Looking Back

(Editor’s Note: This column looking back at St. Francis County’s history is featured each Friday on this Lifestyles page along with the week’s History Photo. The items included in this column were printed in previous editions of the Times-Herald.)

March 1905

Convict Shot - Will Gowljeb, a convict, is under treatment in the penitentiary hospital at Little Rock for a gunshot wound received while attempting to escape from the camp at Blerne. Only one bullet struck him and that one took effect in the abdomen. He was taken at once to the hospital and Dr. Witt says he will recover. He was received from Cross County to serve three years for grand larceny.

Locals - Mr. Charley Kelley, of L'Anguille, was in town on business. ***Mr. and Mrs. Will Allen of Johnson Township were trading in town. ***Mr. Robert Brown, of Johnson Township, was a business visitor in the city. ***Mr. H.T. Plummer, of Marianna, was in town and registered at the Marion. ***Mrs. W.A. Compton, of Marianna, was in the city Tuesday and en route to Little Rock. ***Mr. Harry and bride, of Harrisburg, where in the city and registered at the Marion. ***Mr. R.G. Dye, of Little Rock, was a visitor to his mother and other relatives and friends. ***Mr. J.T. Williford, of Haynes, was in the city on business and a guest at the Marion hotel. ***Miss Mabel Smith left via Memphis, for Adrian, Mich., where she will enter school. ***Mr. H.B. Gwyn was visiting family and friends the first part of the week. ***Mr. S.B. Trapp Jr., has about 42 men and 67 mules plowing and passersby say they never saw so many mules and hands in one field. ***Mr. Dave Bottoms, of Memphis, has been in the city several days on a visit to his mother and other relatives and friends. Dave is looking well and we are glad to note his prosperous look. ***Mr. E.F. Wills, Mr. and Mrs. H.R. Douglas, Mrs. Eugene Douglas and Mrs. Lizzie Douglas, all of Memphis, came over to attend the FussellTaylor nuptials and were guests at the Marion. ***John Dye, a barber employed at Butler's shop, has been very low with pneumonia. He came up on Monday and while walking, fell from exhaustion and had to be carried home in a buggy. ***Mr. F.M. Satterfield, of near Forrest City, was in the city on business. He had his paper changed from that office to Forrest City because the Fulwood office has been moved to an inconvenient distance from his home. ***Miss Lillie Gorman, who had been such a charming guest in the home of Mrs. M.E. Hatcher, left in answer to a telegram announcing the d'ness of her father, Mr. H.P. Gorman, cashier of the Citizens Bank of Searcy. ***Miss Ida May Wills of Memphis has been a guest in the Fussell home for several days and the recipient of great admiration and numerous attention from our gallants. She was one of Miss Fussell's attendants Wednesday evening. ***Mr. Henry Harbin and Mrs. Minnie Harbin, both of Lee County, were married in the office of the Circuit and County Clerks, Judge T.C. Folbre officiating. Mrs. Harbin was a sister-in-law of the groom. They left on the westbound Choctaw train. ***Mr. Frank Dusek, of Goodwin, was in the city on business and informed the writer that the store of Measrs. J. Dusek & Sons of Goodwin, was entered by burglars and about $30 in money, two watches worth $20, one shotgun and some other merchandise was stolen. They sent to Little Rock for bloodhounds, but were unsuccessful in getting them and have no clue to the perpetrators. ***Mrs. T.J. Davis, Miss Davis, Miss Mattie Mal Davis and Misses Emma and Agnes Wyoough of Batesville, left for New Orleans to attend the Mardi Gras celebration. ***Mrs. A.D. McDaniel, Mrs. D.E. Hosball, Mrs. J.F. Lyooh and Misses Nonie Rogers, Nell and Elizabeth Minor left for New Orleans to take in the Mardi Gras celebration. ***Mrs. V.V. Mann and Miss Mamie Mans, of Pine Bluff, are welcome guests in the house of Attorney S.H. Mann and are assisting in the housekeeping during the absence of Mrs. Mann. ***Miss Ida Brantley who was called to Mississippi about Christmas to attend the beside of her parents, both of whom were quite ill, returned and resumed her school at Palestine. ***Mr. A.J. Goad, who rented land east of the Springs, was in the city after seed potatoes. He is planting a northern white potato and believes they will do better than Red Triumph.

Locals - Mr. B.H. Winfield, of Augusta, arrived here to take his usual place in the Taylor-Fussell wedding party. Richard is looking fine and dandy and is getting handsomer every day. ***Mr. S.N. Landers, the enterprising blacksmith, was confined to his room with the grip. He is overhauling and remodeling the old Catholic church, with a view to renting it for hotel purposes. ***Miss Mary Kay Stewart of Little Rock arrived in the city and has been a charming guest of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Benson for several days. She left for New Orleans to take in Mardi Gras. ***Mr. Walter Sweet, of Widener, was in the city and a witness in the preliminary examination of Fannie Gibson and Will Johnson, who were charged with the murder of her husband, Jonas Gibson. ***Mr. O.D. Stokes of Lula, returned Tuesday from Boston Mountains, in state, where he had been to leave his motherless 16-month-old baby in care of his brother and wife. ***John Pulley was placed behind the bars of the county jail, charged with stealing cotton from Mr. A. Bird. He has been alluding the officers about four months but was finally captured by Deputy Swan. ***Mr. Joe Ferguson accepted a position as salesman with the Fussell-Graham-Alderson Company. Joe is a hustling salesman and has many friends who will be happy to give him a share of their trade.

Assault To Kill - Mrs. Bascom Lewis, formerly the Widow Jenkins, living in Johnson Township, on the line of Cross County, had difficulty with and was arrested last week on a warrant charging assault with intent to kill, John McGaha, neighbor. Constable Joe Logan and three deputies went to her home to make the arrest but she outwitted them by stepping across the line into Cross County and spending the night with her neighbors. The constable, however, arrested the men in the house to keep them from informing Mrs. Lewis of his intentions and patiently waited until morning. It was bright and early when Mrs. Lewis, thinking the officers had left her premises, returned to her home to prepare the morning meal. Joe and his deputies surprised her and placed her under arrest. She resisted, however, and they had a hard struggle to force her into a wagon. She was finally taken before Squire McLaren, who gave her a preliminary hearing and bound her over to circuit court, fixing her bond at $1,000 which she gave and was released. Hon. T.O. Fitzpatrick made the bond. The deputies did not know that they could make the arrest just as well in Cross County as in this and when Mrs. Lewis stepped over the line they did nothing but listen to her while she loudly abused them.

Bound Over - Will Johnson and Fannie Gibson were in Squire Stone's court, charged with murder of her husband, Jonas Gibson, which is said to have been committed on Friday, Feb.17, 1905, on the Houston place, three miles north of Madison, a foul account of all of the known particulars of which were published in this paper last week. The whole colored population of Griggs Township was thought to be in town that day and when they gathered at the courthouse it was not large enough to hold them. But the Squire thought it advisable to exclude such a large crowd and adjourned to the grand jury room, where the evidence was heard, not being completed until Tuesday during the forenoon. They were held in the sum of $1,000 and $250 respectively, to appear at the March term of the Circuit Court and in default of bail were sent to jail to await the action of the grand jury. Fannie Gibson's mother and Arthur Dosier, who were also under arrest, similarly charged, were tried and released, there being insufficient evidence to hold them. The murder of Gibson is still a strange mystery. Some seem to think he committed suicide, others that the crowd of friends of the woman put him out of the way. There was only a very small amount of blood from the seeming slight wounds from the knife and hardly enough evidence of strangulation with the towel to indicate for a certainty that either of these causes led to his death.

Foul Play Probable - Charles Goss, a white man, aged about 38, was picked up alongside of the Iron Mountain track, near the home of Mr. H.W. Lewis, in an unconscious condition, and it was generally thought at the time that he had been the victim of a collision with a freight engine. He was taken to the county jail, where Deputy Sam Swan made him as comfortable as he could and nursed him back to life. He is much better and tells the following story of his adventures, which lead us to believe that he had been foully dealt with. He says he met a stranger here on that day and that they started to walk to Wynne. That before starting they supplied themselves with some whiskey and patrol freely of the same; trying to get possession of his watch, and that when he recovered his senses, some money which he had about his person was missing. It is probable that his fellow traveler struck him down with a club or rock, relieved him of his valuables and went his way alone. He was severely hurt about the head and can give no account of how it happened.

Death of Peter Doyle - The family of Mr. Peter Doyle received a telegram Friday on Feb. 24, 1905, from Johnson City, Tenn., conveying to them the sad news of his death at the National Military Home, located in the mountains of Tennessee, where he had gone for his health just three months previous. He was taken ill very suddenly and died within a few minutes of heart failure. He had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks but neither himself nor his family realized that his condition was serious until the sad news of his death reached here. Mr. Peter Doyle was born in Ireland in 1840 and came to the country in 1852. He was a Federal soldier and at the time of his death was enjoying a rest in the National Home for indigent and decrepit soldiers, being in his 65th year. Mr. Doyle was married 29 years and had been a resident of Forrest City 20 years. He was a stone cutter by trade and many beautiful monuments now stand in the little cemetery on the hill, silent mementos of his skill. He left a wife and five children, Misses Mamie and Stella, Mrs. McDermott of Minnesota, William and Frank, all of whom were present. The remains arrived here and were tenderly laid away in the Forrest City Cemetery.

Hanged - Charles A. Hammons, a white man, was charged at Morrilton on the 7th, in the presence of a vast crowd, having been convicted of the capital crime of criminal assault on his 11-year-old stepdaughter near Plummerville last September. Under the Act of 1901 the execution was public. Hammons, in a brief talk from the scaffold, assured the crowd that he was "going home to heaven." He admonished his hearers to lead better lives and quit "trapshooting" and rowdyism. He said he regretted that the deed was committed but added that there was someone else as "deep in the mud as he was in the mire." Life was pronounced extinct 17 minutes after the drop fell. A full confession was made by Hammons a few hours before his execution.

Not Guilty - Squire W.S. Thomas, of Democrat, was in town and buried his No. 10s in the velvet of The Times sanctum. As usual he was full of good humor and called us to talk about the jury verdict in last week's paper. He says it did not happen in Blackfish Township, but in his court at Democrat Griggs Township. It was the case of the State vs. A.L. Grady, charged with violating the game law. Col. S.E. Sweet was counsel for defendant and as he had never been admitted to the bar, the Squire examined him and upon finding that he knew the difference between the Bible and a law book, admitted him to practice in his court. The defendant was arraigned and his counsel advised him to "plead guilty and demand a trial by jury." The defendant however, pled not guilty and was tried by a jury of six colored peers of the realm. Col. Sweet made a short speech, carrying everything with him by his telling argument and it was no surprise to the audience when the following verdict was returned: "We the jury, find the criminal not guilty."