Saturday, June 28, 2014

Tragedy at a Texas Courthouse

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

The old cemetery lies three blocks south of the Carthage town square. A weathered headstone reads:

DENNIS C. HILL

Panola’s murdered TREASURER
BORN July 17, 1833
Robbed of his life for the County’s money
Feb. 10, 1888
Hill’s murderer, Deputy Sheriff Tom Forsyth, is buried just 80 feet to the north. The murder and robbery of the Panola County Treasurer provided front-page headlines across Texas in February 1888. Carthage, the Panola County seat, was a quiet farming community of 400 which seemed an unlikely locale for a spectacular murder and lynching. Law and order was enforced by a thrice-wounded Civil War captain, Sheriff James P. Forsyth. When the war ended, Forsyth returned to his Panola County farm. He married and began to raise a family. His oldest son, Tom, was born in 1866, and another son and daughter soon followed.

J.P Forsyth in later years
In 1880 Forsyth was elected county sheriff. Popular and efficient, Sheriff Forsyth was re-elected in 1882, 1884, and 1886. When Tom Forsyth came of age at 21 in 1887, the sheriff gave him a deputy’s commission. But Sheriff Forsyth took a calculated risk when he pinned a badge on his son. Tom was chronically short of money. Although the young bachelor had no family responsibilities, he drank and gambled and sank into debt. Sheriff Forsyth apparently hoped that the responsibilities of enforcing the law would mature his son.

1886 Courthouse
On Friday, February 10, 1888, court was in session at Panola County’s two-year-old courthouse. At noon court adjourned, and the building rapidly emptied. Longtime County Treasurer Dennis Hill continued to work in his ground-floor office. He was 55, a solid family man. There were no banks in Carthage, and the only safe in the county stood in Hill’s office. His reputation was so trustworthy that local businessmen frequently entrusted cash to him for safekeeping. Therefore, on February 10 nearly $1,500 in private funds rested in his safe, along with almost $5,000 in county monies. 

 Deputy Sheriff Tom Forsyth strolled into Hill’s office and asked the treasurer to change a $20 bill. Hill amiably agreed, turned toward the open safe and began counting out change. Dazzled by the stacks of currency, Forsyth experienced an overwhelming surge of agreed. Impulsively he seized an axe, kept in the office to split wood for the fireplace. Forsyth launched a powerful blow at the back of Hill’s head. Hill was sent sprawling by the unexpected impact. As Hill writhed on the floor, Deputy Forsyth viciously struck him twice more with the axe. To make certain he was dead, Forsyth opened his pocket knife and slit Hill’s throat. Stepping over the bloody body, Forsyth looted the safe of more than $6,000, then locked the door behind him. 


The blood-soaked corpse was not found until Saturday. There was no telephone or telegraph connection to Carthage in 1888 (the first railroad into the county was still several miles from Carthage). News of the brutal robbery-murder did not reach the outside world until Sunday night, when Sheriff Forsyth traveled to Longview to seek help with the investigation. The story was flashed to Dallas, and the next day the News spread the sensational story statewide. “MURDERED AND PLUNDERED,” proclaimed a front-page headline. “Awful Fate of a Co. Treasurer/His Head Severed From His Body and His Safe Robbed.”

Sheriff Forsyth was no sleuth, and the services of a railroad detective, one-armed H.E. Parker, were engaged.  Parker soon built a case against Deputy Sheriff Forsyth. Almost as though he wanted to be caught, Tom began a spend money freely. In Beckville he changed a $50 bill that was stained with blood. Within a week he loaned more than $200 to railroad construction workers. He drank heavily and gambled recklessly, paying off one gambling debt with another blood-stained bill. 


Parker took note of Tom’s bizarre behavior, and when his evidence list seemed long enough he obtained a warrant for Tom Forsyth’s arrest. On Monday afternoon, February 27, Tom was forcefully seized in a Carthage saloon. Tom soon revealed where he had hidden the money, and told Parker that if he would prevent a lynching that he would make a full confession the next day in court. His mother fainted in the street. The money was quickly recovered, except for more than $600 that Tom had already spent. That night a lynch mob approached the courthouse, where the murderer was incarcerated, but they dispersed when told that Tom intended to confess in court.

On Tuesday morning Tom was brought into the courtroom. Radiating arrogance, he refused to remove his hat or stand before the judge. Leaning back in a chair, Tom dangled his legs over the table in front of him, lit a cigar, then told the story of the robbery and murder in grisly detail. When he finished, Tom asked the mercy of the court and citizens, and pleaded that he not be burned. 


J.P. Forsyth was buried in his Confederate uniform.
That night a dozen guards were on duty. Sheriff Forsyth, told at his home that a lynch mob was forming, sadly stated that justice must be done. Soon more than 400 men marched to the courthouse jail. The vastly outnumbered guards offered no resistance. Tom Forsyth was hustled outside to a tree near the courthouse. A noose was placed around his neck and the rope was tossed over a limb. Rather than be hoisted up and strangled, Tom persuaded the mob to let him climb a ladder – with his hands tied behind his back – and jump off. His neck was broken at 10:10, Tuesday night, February 28, 1888. Eighteen days had passed since the murder and robbery at the nearby courthouse.


The mob cut down Tom and carried his body to the county treasurer’s office. The murderer’s corpse was deposited atop the bloodstains of his victim, and the mob dispersed. Later that night friends of the Forsyth family carried Tom to a hotel, where the remains were prepared for burial.

After the lynching a more secure jail was built
half a block north of the square. Opened in
1891, today it houses an excellent museum
and genealogy library.
Sickened by the tragedy, Sheriff Forsyth never again carried a gun. His legion of friends persuaded him to run for re-election in the fall of 1888, and he won by a larger margin than in his previous four victories. In 1890 he refused another term, but in 1892 supporters prevailed upon him to run again, and he was re-elected in 1894. After withdrawing from public life for six years, he again was re-elected sheriff in 1902 and 1904. By 1906, now 66, Sheriff Forsyth apparently felt that he had restored honor to the family name, and he retired permanently from public service. Forsyth served as Captain of the Carthage Camp of United Confederate Veterans until his death in 1928. He was buried in his Confederate uniform, beside the grave of his disgraced son.

The brick courthouse, site of the murder of Denis Hill, was razed six decades ago. The hanging tree and other foliage around the square long have been displaced by permanent curbing. Today the only tangible reminders of the tragedy of 1888 are the peaceful graves of villain and victim. 

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Texans in Mississippi

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

For more than a decade at Panola College, each spring and fall I conducted an “Old South Tour,” a weekend at Natchez and Vicksburg and points in between. I usually took 24 men and women – occasionally all women – on a Panola College bus through the non-credit division. I lined up antebellum home tours and fine meals, museums and a trip through the Vicksburg Battlefield National Park. Through the years I managed to take each of my daughters, one or two at a time.

Jessie and Chloe at the Bonnie and Clyde markers.
My oldest daughter, Lynn Martinez, has long held a deep interest in the antebellum south. As a teacher in the Mansfield ISD she artfully shares this interest with her students. Lynn and her husband, Rudy, are the parents of two daughters, my oldest granddaughters: Chloe, soon to be a high school junior; and Jessie, soon to be a fifth-grader. Earlier this year Lynn asked if I could provide a private “Old South Tour” for her and her daughters. Of course I was delighted, and a few days ago I set out with Lynn, Chloe, Jessie and my wife Karon (aka “GrandKaron”).

Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton stands at left,
Frank Hamer is at lower right.
We drove across Louisiana on I-20, turning off to drive south eight miles past Gibsland to the site where Bonnie and Clyde, Dallas area criminals, were slain by lawmen led by famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton, who knew both fugitives. The climax to the manhunt came in 1934, 80 years and one month ago. 

We resumed our journey, crossing the Mississippi River into Natchez early in the afternoon. During the rest of the afternoon, evening, and the next morning, we toured the  mansions Rosalie, Stanton Hall, and Longwood, as well as the Grand Village of Native Americans with its burial mounds and reconstructed lodge. There was an evening carriage tour, and a delicious dinner downtown at Biscuits and Blues. I provided a driving tour of Natchez, and whenever possible I made a Texas connection, such as Jim Bowie. 

Jessie, Lynn, Chloe, and Karon stand at the Windsor ruins.
Late the next morning we left Natchez, stopping within a few minutes at the former military school, Jefferson College, now a state historic park. We drove northward on the lovely Natchez Trace, turning off at tiny Lorman to eat a terrific country buffet at the Lorman General Store, which dates from 1875. We continued on to the spectacular, haunting ruins of Windsor, the 23-room home of David Hunt, who owned 20 cotton plantations on both sides of the river, in Mississippi and Louisiana. The splendid mansion was topped by a towering observatory, from which the Mississippi River could be viewed, just four miles to the east. Despite the nearby passage of General Grant’s army in 1863, Windsor survived the war, but was destroyed in an accidental fire in 1890.

Lynn and Chloe at a Texas unit marker at the
Second Texas Lunette, where Union assault
troops approached to within a few feet of
Texas lines before being repulsed.
In 1881 my great-grandparents and their family rode past Windsor, part of a wagon train headed for Texas. My great-grandfather, Confederate veteran George Washington Owen, decided to leave the longtime family holdings in Hinds County and make a new start in Texas. One of his children was seven-year-old Nannie Ophelia Owen, my future grandmother (my father, W.C. O’Neal, was the last of her eight children). The wagon-train trek from Mississippi to Texas was the great adventure of her childhood, and she told me about it many times. My great-grandfather settled in Navarro County and became a prosperous landholder and cotton farmer. 

This statue of Jeff Davis was placed
at the Second Texas Lunette.
Our smaller trek pulled into Vicksburg early in the afternoon of our second day. We toured Cedar Grove, an elegant mansion near the Mississippi River. Cedar Grove was a target of Union gunboats during the siege of Vicksburg, and several solid shot cannon balls are imbedded in the grand house. We visited the excellent museum in the magnificent 1858 court house, before driving through the National Cemetery, where more than 17.000 Union soldiers are buried. Across the road from the cemetery is the impressive restoration of the U.S.S. Cairo, sunk in 1862 and rediscovered a century later. Although near closing time, we rapidly toured the old warship. 


Lynn and Chloe and I exercised in the Vicksburg National Battlefield Park, taking photos of monuments to the Texas soldiers and units. We all enjoyed our family trip together, and happily there was enough Texas material for a State Historian blog! 
Bill at the Texas Monument.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

ETHA Lock Committee

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

With ETHA Executive Director Scott Sosebee and
Joe White, who is the sole remaining charter member
of the Lock Awards Committee
Among the most significant annual awards presented by the East Texas Historical Association are the Lock Endowment Awards. Philanthropist Ottis Lock established the generous endowment which funds awards for the Best Book (or Books) on East Texas History, research grants involving East Texas history, and Educator of the Year. In past years I was privileged to receive several Lock research grants for book projects, as well as an Educator of the Year award. For the last several years I have been a member of the Ottis Lock Endowment Committee, and last year I became committee chairman.

ETHA Sectrary-Treasurer Chris Gill (left) and
Dr.Beverly Rowe, committee member and
ETHA past president
The committee held its annual meeting on the first Saturday in June. Traditionally we have a lunch meeting in Nacogdoches, because committee members must travel from all over East Texas. In the weeks prior to the meeting, we receive detailed research grant applications from ETHA Secretary-Treasurer Chris Gill, who also sends us copies of nominated books and nomination forms for Educator of the Year. By the time we meet in Nacogdoches, each member has evaluated all of the nominations and applications. We discuss each applicant and each book, along with an occasional special award. This year we were pleased to grant a total of $7,000 in awards, along with handsome plaques. The awards will be announced and presented at the Saturday Awards Luncheon of the ETHA Fall Meeting, in Nacogdoches on October 4. 



During the meeting we expressed fond remembrances, along with a moment of silence for longtime committee member Fred Tarpley. Dr. Tarpley was an author and professor of English at Texas A&M University in Commerce; indeed, he taught me at East Teas State College (in Commerce) during the 1960s. With his vast experience and kind temperament, Dr. Tarpley was an invaluable member of our committee. He was a gifted educator and a fine Christian gentleman. 

As mentioned in a recent blog, I’m in the finishing stages of a book titled Texas Gunslingers for Acadia Publishing. One of my final photo needs was for the grave of Rev. James Truitt, who was slain at his home in Timpson in 1886. His murder was a revenge killing for trial testimony he had delivered 12 years earlier in Hood County. I was given directions to the grave at City Hall, I got a good photo, and my trip home from Nacogdoches was enlivened by a bit of historical detective work in the field. 

Friday, June 6, 2014

D-Day at 70

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

With Jerry Hanszen
It has been a pleasure for me from time to time to present programs for the Lunch Box Lectures offered by the Panola College library to the student body and the public. A few months ago, while discussing future possibilities for the Lunch Box Lectures with librarians Cristie Ferguson and Sherri Baker, I mentioned that June 6, 2014, would be the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. This event was the largest amphibious invasion in history and the most important day of World War II. Dr. Gregory Powell, president of Panola College, offered to provide lunch for the event. As the event neared, publicity releases were carried in the Panola Watchman and other area newspapers, as well as on the Panola College home page.

The Lunch Box Lecture was scheduled for Thursday, June 5 (D-Day at Normandy originally was scheduled for June 5 but foul weather caused a postponement to June 6). The previous morning, on June 4, I was the subject of a 25-minute interview program over KGAS-Radio in Carthage. Owner-manager Jerry Hanszen is a skilled interviewer and with a county-wide – and beyond – listening audience, we used the program as part of our community’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of this historic achievement.
Librarian Cristie Ferguson
At Panola College on June 5, a large crowd gathered to socialize and eat lunch. I had the pleasure of visiting with a number of people, including two women whose husband, in one case, and father, in another, were teenaged infantrymen at Omaha Beach. Librarian Cristie Ferguson gave me a gracious introduction. My wife Karon and I had prepared a power point presentation which enhanced the program, and I used a German Mauser rifle as part of a demonstration. I related the incredible buildup of men and materials in England. By the spring of 1944 two million soldiers were training in England, and an enormous stockpile of equipment, supplies, and munitions was assembled.

The Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, Texas-born General Dwight D. Eisenhower, ordered the invasion to begin on June 6. Almost 12,000 airplanes and 7,000 naval vessels, including landing craft, went into action. On D-Day 175,000 men, including airborne troops, landed on five beaches, which extended for 60 miles along the northern coast of Normandy. Invaders had to brave countless mines, beach obstacles, and a large force of defenders with pre-sighted artillery, mortars, and machine guns. The most difficult beach was Omaha, but two American infantry divisions established the beachhead, despite 3,000 casualties, the loss of all 32 tanks, and the loss or disability of 80 percent of their radios. Of major assistance was naval artillery support from the ten 14-inch guns of the battleship Texas, and from the 5-inch guns of destroyers which maneuvered through shallow waters to within point-blank range of German positions. The most spectacular military action was the scaling of 100-foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc by Rangers commanded by Lt. Col. Earl Rudder, a graduate and future president of Texas A&M.



There were immediate reinforcements, and within three weeks there were one million Allied soldiers in Normandy. Within 100 days there were two and a half million soldiers, half a million vehicles, and four million tons of supplies and munitions. By late July Gen. George Patton led a breakout which swept German troops out of France. Operation Overlord, which began with the D-Day invasion of Normandy, was a resounding success.
Pointe du Hoc

I closed the program with color images of the National D-Day Memorial at Bedford, Virginia, and with a quote from the June 12, 1944, column of famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle: "In this column I want to tell you what the second front entailed, so that you can know and appreciate and forever be humbly grateful to those both dead and alive who did it for you."

For more imformation:
www.panola.edu
USS Texas


Karon at statute group of Rudder's
Rangers scaling Pointe du Hoc