The Carney Murders

I recently visited the Old Carney Cemetery in Jenkins, Mo. in search of the headstone for Jackson and Cordelia Carney. I wondered the whole cemetery and photographed all the Carney headstones but still managed to miss theirs.  Luckily I found this photo of the headstone on Ancestry so I thought I would share the sad story of their murder.

Mary C. Carney

Born Nov 6, 1850

Killed Dec 4, 1869

Jackson Carney

Born May 25, 1849

Killed Dec 4, 1869

Note: Jackson "Jack" Carney was born abt 1849. He was the son of John Carney and Sarah Moore Carney. Mary Cordelia Williams was the daughter of James Thomas Williams and Mary Jane Carr Williams. 

The following article is from The Daily Gazette (Davenport, Iowa); Dec 21, 1869.

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Here is another article written about the murder.

Double Murder and Lynching in White River Valley

By Emory Melton, Attorney Cassville, Missouri
White River Valley Historical Quarterly Volume 4 , Number 4 , Summer 1971

About a mile northwest of the Central Crossing Bridge on Table Rock Lake in the White River Valley, a double murder occurred slightly over a century ago, which resulted in the only lynching Barry County has ever experienced.

The site of the tragedy, which took place early on a Saturday evening, December 4, 1869, was a small country store operated by Jack Carney and his bride of ten months, Cordelia, in the village of Schell Knob just west of the Stone-Barry County line.

(When a post office was established at this location on July 12, 1872, the postal department dropped—whether by accident or design it is not known—the "c" from Schell and it hasn’t been used since).

Henry Schell, Sr., was born in 1810 at Lutesville in the southern part of Eastern Missouri and came to the Barry and Stone County area in 1834, where he promptly married Elizabeth Yocum, and started a family that would ultimately include six sons and six daughters. Before leaving Schell Knob and moving to the Big Sugar Creek country of McDonald County in 1845, his name had been appropriated for the area now making up the Shell Knob community. It quite likely grew from the fact that Schell was the first permanent settler and that he lived on or near a "knob".

Apparently there are no written records to confirm it, but the oldest "old-timer" of them all, John Sanders of Cassville, who was born near Shell Knob and is now in his 95th year, believes there were stores located at the present site of Shell Knob prior to the Civil War period of 1861 to 1865.

The slaying took place in a double log building located about 400 feet West and slightly south of the present school house site at Shell Knob. Shortly after the marriage of the young couple, the Carneys had obtained the double log structure, one end of which was used as a residence and the other end of which was used as a store building. It stood just south of the present road bed of Highway 39 in what is now the eastern edge of Shell Knob.

Carney was 20 years of age and his wife was 21.

The murder took place about dark on Saturday evening, but was not discovered until Sunday afternoon when a resident of the community called at the store for a package of goods he had purchased the day before. The door was not fastened, and, on entering, the visitor found Carney lying dead on the floor. He had been shot twice, both bullets having entered his head near his mouth, and apparently had died immediately. A story from the Missouri Patriot (Springfield), on Thursday, December 16, 1869, noted that the young wife had apparently been shot in the upper chest and that when the shot was fired her clothing took fire and was entirely consumed down to her waist.

Patrons who had visited the store on Saturday immediately voiced their suspicious of a young man named George Moore, a 28-year-old ner’do well who had been reared in a large part by the Carney families. Word was immediately sent to Sheriff John H. Moore (no relation) in Cassville to arrest young Moore if he should be found in that area.

Moore had spent a large portion of the day Saturday lounging about Carney’s store and was seen there about sundown of the evening. Moore and Carney had been acquainted from childhood. About a year previous to the slaying, Moore had robbed an elderly man in the neighborhood and immediately fled to Arkansas where his mother resided. At the time of the robbery he was working for John Carney (the father of Jackson Carney) and while there was sent by John Carney to take the elderly man, who had gotten drunk and was not in condition to be trusted alone with his team of horses, home. While going home with the old man, Moore robbed him and then fled. Nothing was heard from Moore until a few days before the double slaying when he made his appearance at Gadfly (a now extinct town located just West of Purdy), in Barry County. He remained there two or three days and then left, going directly to Carney’s store where he arrived on Saturday about 11:00. Moore spent the entire afternoon at the Carney’s store and apparently the two enjoyed the afternoon visit, even indulging in a friendly scuffle. The patrons of the store that afternoon later noted that there was every appearance of friendship between the two young men, but as soon as the last visitor had left the store Moore got down to the business for which he had apparently made the visit.

A few minutes after he was last seen at Carney’s—between sundown and dark—three pistol shots were heard in the direction of the store by a neighbor who resided about a quarter of a mile away.

About two hours later, Moore sought lodging for the night at a house about nine miles from the store in the direction of Cassville and remained there over night. He was traveling by horseback. On Sunday, he attended church at the Homer school house near Cassville, and on Monday the Sheriff arrested Moore about a mile and a half south of Cassville and lodged him in the county jail.

At the time of the arrest, Moore was wearing the hat of the murdered victim and had Carney’s revolver strapped around him, while Moore’s hat and one of the pistols were found in the store where the slayings occurred. On his person, $201.00, which had been taken from the store, was found. The money was found, a little of it in each of his pockets with some in the lining of his pants, his coat and his vest, and here and there a bill pinned to the inside of his clothing.

Shortly before the slayings occurred, Cordelia Carney had dyed some woolen material with a yellow dye. In making change at the store, she had handled some of the bills while her hands were yet wet with the dye and the dye had gotten on some of the paper money. Some of the money which Moore was found to be carrying had traces of the yellow dye on it.

Sheriff Moore transported young Moore to the county jail, which was a new jail and which had been built and accepted by the county on October 10, 1867, some two years earlier. It was built of log construction and was a rather formidable structure. It had been built, as per the order of the county court "six feet from the county courthouse".

The Barry County Courthouse, a two-story brick structure constructed in 1856, was located in the center of the public square in Cassville on the site of the present Barry County Courthouse.

Carney was a member of one of the truly pioneer families of Barry County. Thomas G. Carney and his family settled in extreme east central Barry County in the 1830’s. He was the father of John Carney and the grandfather of Jackson Carney. John Carney, father of the slain storekeeper, had attained a considerable degree of prominence having served as county judge from 1863 to 1868. As a result of the prominence of the family, and the ruthless nature of the murders, indignation was at a high point in the eastern part of the county.

On Monday evening, a large company of friends and relatives of the victims converged on the county seat with the announced purpose of carrying out summary justice.

The December 9th issue of the Barry County Banner, which was published in Cassville at that time, carried a detailed account of the affair. An exerpt follows:

"When these circumstances all came to light on Monday evening while Moore was in jail, some of the relatives and friends of the deceased combined for the purpose of taking the prisoner out of jail and executing him, and the Sheriff only saved him Monday night by secretely taking the prisoner out of jail and running him to the country."

"The deceased were buried on Tuesday, and on Wednesday some one hundred or more citizens came into town about noon, as was understood by the Sheriff for the purpose of hearing the trial, many of them being witnesses, balance generally friends and relatives, and before the Sheriff was aware of it, having been assured that the prisoner was to have a trial, he was surrounded and the keys of the jail demanded, at the same time enforcing their demand by presenting revolvers, and no denial would be received, was the word.

"The sheriff knew he had to encounter an enraged and injured, deeply injured, people, and that they meant what they said, and gave them the keys, and in about five or ten minutes this man, George Moore, could be seen dangling in the air suspended to a rope. But before he was hung he was given a few minutes to say what he desired. He denied the authorship of the atrocious deed, but it is generally believed he did not think they would hang him. But they did, and George Moore is no more."

It was estimated that some 200 men, virtually all of whom were residents of the vicinity of the crime, gathered at the lynching on the southeast corner of the public square in Cassville. Several wooden goods boxes were procured from nearby stores and placed under an extending arm from the bell post which stood at the southeast corner of the square. Suspended from the bell post was a bell which had been purchased by public spirited citizens of Cassville in 1868 and which was used chiefly for the purpose of calling the students to school and the worshipers to church. It was from this post that young Moore met his doom.

It is interesting to note that on February 20, 1877, the belL was donated to the Cassville School District and was removed from its post on the public square to a school building which had just been constructed. It continued to do service for the school district until 1939, but after 27 years of retirement the bell was in 1966 enshrined on the school grounds in Cassville...Not for any significance as to the lynching, but simply because it was the first and only bell ever used by the Cassville schools.

The lynching occurred shortly before the noon hour on Wednesday, when Moore was placed atop the boxes with a rope around his neck, the other end of which was fastened on the end of the extension to the bell post. Legend has it that the boxes were suddenly jerked from beneath the prisoner by Watt Carney, who was a brother of the slain merchant. The body was left hanging throughout the afternoon and at dark was taken down and transported to the Oak Hill Cemetery, at the east edge of the Cassville city limits, and there buried in an unmarked grave. On April 15, 1887, another body, which had met death on the gallows, would be interred beside Moore. Ed Clumb, who was hanged on that date in Cassville, had been tried and convicted for a double murder in Capps Creek Township west of Monett in Barry County. Like Moore, Ed Clumb was one of a kind. He was the only person ever to be legally hanged in Barry County.

Jackson and Cordelia Carney are buried in the Carney Cemetery near the Stone-Barry County line in eastern Barry County south of Wheelerville.

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Note: George Washington Moore is buried in an unmarked grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cassville, MO.

He was a son of Harrison and Mariah (Carney) Moore

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The following is from http://www.familysearch.org/.

United States Census, 1850 for Jackson Carney

Name: Jackson Carney

Residence: Barry county, Barry, Missouri

Age: 1 year

Calculated Birth Year: 1849

Birthplace: Missouri
Gender: Male
Film Number: 14871
Digital GS Number: 4195941
Image Number: 00407
Line Number: 19
Dwelling House Number: 135
Family Number: 135
Household Gender Age
John Carney M 25y
Sarah Carney F 24y
Gillen Carney F 4y
Jackson Carney M 1y
George Moore M 6y

The following is from http://www.ancestry.com/.

Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 about Mary Cordelia Williams
Name: Mary Cordelia Williams
Marriage Date: 3 Jan 1869
Marriage Location: Barry, Missouri
Marriage County: Barry
Spouse Name: Jackson Carney


Here is another link you can read more on the Carney's murder.
http://ozarks-history.blogspot.com/2011/08/carney-murders.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~haddockfamily/barryfamilies30.htm

I could have sworn I read somewhere that Cordelia and Jackson were buried in the same casket and grave. But for the life of me I cannot find where I seen that.

Update: Leonard Sims

I orginally posted in June 2010 Leonard Sims' headstone.

This week I recieved an email from Lawana whos great uncle was Leonard Sims.  She was so kind to provide the following information.

Leonard Sims was from Mountainburg, Arkansas and he purchased and operated the Silver King Saloon in Shawnee, OK. Leonard, Anne Long and her mother, Eula Long were having dinner when Charles McKnight came in and started cussing. This made Leonard very mad because you just didn't do that around women in 1901. Later on that night, about 11 p.m. he went to confront McKnight at the Betts Saloon where he was a Faro dealer. Sims attacked McKnight with a knife slashing him across the arm. McKnight drew a revolver, Sims grabbed it but Mcknight was able to pull the trigger. The shot passed through Sims' hand and struck James Hufstedler in the heart, killing him. Mcknight was able to free the gun from Sims and fired a second time. This shot struck Sims over the left eye killing him.

Lawana's grandfather Jesse, Leonard's brother, was there and saw the fight. Leonard was going to make him a partner at the Silver King Saloon in February when he turn 18. Jesse put Leonard's body on a train to be sent back to Arkansas. But he did not return with the body. Their father, Benjamin, and two other family members traveled to Shawnee and sold everything leaving Jesse out complete. After Mcknight was tired in court and acquitted the Sims family stood by watching one stormy night and just as lightning struck Jesse said "There is that son-of-bitch."  And with tears on his checks he made a sign of cutting from ear to ear. 

I was able to find the following information on http://www.ancestry.com/.

Information for Leonard Sims.

1880 United States Federal Census about Leonard Sims

Name: Leonard Sims
Home in 1880: Upper, Crawford, Arkansas
Age: 2
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1878
Birthplace: Arkansas
Relation to Head of Household: Son
Father's Name: Benjamin Sims
Father's birthplace: Missouri
Mother's Name: Rachel Sims
Mother's birthplace: Alabama
Occupation: At Home
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members: Name Age
Benjamin Sims   45
Rachel Sims   29
Jane Sims  11
William Sims   9
Laura A. Sims   7
Martha A. Sims   5
Leonard Sims   2

1900 United States Federal Census about Leonard H Simms
Name: Leonard H Simms
Home in 1900: Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma
Age: 21
Birth Date: Nov 1878
Birthplace: Arkansas
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relationship to head-of-house: Bar Keep
Father's Birthplace: California
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Marital Status: Single
Household Members: Name Age
Vol E Sayers   38
Harry Dreyfus   27
James Christopher   10
Charlie Mazzio   50
Henry Flynn   Unkn
Idella Gales   Unkn
May Brotherton   24
Lou Bullad   22
Frank Rhodes   Unkn
Walter L Dilworth   Unkn
A A Keappler   Unkn
William F Hanna   Unkn
William Irwin   Unkn
Leonard H Simms   21

Information for Charles McKnight.

1930 United States Federal Census about Charles P Mcknight

Name: Charles P Mcknight
Home in 1930: Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma
Age: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1878
Birthplace: Texas
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Eula B Mcknight
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
Charles P Mcknight   52
Eula B Mcknight  44

1920 United States Federal Census about Charles V Mcknight

Name: Charles V Mcknight
[Charles V Mc Knight]
[Charles P Mcknight]
Home in 1920: Shawnee Ward 2, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma
Age: 42
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1878
Birthplace: Texas
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
[Head]
Spouse's Name: Eula B Mcknight
Father's Birth Place: Arkansas
Mother's Birth Place: Arkansas
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Home owned: Own
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Charles V Mcknight   42
Eula B Mcknight   38
Morris C Mcknight   14

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 about Charles Parks Mcknight
Name: Charles Parks Mcknight
County: Pottawatomie
State: Oklahoma
Birth Date: 1 Sep 1876
Race: White
FHL Roll Number: 1852124
DraftBoard: 0

Update: George Thomas Ray

The original post for George Thomas Ray was made in Feb 2011. I have had very little success in finding any information about him.  I was pointed to a website that had the following information.  I am not sure if it is the same George Thomas Ray but I think it might be.

The following excerpt is from http://www.historical-footprints-2010.com/bunch_3.html by Barbara Inman Beall.

Threats at Bryant Home

Mr. [John A. (Alfred) ] Bryant's daughter, Lucy, in a Press interview, Sept. 7, 1922, then Mrs. Lucy Blakely, told of her father's escape but only mentioned two men coming to the house.

"One day in January," she said, "there rode up to the home of my father, John A. Bryant, two men from down on Shoal creek. One was Joe Thompson and the other was Tom Rae. Rae was wearing a Union solder's overcoat and carried a rifle while Thompson was dressed in ordinary civilian garb and was armed with a double-barrelled shotgun.

My father had been sick in bed and was sitting up in a chair that day for the first time. Our visitors wanted him to go outdoors with them but he refused, stating that he was not able. They talked for quite a while, urging on my father the advantages of declaring himself for the south and tried on various pretexts to get him to come outside. Finally Thompson rose in a rage.

"Well, if you will not go outside I will kill you anyway right here," he said with an oath, cocking his shotgun and aiming it at my father's breast.

"We children set up a scream and my mother sprang in front of my father. I remember yet exactly how the caps on Thompson's gun looked as he stood there with the weapon leveled. It was Rae who saved us.

"Come out of here, Joe," he said, "or you will scare these children to death." And Thompson sullenly lowered his gun and complied.

Murder of Brice Martin

"From our house they went a quarter of a mile south to the home of Brice Martin, mother's brother, and called him out to the fence. They talked awhile and Mrs. Martin, coming to the door, saw her husband turn away and start back to the house. As he did so, one of the men fired with the double-barrelled shotgun, the charge of buckshot striking my uncle in the back and killing him instantly. My aunt always said that the man in the blue overcoat fired the shot but my mother and father had known Tom Rae all their lives and could never believe that he would so murder Brice Martin with whom he was well acquainted.

"My aunt ran down to our house to tell what had happened…Eliza Parnell spread the word of the murder and my mother went up and watched by the body which lay until 9 o'clock in the yard where it had fallen. We had many good neighbors, some of them northern sympathy, most of them southern but not a man on either side dared to go after the body until 9 o'clock for fear of being murdered. Then two southern sympathizers, George Hammer and John Rafedy, and a Union man, James Landers, slipped up to the Martin's home under cover of darkness, picked up the body and brought it to our house where it was left that night.

Southern Home Guard Aids

"There was something of a panic among the people of the neighborhood following the killing, especially those known to favor the cause of the north. My father did not dare stay home that night and he and Marsh Parnell went over to the home of Mrs. Sally Keith over close to the Carthage road, and laid there concealed in the attic all night. The Parnells were almost all southern people, but Marsh was known as a Union man and his life was in as much danger as anyone's despite his southern kindred.

"Everyone in the neighborhood was at first afraid to have anything to do with the Martin funeral, but finally James Bunch, captain of a southern home guard company, said he would have the grave dug and would furnish protection to those coming to the burial. He and his men dug the grave in the cemetery of the old Freedom Baptist church near Moss Springs and a man in Fidelity made a coffin. My uncle was buried the next day, there being a considerable number of women present, a few men, including my father and Marsh Parnell, and a number of Captain Bunch's home guard company.

"Immediately after the funeral the Union men took to the timber and prepared to leave the country that night. There were in the party besides my father and Marsh Parnell, Dr. D. F. Moss, Riley Moss, William Spencer and several others, perhaps as many as a dozen all told. They made their way safely to Kansas and we stayed alone until two months later when they came back with a detachment of Union soldiers and took us to Fort Scott." [29]

John A. Bryant (Alfred Bryant) was the brother of Adeline Elizabeth Bryant Spence, wife of Lazarus Spence. The John Bryants fled to Fort Scott, Kansas and never returned to Jasper Co., Missouri. They spent the rest of their lives in Kansas. John Bryant's wife was Nancy Martin, who was the sister of Brice Martin, the man who was murdered. The Prigmores and Martins had intermarried. And, of course, Nimrod Porter Bunch's wife was a Prigmore.

The newspaper account did not identify the man from Fidelity who made the coffin, but I have an idea it was Nimrod Bunch. Brother Jim and his men dig the grave in Moss Springs, and had a man in Fidelity make the coffin. Given the Bunch ancestry of carpenters and cabinet makers, Nimrod would have been an excellent candidate for the job. That may have been the reason why the Nimrod Bunch family left the area during the remainder of the war. They went to Johnson Co., Missouri (near Warrensburg), where their child, Leander, was born and where a number of Prigmores were living. They did not return to Jasper County until after the war had ended.

Brice Martin was only 17 years of age when he was killed.

One discovery generally leads to another question. In this case, the question had a double segment: who were Tom Rae and Joe Thompson and what happened to them?


George Thomas Ray was born in Kentucky in 1833 to John Ray (1805-1860) and Sarah A. Spears (1805-1892). The Rays lived in Neosho, Newton Co., Missouri. Tom's wife's name was Emeline (b. 1833). Their children were:

Jennette Ray 1852 -
Laurette Ray 1855 -
Frances Ray 1857 -
Etta Ray 1862 -
George T Ray 1863 - [30]

On March 14, 1862, a little over two months after the Brice Martin murder and according to the inscription on his tombstone, Tom Ray was murdered on the Neosho courthouse square. He was 29 years of age when he was killed. [Perhaps he was going to turn in someone for the murder of Brice Martin??!!]

Another Triple Murder

Located at Benton County Memorial Park Cemetery in Rogers, AR.

Kathryn A. Deason

Nov 26, 1958 - Mar 14, 1990

Julie A. Deason

Feb 23, 1987 - Mar 14, 1990

Sean W. Deason

Mar 23, 1988 - Mar 14, 1990

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Killer Says He 'Intended' To Shoot His Wife, Kids

Orlando Sentinal June 10, 1991

A man who pleaded guilty to killing his family says he had gone a week without sleep and suffered from a brain disorder when he shot his wife and two children. Jimmy Earl Deason, 31, of Fayetteville entered his pleas last week to the March 15, 1990, slayings. As part of a plea bargain, he was sentenced to 40 years. ''I was kind of having a nervous breakdown. Something happened to me. I picked up an M-1 carbine and shot my wife while she was in the bathroom,'' Deason told Washington County Judge William Storey. Deason said the first bullet went through his wife, Katherine, 32, and hit his daughter, Julieann, 3, who was standing behind her mother. Deason said he reloaded and shot his son, Sean, 1. He told the judge: ''Yes, I believe I intended to shoot them all, sir.''

The following is Jimmy Earl Deason's inmate record found at http://adc.arkansas.gov/inmate_info/search.php?dcnum=096839&lastname=de&sex=b&agetype=1.

Update: Bright Murders

My original post about theses murders was posted in February of 2011. Since then I have discovered more news clippings on the murders of the Bright family as well as a few on what happened to Gary Earl Bright afterwards.

According to theses articles Gary Earl Bright was sent to a juvenile detention center in Missouri for the murders of his family. About a year later he was released to his father's care.  His farther married Alden Kathleen Webb sometime between 1957 and 1960. In 1960, Gary attacked his step-mother with a wrench and was then sentenced to 15 years in prison for the attack.

Theses are articles from 1957. Most of these repeat each other but the two that added details I separated out and posted them first. 

Brownsville Herald Nov 27, 1957

Daily Register Nov 26, 1957

Three months after the murders Gary Earl Bright was found sane and then placed in a juvenile detention center in St. Louis, MO.

Joplin Globe Feb 4, 1958

Theses are the articles from 1960 when he attacked his step-mother.

The Bee July 23, 1960

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune Oct 12, 1960

The Gettysburg Times Oct 13, 1960

James F. Hardin - Assassinated

Located at Mount Vernon City Cemetery in Mount Vernon, MO.

Sacred To The

Memory Of

James F. Hardin

Born

Sept 8, 1836

Assassinated

Feby 3, 1876

 1845-1890. Catalogue of Phi Alpha Society ... Illinois College, Volume 23  By Illinois College. Phi Alpha Society, Illinois College

This is from Find A Grave. (http://www.findagrave.com/; by I remember when. . ., May 29, 2011.)

"M. L. VanGilder in 1995 notes: 9 December 1875, attorney James F Hardin shot attorney William H. Phelps twice in a court room, who recovered (Phelps had been elected to state legislature in 1872). Then James F. Hardin was gunned down by blasts from shotguns on 3 February 1876 when going home. His widow signed a complaint against William H. and brother Charles H. Phelps with an arrest made. Both acquitted on 28 September, 1876."

 I found this excerpt in an article, Historic Home Auction, that was written in 2006.

"The second occupant, lawyer James F. Hardin, shot another attorney during a court proceeding in December 1875. Hardin died after he was shot in an ambush in February 1876 a short distance from his home."

This is from View From the Courthouse: Abstracts of Lawrence County, Mo., Circuit Court Documents, 1858-1869

"In 1866, James F. Hardin, son-in-law of the Honorable John C. Price, served as Circuit Attorney. Hardin undoubtedly brought some excitement into the proceedings. Following Hardin's murder in Carthage in 1876, his obituary in a Springfield paper defended his character by stating "he was a better man than his sneaking cowardly assassins because whenever he had an enemy who needed to be injured, he met them face to face in public." It was Hardin who shot William H. Phelps in the courthouse at Carthage in 1875."

Sadly I wasn't able to find out much more than this. As always if you discover anymore information please feel free to email me and let me know and I will update the post. 

Assassinated

I found this marker at Lincoln Cemetery in Lincoln, AR and have been unable to find any information on what happened.  So if you have any ideas please feel free to share them. Would love to know the story behind this marker.

How desolate our home bereft of thee

J. W. Murry

Born

Oct 28, 1878

Assassinated

Sept 6, 1908

UPDATE: Thank you Pugbug for the information!  Have I ever mentioned I have the greatest followers? You guys are always so wonderfully helpful.

The following is from Arkansas reports: cases determined in the Supreme Court of Arkansas, Volume 91  pages 578 - 582.

The Murder Of Nellie Moneyhun

Located at Friendship Cemetery in Springdale, AR.

Nellie Susan

Dau of J.G. & L.A. Moneyhun

Born Dec 18, 1887

Killed Feb 2, 1913

Her happy soul has winged its way

To one pure, bright, eternal day.

No pain, no grief, no anxious fear

Can reach thepeaceful sleeper here.

*********************

The following informatin was taken form Deathpenalty.

Broken Heart End On GallowsIt was a story of unrequited love.

Omer Davis, 18, of Springdale, loved his teacher, Miss Nellie Moneyhun. He misinterpreted her attention and kindness toward him as romantic interest. The teacher was engaged to marry Sam Claypool. Davis was devastated when Nellie told the school children her plans.

Davis went to the Moneyhun home to visit Nellie the evening of Feb. 2, 1913. He tried to convince her to marry him instead of Claypool. He talked with Nellie and her parents for some time.

Davis asked Nellie to step into the vestibule. He drew a .38 pistol from his coat pocket and shot her in the forehead. She fell into the living room and into her father's arms. She died instantly.

Davis then tried, unsuccessfully, to kill himself. He suffered a bullet wound to the forehead.

When J.G. Moneyhun approached Davis, who was on the floor, Davis raised the gun to shoot him. Moneyhun grabbed the pistol and the hammer fell on the flesh between his thumb and forefinger, but failed to fire. He wrestled the revolver away from Davis, grabbed a shotgun and fired it into the air. Davis ran away. He was later caught by a posse outside Springdale.

Davis said at his trial that the shooting was an accident. His attorneys argued he was mentally incompetent and too young to be tried as an adult. Some newspaper accounts described Davis as a "dull-minded creature."

The jury convicted him May 10, 1913, and the judge sentenced him to death.

A crowd gathered by 5 a.m. outside the jail to watch the execution on Sept. 11, 1913.

Davis ate a hearty breakfast, then deputies escorted him from his jail cell, though a bathroom window and directly onto the scaffolding.

Davis, wearing a blue shirt, striped overalls, tan socks and a new pair of shoes, reportedly showed no remorse or emotion.

His final words: "I want you all to meet me in heaven, for I am going there."

Rev. Marion Nelson Waldrip said a prayer. Deputies fitted Davis with a black hood and 2-inch-thick rope.

Sheriff Sam Caudle sprung the trap at 6:39 a.m. Davis fell about 6 feet. His neck was broken. The body was allowed to hang for about 15 minutes before being cut down and taken to a funeral home.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office provided a floral wreath.

The rope, hood and gallows were sent back to the state penitentiary in Little Rock.

Davis was the last of 18 men hanged with the 2-inch rope and his was the last scheduled legal public hanging in Arkansas.

The state took over all executions from counties the same year and changed the method of death to electrocution.

**************************************

The following are all the newspaper clippings I could find.



Oakland Tribune, Sept 11, 1913; pg 1 Oakland California



Reno Evening Gazette, Sept 11, 1913;  pg 5 Nevada, AZ

  

The Daily Northwestern, Sept 11, 1913;  pg 1 Oshkosh, Wisconsin



The Mansfield News, Sept 11, 1913; pg 1 Mansfield Ohio

The Sheboygan Press, Sept 11, 1913;  pg 1 Sheboygan Wisconsin

The Washington Post, Sept 12, 1913; pg 1 Washington



The Chillicothe Constitution, Sept 12, 1913;  pg 1  Chillicothe Ohio



The Frederick Post, Sept 13, 1913; pg 8 Maryland



***********************************

The following statement is from Fighting Death.

The last legal hanging in Washington County was of Omer Davis, according to information from county records. He was hanged on Sept. 11, 1913, on the gallows on the north side of the old Washington County Jail, just south of the old Washington County Courthouse, where Davis was tried for the murder of his teacher, Nellie Moneyhun.

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The following is from Sheriffs 1908 - 1940

•In 1913, Omer Davis, 19 years of age, was hanged for the murder of Nellie Moneyhun, a teacher from Spring Valley.

•Deputies Holcomb and Jackson were in charged of making sure the equipment was in working order.
•Deputy Robert Curtis assisted Sheriff Caudle when he was pulling the trap on Omer Davis who was killed from a broken neck.
•The newspaper complimented the sheriff's force and the manner of the hanging and the way that it was conducted.
•This was the last legal hanging in the State of Arkansas.



Murdered On The Court House Square

I and a few others have searched and searched for information on this gentleman and have all come up empty handed.  If you have any information on this gentleman we would all love to hear it.  Please feel free to either post a comment or email me privately at nailgal123@gmail.com.

Located at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Neosho, MO.

To The Meomory Of

Grandfather

George Thomas Ray

Born In Kentucky 1833

Murdered On

Court House Square

Neosho MO March 14, 1862

Erected by

Claude L. & Hazel M. Ray

Update:

http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-george-thomas-ray.html

The Bright Murders

I have been trying to find information on this sad story for some time but have been unable to find much.  The following is all I have found.  If you have any info you would like to add about this post please feel free to either post a comment or if you wish to remain anonymous email me at nailgal123@gmail.com. To protect the privacy of the living, any person named, will not be posted unless there is a specific document or web link that can be cited. I'm more interested in the story then at pointing fingers.

*****

Information from Find-A-Grave.

Bobby was shot to death along with his sister, Carol, and his mother, Jewell, by his own brother. He was the son of Earl and Jewel Bright, and was born in Bentonville, AR. After killing his mother, brother and sister, the 12-year-old sibling shot himself in the left side of his chest. He survived. The boy told authorities that he became angry when his mother ordered him to go out and round up the cattle. (His father was hospitalized at this time, having been injured in a farming accident). Bobby was survived by his father, Earl; his grandfather, Robert L. McGaugh of Springdale, AR; two uncles, John V. and Melvin L. McGaugh of Springdale; and an aunt, Mrs. Dorothy Rivers of Chattanooga, TN.

Located at Hart Cemetery in Bentonville, AR.

Mother

Jewell Irene

Bright

Oct 11, 1922 - Nov 26, 1957

Son

Bobby Don

Bright

Jan 18, 1955 - Nov 26, 1957

Daughter

Carol Lynn

Bright

Jan 28, 1953 - Nov 26, 1957

***************

Thank you LaDonna for sending me the following newspaper clips.

Date: 1957-11-26  Paper: Marietta Journal  http://www.genealogybank.com/ 

Date: 1957-11-27; Paper: Oregonian http://www.genealogybank.com/

Update:

http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/2011/07/update-bright-murders.html

Another Unsolved Murder

Located at Old Newtonia Cemetery in Newtonia, MO.

C.E. Garritt

Born

May 25, 1816

Died

Dec 8, 1891

The Newton County News

Dec. 10, 1891

A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY
C. E. Garritt, an Old and Esteemed Citizen of Near Newtonia Murdered for His Money - A Masked Robber Commits the Bloody Deed.

One of the boldest murders that was ever enacted in Newton county, was committed last Tuesday evening at about 8 o'clock. C. E. Garritt, a well to do farmer, and money loaner, living two and one half miles southwest of Newtonia, being the victim.

The family had closed the doors for the night, and Mrs. Garritt and her granddaughter, Rena Kinnear, a little girl about twelve years of age, were sitting by the fire reading, and Mrs. Garritt was lying on the lounge asleep, when two hurried steps were heard on the porch immediately followed by sharp, quick reps on the door. Mrs. Garritt, thinking it was her son coming in for a short visit, went to the door when she was confronted by a masked man, who covered her with a large revolver and ordered her to "Wake up the old Devil," referring to Mr. Garritt, who was dozing quietly, all unconscious of the doom that awaited him.

Mr. Garritt awoke and was immediately commanded by the robber to get up and turn his face from him, as he had also instructed Mrs. Garritt and her granddaughter to do, and then the assassin demanded of them their money. Mr. Garritt turned his head and looking at the man said, "I would like to know what business you have coming into my house and ordering my family around in this way." For answer the would be assassin pointed his revolver at Mr. Garritt and fired, the ball entering Mr. Garritt's right side. The wounded man fell bleeding across the lounge.

When the shot was fired, the little granddaughter, Rena Kinnear, ran out of the house through the south door; the murderer, thinking rightly that the little girl was running for assistance, rushed out at the east door, almost running over Rena at the southeast corner of the house, which so frightened the little girl that she ran back into the house, but the murderer kept on, taking a westerly direction.

Jean Dianmore, a man who was working for Mr. Garritt, had just gone to bed in an upper room, when the shot was fired, but was not asleep. On hearing the report of the revolver he came down and after laying Mr. Garritt on the lounge went to call Mr. Austin and family, who reside but a short distance from the Garritt residence.

A young man by the name of Hill, who was working at Mr. Austin's went to carry the sad news to Mr. Kinnear and family, relatives of the deceased. Fred Austin and Jesse Dianmore went in haste to Newtonia for medical assistance. Drs. Hancock and Chapman returned with them, but Mr. Garritt had breathed his last before they reached him. He only lived about one half hour after the shot was fired and never spoke after receiving the fatal wound.

The physician's affidavit is as follows; We, the undersigned physicians on December 8th, 1891, being summoned to the residence of C. E. Garritt, arrived at 10:30 P. M. and found him lying on the lounge dead. On examination we discovered a gun shot wound, the ball probably of 44 caliber, having entered the right side at a point about two inches below the crest of the ilium, passing directly through the body, the point of exit being about one half inch above the crest of the left ilium. We believe the above described wound was the cause of his death.
J. B. Hancock, M.D.
M. R. Chapman, M.D.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day, December 1891, at the residence of the deceased.
D. T. Wainright, Justice of the Peace.

The fiendish murderer wore a mask of some kind of blue cloth on the face and had on an oil cloth coat that nearly covered him. He is a tall, broad shouldered man, and carried in one hand a rope, which it is thought the assassin meant to use in tying Mrs. Garritt as the supposition is that the murderer expected to find the two old people alone.

D. T. Wainright, Justice of the Peace, arrived at the residence Tuesday night. A jury was empaneled Wednesday morning, who gave in the verdict that the deceased came to his death from a pistol shot fired by an unknown person. Mrs. Garritt and her little granddaughter are almost prostrated from grief and terror.

Mr. Garritt was seventy five years of age and was well known in this part of the county as possessing a great deal of means and as a money loaner. The assassin, however, went away without taking any booty. Deputy Constable G. R. Wainright is tracing up the case, and everything in the power of man will be done by the relatives, friends, and neighbors of the deceased to bring the vile murderer to justice.

Funeral services will be held today at 2 o'clock t the Baptist church. Elder Largen will conduct the services, after which the remains will be interred in the Newtonia cemetery.
*****************************************************************************

The Murder Of Christina Bishop and Louise Bishop

Located at St Vincents Cemetery in Avoca, AR.

Christina Bochenek

Bishop

Nov 20, 1968

Feb 17, 2010

(Note: Feb 17, 2010 was the day they located her body.)

Benton County Daily Record Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Christina Louise (Bochenek) Bishop, 40, of Bentonville, Ark. Born in Poland Nov. 20, 1968, adopted at age 3 by Chester and Louise Bochenek. Christina was raised in Cicero, Ill., a suburb of Chicago and later in Rogers, Ark. Christina Bishop was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Rogers, as well as St. Stephens Catholic Church in Bentonville. Survivors include two sons, Nicholas and John Johansen of Garfield; and daughter, Leslie Conner, who was given up for adoption; two stepbrothers, Scott Bishop of Boise, Idaho, and Christopher Bishop of Bentonville; and many cousins and nieces. Christina's cousin George Joseph Skupien and his wife had recently relocated to the area to care for Christina and her mother, Louise Bishop, who both died suddenly together. Visitation will be at the Benton County Funeral Home, 306 N. Fourth St., Rogers, on Friday, March 5, 2010, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral Mass will be at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 1416 Poplar St., Rogers, on Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., with Monsignor David LeSieur officiating; burial in St. Vincent Cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Rogers, Ark.

 Chester S Bochenek

Nov 5, 1924

Oct 15, 1987

Louise Bochenek

Jan 29, 1927

Feb 17, 2010

(Note: Feb 17, 2010 was the day they located her body. Chester was her second husband who she requested to be buried next to because she had spent most of her time in Arkansas with him.)

Benton County Daily Record March 3, 2010

Louise (Szoctacka) Bishop, 81, of Bentonville, Ark. Louise was born in Poland on Dec. 29, 1927, and became a "very proud" U.S. citizen in 1957. Louise lived through the war and told stories of running from planes dropping bombs near her home in Poland. She relived the horror throughout her entire life. Close friends said that Louise had shrapnel from bombs removed from her shoulder and leg. While Louise was a proud American citizen, she never forgot her Polish heritage. Accordion music of polkas, waltzes and classical music once played throughout her home. Louise retired from Zenith Television Corp., in Cicero, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and later owned several businesses to include "The Sandman Motel" in Rogers, Ark., which was once located on Walnut Street across from the now Frisco Mall. Louise was a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Rogers, as well as St. Stephens Catholic Church in Bentonville. Preceded in death by her daughter, Christina (Bochenek) Bishop; two brothers in Ukraine; and husbands, Edward Skupien, Chester Bochenek and Lacy Bishop. Louise had requested to be buried next to Chester to whom she spent most of her life with here in Northwest Arkansas. Survivors include two grandsons, Nicholas and John Johansen; as well as a granddaughter, Leslie Conner; and two stepsons Scott Bishop of Boise, Idaho, and Christopher Bishop of Bentonville; as well as two sisters living overseas in Ukraine ;and many nieces and nephews, to include George Joseph Skupien of Chicago, her godson and nephew who had recently relocated to Arkansas upon her request. Visitation will be at the Benton County Funeral Home, 306 N. Fourth St., Rogers, on Friday, March 5, 2010, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral Mass will be at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 1416 Poplar St., Rogers, on Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. with Monsignor David LeSieur officiating; burial in St. Vincent Cemetery.

***************************************************

Who was murdered by ...

(Located at Basham Cemetery in Mountainburg, AR.)

Leonard H.

Son of

B.F. & R.E. Sims

Killed

Dec. 28, 1901

Aged

24 y's 1 MO.21D.

In loving memory of our beloved son. Who was murdered by a traitor and coward, whose name is not worthy to appear here.

(Unable to read the lower part of the stone)

Upon researching the name here is what I was able to find.

Perry Journal, Oklahoma, 26 Dec 1901: Chas McKnight, a gambler of Shawnee, shot and killed Leonard Sims and J.C. Hufstedler last Saturday night at Shawnee. Sims attacked McKnight with a knife when the latter drew a revolver and fired, the first shot killing Hufstedler, who was an innocent bystander. The second shot killed Sims. Self defense will be the plea of McKnight. It is said the quarrel started over a woman.

An interesting little tidbit of information, This epitaph is also on Jesse James' headstone.

I emailed the historical society in the area trying to find any other information but have had no response.

Update

http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-leonard-sims.html