompson shot him. | Thompson was Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 29 Apr 1881 | Old Joe, colored, died on the 21st inst. He constantly lived in the insalubrious atmosphere of intoxication. Notwithstanding all this, Joe was a good Negro. | *He died when he passed out on Grove Street and was run over by wagons |
| Kaufman Sun | 24 June 1881 | William Laten and P. R. Green killed when boiler explodes. See more HERE | |
| Kaufman Sun | 7 Jul 1881 | While seining in King's Creek on the 18th inst., a party dragged out the body of a newborn infant. The head was not found. It is thought the body had been there for four to six weeks. | |
| Kaufman Sun | 2 Sep 1881 | The poor unfortunate man whose face was eaten off by a cancer, and who was put up by the county for several months, died last Monday. We know nothing of his history or whence he came. He has a wife who is an opium eater. | |
| Kaufman Sun | 4 Nov 1881 | D C White, charged with the murder of a peddler named Conquest in Van Zandt County about 6 years ago, has been sentenced to hang. | He was hung 3 Feb 1882 |
| Kaufman Sun | 9 Dec 1881 | Jake Fox, colored, shot and killed Willie Sparks, also colored, in Egypt neighborhood, was brought to jail in Kaufman. Spikes was intimate with Fox's wife and was caught by Fox. | Fox was Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 2 Jun 1882 | Abe Thomas, a Negro, killed W E Thompson, white, about one and one fourth miles south of town. | Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 14 Jul 1882 | A negro woman (Fannie Hightower) killed a two year old child of Mr & Mrs Jess McClardy, colored, because she had a falling out with Mrs McClardy. The negro woman gave birth in jail and killed her newborn. She was refused admittance to the insane asylum for want of room. | Was released to the custody of her brother when she was refused admittance to the insane asylum. |
| Kaufman Sun | 21 Jul 1882 | G R Thomas was killed July 14th or 15th. He was a clerk for E R Terrell. | His murderer was never discovered |
| Kaufman Sun | 1 Nov 1883 | Will Cardwell was killed in a knife fight in Forney by Jim Harris on the 25th ult. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 4 Oct 1883 | Augustus Weimer, formerly of Terrell but recently living in Dallas, was stabbed and killed by W H Shanks, a little, bow-legged, red-headed carpenter of that city. | Shanks was acquitted |
| Dallas Herald | 17 Nov 1883 | William Myrick was murdered near Elmo last Thursday Nov. 8th inst., by Jordan Adams. Myrick was Mrs. Adam's step-father and Adams "shot his way in" to Myrick's house where Myrick was protecting Mrs. Adams from abuse. He was also charged with incest upon his own daughter, age 16. | He served 10 years in prison |
| Kaufman Sun | 10 Jan 1884 | Last Tuesday week the family of Hampton Byrd were poisoned. Two girls, ages 5 and 7 died Saturday and Hampton died Sunday. A J Stansill was arrested for their murderers. | Acquitted for lack of evidence |
| Kaufman Sun | 21 Feb 1884 | John Heath of Terrell is to be hung in Arizona in March for a murder he committed while aiding in a robbery in Tombstone. He was a notorious gambler, burglar, horse and cattle thief. (He was brought back and buried in Terrell) See here for more. | He was taken from the jail by a mob on Feb 28th and hung. |
| Kaufman Sun | 10 Apr 1884 | Thomas Hart shot and killed William Cockerell on 12 Mile Prairie on Saturday the 26th inst. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 24 Apr 1884 | George Moore, former citizen of Kaufman, and later a cattleman in Greer County, was killed on the 12th inst. By a herdsman in his employ. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 3 Jul 1884 Thursday | Forney - Yesterday, David Clark, while bathing in a tank, broke his neck while diving into the water. He leaves a wife and two children. | |
| Kaufman Sun | 10 Jul 1884 | Elisha B Adams shot and killed his cousin, Tom Adams at Elmo Saturday. E B Adams escaped and was arrested in Marshall, TX. | Found guilty |
| New York Times | 13 Aug 1884 | Kaufman County Makes The News In New York City: Fatal Duel Between Ranchmen (Bill Dougherty and Zach Gray) | |
| Kaufman Sun | 11 Sep 1884 | J W Sands was shot dead by George Durham while chopping wood. George Durham escaped and later arrested in Gainesville, TX. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 30 Oct 1884 | Joe Orifice was shot and killed by W L Boren in Terrell last Thursday, October 23rd. Orifice was a professional gambler. Boren is the brother of Judge Boren of Panola County. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 11 Dec 1884 | John Lanier got his hair, which nearly reached his waist, caught in a machine, dragging his head to the saws, tearing and cutting his face, neck and head out of all human semblance. Death soon released his suffering. | |
| Kaufman Sun | 11 Jun 1885 | A negro, Red Wime, was killed last Sunday, his head split by an ax while sleeping, by another Negro named Starr Lee, at a tie camp on Spring Branch, three miles south of Peede's Mill. *A TIE CAMP is where railroad ties are made | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 25 Jun 1885 | Elisha "Lishe" Adams, the acquitted murderer of Tom Adams was hung on a telegraph pole near Elmo Sunday. (SEE 10 Jul 1884 ) | |
| Dallas Herald | 7 Jul 1885 | Henry Schamburger, who is in jail in Greenville on a charge of murdering Miss Annie Smith, age about 18, on the 5th inst. An affair of the heart is the underlying cause of this deed. Schamburger is married. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 9 Jul 1885 | W H Stephens, age 73, was killed three miles from Canton on the 29th ult. Evidently robbery was the motive of his killers. | Unknown |
| Kaufman Sun | 16 Jul 1885 | James Prior was killed by Joe Holt last Sunday near Kemp with a Winchester rifle, shooting Prior three times. Joe Holt was located at Madill, Indian Territory (apprehended 14 Jul 1885) | Unknown |
| Dallas Herald | 3 Sep 1885 | Dan Henderson of the Arkansas neighborhood was shot and killed by Bert Garland on the 25th inst, a few miles north of Forney, for crossing Garland's land to get some water from a well. | Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 8 Oct 1885 | John Tom Wilson shot Dave Finley at Terrell last Saturday. Finley was shot by a 45 caliber pistol in the abdomen. Finley interfered to prevent a difficulty between Wilson and another party. They then met in Jim & Sam's Saloon. Wilson threw a billiard ball at Finley and Finley threw one back hitting Wilson in the head. Wilson then pulled his gun and killed Finley. See article from Dallas Morning News 5 Oct. 1885 here. | Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 29 Oct 1885 | Mrs A T Wilson, wife of our high sheriff, was accidentally shot when she dropped the gun she was handing to her husband, discharging it. He was on his way to get Jordan Adams who had been arrested for the murder of Will Myrick in Elmo in 1883. See here for more. | |
| Kaufman Sun | 12 Nov 1885 | Two of William Bateman's boys were gathering peas on the farm. They quarreled and the eight year old stabbed the twelve year old in the heart, killing him. | None |
| Kaufman Sun | 21 Jan 1886 | Dr. Thad Shaw, who was killed in Bowie County last week is a relative of the Shaw & Carlisle families here. Some time ago the deceased killed a brother of W B Busick. Suspicion now rests on Busick as the murderer. | Busick never indicted |
| Kaufman Sun | 4 Mar 1886 | Frank McGrill, age 17, was stabbed to death by William Long, also 17, while playing ball at the Bright Star School house, 6 miles north of Wills Point on the 18th ult. Long fled. | Unknown |
| Dallas Morning News | 10 June 1886 | Lum Bowles kills Bob Pemberton in a fight over a widow (also State vs. Willis Adams and State vs. Henry Shamberger) | |
| New York Times | 16 Dec 1886 | Kaufman County Makes The News In New York City: Two Horse Thieves Shot | |
| Texas Star | 19 Apr 1890 | Will M Pardue Jr shot and killed R F Slaughter Jr (Richard Fendall Slaughter) near Kaufman. The killing grew out of an intimacy between Mr Slaughter and Miss Pardue, sister of Will Pardue. (Slaughter was married). See here for more. | Pardue found not guilty 20 Dec 1890 |
| Forney Tribune | 23 Jul 1890 | George Sharp shot and killed John T Adams over a piece of land. | Sharp was acquitted 24 Dec 1890 |
| Forney Tribune | 13 Aug 1890 | Charles Matthews, bridge boss on the Texas Trunk Railroad, shot and killed Ben Smith, a laborer, at the Kaufman Trunk Depot. Matthews was shot and is also expected to die. | Matthews died before being indicted |
| Forney Tribune | 5 Nov 1890 | Will Perkins of Athens, Henderson County, struck John Williams, a blacksmith of Tolosa, just above the temple with a blacksmith hammer, crushing his skull, which caused his death. | Unknown |
| Forney Tribune | 27 May 1891 | Z T Falls, who was indicted along with Joel D Hall for killing a man named Hill in Prairieville more than 20 years ago. They both had been hiding in other counties all this time. (Hall was a Methodist reverend and well thought of. The killing was on Christmas Eve 1869.) See More Here. | Both found not guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 28 Oct 1891 | Bill Tyler and Will Shapman, two Negroes, killed Henry Magruder, a Negro. His badly mangled body was found on the Texas trunk Rail Road Sunday morning the 27th of September, where they placed it to cover their deed. | Both acquitted |
| Forney Tribune | 11 Mar 1891 | "Old Man" Nahan was killed by Charles W Miller. See more HERE | Miller acquitted |
| Forney Tribune | 1 Apr 1891 | Charles Hawkins, age 25, was killed near Scurry and a four year old son of Albert Bowles also was killed by Marion Hampton, age 18. (gunfight at the Mt Olive church) | Unknown |
| Forney Tribune | 5 Jun 1891 | Charley Rudisell who was shot by Baker Hoskins, had surgery and died Friday. | Hoskins found not guilty |
| Terrell times Star | 26 Jun 1891 | Prof. J E Beeson, living near Kemp, was killed by A H Averett, a tenant on Beeson's place. | Guilty - 18 years in penitentiary |
| Terrell times Star | 19 Feb 1892 | Last Sunday Mr & Mrs Gaffney accidentally gave carbolic acid instead of sweet oil to their four month old daughter, Annie May. She died Monday. | |
| Forney Tribune | 20 Apr 1892 | Constable Joe Keller shot and killed Will Coker. See here for more. | Not guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 18 May 1892 | Wednesday 13 year old Selden Watkins was thrown on the double tree after the team ran away and the wagon bed fell on him crushing him to death. | |
| Forney Tribune | 10 Jun 1892 | George Johnson was shot and killed by his father-in-law, J H White on Monday. | Unknown |
| Forney Tribune | 8 Jun 1892 | Will Short died in the Arkansas neighborhood from being stabbed by Andrew Arnold. His brother, Nick M Short, about 50, was also involved, and another brother, Jim Short was also injured and not expected to live. | Arnold & Nick Short both found Guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 6 Jul 1892 | Bud Evers, a tenant on the Garrett farm, was shot and killed by Charles Grove, a young man living in the same community. Evers was to have been buried at Forney Monday, but the burial was postponed until Tuesday on account of the vehicle which bore his body becoming bogged in the East Fork bottom. | Unknown |
| Forney Tribune | 21 Dec 1892 | John Humphreys went to trial Monday for the murder of his uncle, Berryman Aley, near Tolosa in October 1891. | Not guilty |
| Terrell Times Star | 30 Dec 1892 | Pony Reasonover shot and killed Dick Poston at Tolosa on Christmas Day. (Click the link to see a photo of Pony.) | Not guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 12 Oct 1892 | Robert Adams, colored of Elmo, was shot almost to pieces at his home by Frank Robinson, a white citizen of Terrell. (Robinson was burglarizing Adams' house) | guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 4 Jan 1893 | Monday at Wills Point Deputy Sheriff W R Hunter was shot and killed by Henry Wills. | Guilty |
| Forney Tribune | 29 Sep 1893 | Kid Nash is to be hung in Shreveport for the murder of John McCort two years past. See more HERE | He was hung |
| Dallas Daily Times Herald | 17 Feb 1894 | An Arrest Made For a Crime Eleven Years Old: W. F. Anderson in Dallas Jail Charged with Killing Kirk | |
| Terrell times Star | 9 Nov 1894 | Lewis Daugherty, brother to J M & LR Daugherty, was stabbed to death at Goldwaite, in a saloon on October 29th inst. See a photo of Lewis Daugherty HERE | Mose Johnson was found guilty of the crime |
| Dallas Times Herald | 18 Jan 1895 | Charles Shook, wanted for horse theft, shot by Posse | |
| Terrell times Star | 28 Aug 1896 | James Arrington, boss carpenter, was killed at the compress last Saturday when a 600 pound block fell and struck him in the forehead. He lived an hour after the accident. Most of his teeth were knocked out and his brains oozed from the gash in his forehead. He was about 43 years old. | |
| Dallas Herald | 28 Feb 1897 | W. M. Rodden, of Forney, was found Friday in a hog mire, his body being devoured by the swine. He died Saturday. | |
| Terrell Times-Star | 17 Sep 1897 | Son of J. M. Hubbard caught in E. McKinney's gin dies an hour later See more HERE | |
| The Hillsboro Reflector | 18 Sep 1897 | In Abbott yesterday, at noon time, Dr. Thomas B Carter of Kaufman and Charley C Russell of Hillsboro, got into an argument on the street and both drawing and firing revolvers, shot each other at the same time in what was described as a duel by witnesses. See more HERE | They both died |
| Kaufman Sun | 19 Nov 1897 | Addie Walker, age 17, shot and killed Dr. J C Lewis for assaulting his mother. Walker said Lewis was drunk and assaulted his mother, Lewis' wife, and threatened to kill her. Lewis' wife testified to this statement. | Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 28 Jan 1898 | W P Newton of Forney, shot and killed Jim Peel after Peel shot George Hammond. Peel and Hammond were tenants on the Newton place. See more here. | Both Newton and Hammond were sentenced to 5 years in the penitentiary |
| Kaufman Sun | 3 Jun 1898 | Nat Airheart fatally shot Ira Keith with a Smith & Wesson six shooter on Wednesday at Kemp. | Guilty- 2 years in penitentiary |
| Kaufman Sun | 5 Aug 1898 | Charlie Jackson, a Negro, was killed at the Reed Farm. Bill Reed, Jim Reed and Joe Overton are charged with murder. | All were Acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 29 Jul 1898 | Frank Gray was shot by H. T. Nash, W. T. Nash or Jack Nash at Kaufman. A young man, a bystander named Emmett Luten, was also killed in the gunfire. SEE more info HERE | W T Nash- not guilty. Others acquitted on criminal charges but had to pay civil restitution. |
| Kaufman Sun | 23 Dec 1898 | Hiram P Erwin of Forney shot to death Col. I.G Randle of Dallas on the 19th ult., and also charged with arson. C H Alexander was arrested as an accomplice. | Erwin was acquitted of murder, guilty of arson. Alexander acquitted. |
| Kaufman Sun | 26 May 1899 | Sunday Shelby Deeds of Daugherty was found behind Loveless' restaurant. He was taken home, thought to be drunk, later to discover his skull was badly fractured. From those effects he died Monday. Bob Gibbs has been charged with Deeds' murder. | Acquitted. |
| Kaufman Sun | 26 May 1899 | Dr. Barnes killed a Mr. Bridges near Denmon, by striking him in the head with a grubbing hoe. | Unknown |
| Terrell Transcript | 22 Dec 1899 | Henry Hill, colored, was shot and killed Monday at the residence of his wife in Happy Hollow. His son, Temp Hill, age 13, was arrested for homicide. Witnesses stated Mr. Hill was after the boy with a rod. He was a coke fiend and an unbearable nuisance. | Temp Hill was acquitted |
| Kaufman Sun | 24 Aug 1900 | Poetry - Alvin Farmer's horse fell on him, crushing him to death. He was sixteen years old, the son of William Farmer | |
| Kaufman Noon Day Sun | 13 Nov 1900 | A man named Grigsby, age about 40, was found dead by the railroad tracks Saturday night, 100 yards from the saloon in Mabank where he had left with Frank Martin and others from a saloon. He had been shot three times | unknown |
| Daily Transcript | 2 Feb 1901 | Clarence Johnson, age 12, son of Rev. Will Johnson of Abner, was found dead in the field where he was working Friday. He was dragging cotton stalks with a span of horses and a log weighing 300-400 pounds. He was found about sundown, nearly cold, with the log across his neck and the horses standing still hitched to it. | |
| Daily Transcript | 18 May 1901 | Vernon Ellzey shot and instantly killed Miss Myrtis Ellzey yesterday, two miles west of Elmo, then put a bullet through his own head. | All found not guilty |
| 28 Aug 1901 | After an investigation J A Pate & Ed Mathis of Wills Point, and A J Parker of Elmo are charged with killing Vernon & Myrtis Ellzey last May. See here for more. | ||
| The Rockwall Success | 19 Oct 1901 | Mathis Zollner was found dead near his home last Thursday night. He apparently had fallen from his buggy, but his foot caught and spooking his team, he was dragged to death. He was 76, was born in Prussia and a successful business man. He had lived here more than thirty years. | |
| Daily Transcript | 28 Aug 1902 | Ed Hill, age 21 years, was killed in a horrible manner at Elmo last night. It is supposed he fell or jumped from one train and was caught by another. His head was cut off, and his chest badly crushed. | |
| Daily Transcript | 27 Jun 1903 Saturday | The remains of A B Clark, were found scattered along the railroad tracks near Crandall Thursday night. The remains were carried to Crandall in a tow sack. | |
| Daily Transcript | 10 Jul 1903 | John Lowery was killed in an explosion at the Terrell Bottling Company Saturday. | |
| Daily Transcript | 29 Jul 1903 | Joe Melton shot and killed Ben Ellington yesterday on account of Ellington's cattle getting onto Melton's land | Melton got 15 years in the penitentiary |
| Terrell Daily Transcript | 4 Feb 1904 | Hood Edgar, who was run over by a Texas & Pacific freight train near here Monday, died Wednesday. He had one leg cut off within inches of his body, the other broken; the back of his head crushed and several ribs broken. He was running along side the train when he fell and went under the train. | |
| Cameron Herald | Thur., 15 Sept 1904 | Death - Ed. Keith, a Kaufman county farmer, living near Peede's Mill, was fatally shot 4-times by Carl Craven. | |
| Terrell Daily Transcript | 3 Oct 1904 | A good Italian, inoffensive fellow, (Joe Spence) was found dead in a well Saturday near the oil mill. It is supposed he was murdered by two Mexicans, who robbed him. His head was beaten to jelly. See Mendez Gets Life Sentence | Feliz & Sabas Mendez, brothers, were sentenced to 99 years in prison |
| Terrell Daily Transcript | 23 Nov 1908 | Belevina Cavasa, 37 years, half breed Mexican, and a patient at the asylum, lost his life when a sewer pipe ditch being dug caved in on him. Several bones were broken in his chest and the pressure was so great, that it caused his eyes to bulge from their sockets. | |
| Forney Messenger | 12 Nov 1909 | Two or three weeks ago a tooth was pulled for the little daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Warren Lockler of Warsaw. Blood poison set up, one of her eyes burst out Friday, and Saturday she died. | |
| Mabank Banner | 6 June 1910 | Died at the Insane Asylum - head and face covered with common lice when coffin was opened by relatives | |
| Mabank Banner | 18 Aug. 1910 | Two men are killed near town of Abbott | |
| Mabank Banner | 24 July 1913 | Willie Record & Edna Dodson The Story of Kaufman County's Romeo & Juliet | |
| Dallas Morning News | June 22, 1917 | Special to The News Terrell, Texas. June 21. Shooting Southeast of Elmo. Monroe Williamson, a farmer residing on the Taylor Boshear farm southeast of Elmo, was shot with a shotgun about 8 o'clock this morning. fifteen shot taking effect in his chest. John Bryant, another farmer residing on the same place, has been arrested and is being held by Constable Parker of Elmo, pending results of Williamson's wounds. | |
| Dallas Morning News | June 23, 1917 | Special to The News Farmer Dies of Wounds. Terrell, Texas, June 22. - Mon Williamson, a farmer who was shot near Elmo yesterday, died this morning from the effects of his wounds. John Bryant, charged with the shooting, is being held under arrest. His examining trial will be held tomorrow. | |
| Mabank Banner | Apr. 10, 1929 | Retired Minister, James Roberts, Murders his Wife |
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Many of the above Death Notices have been gleaned over the years from old newspapers by Linda Feagin Harwell. She has compiled them into ten volumes of fascinating reading that gives insight into the lives, and deaths, of persons who were early residents of Kaufman County. If you want to read more on similar circumstances and incidents, these and thousands of other notices can be found in her books "Kaufman County Texas Death Notices", Volumes 1 - 10, which are all available for sale HERE. Kaufman County's First Legal HangingDallas Weekly Herald - 11 Nov 1876 First Men Legally Hung in Kaufman County L-R: Jack Moore, alias Bill Paynes, and Eugene Catchings Kaufman, November 3rd at 3 pm, Jack Moore, alias Bill Payne, and Eugene Catchings were hung for the crime of murder. Their victim was an old, harmless man who lived about midway between Terrell and Lawrence in Kaufman County. The murder was committed last May, and was deliberate, foul and cold-blooded. After the deed was committed the murderers fired the house and then went to Rockwall County. Suspicion fell upon them and in the afternoon of the third day after the murder Moore, alias Payne, was arrested at Mr. Hartman's. Officer West, of Rockwall County, with a posse, made the arrests and placed the prisoners in the Rockwall County jail until the next day, when they were taken to Kaufman County and placed in jail, being closely guarded and confined ever since. At the trial Mr. Hindman, prosecuting attorney, assisted by Messers. Marion, Adams and Charlton, conducted the prosecution and Mr. Huffmaster and Mr. J S Wood were appointed to defend. The trial lasted five days, and the jury was out only five minutes, when they returned a verdict of guilty. Judge Clark passed sentence, fixing the time and date of their execution for Novemeber 3rd between the hours of 10 in the morning and 4 in the evening. At three o'clock Sheriff A T Wilson brought the prisoners out of the jail and into the square where a gallows had been erected, amidst a great concourse of volunteers, spectators and guards, to the place of execution. |
