This copyrighted material was first presented to the Hill/Lewis Family Reunion, Gerty, Oklahoma, October 7, 1995, in my booklet, “I DON’T WANT MY DAUGHTER MARRYING ANY OF THOSE MURDERING EVANS.” According to my father, the following events almost kept him and mother from getting married when her father said, “I don’t want my daughter marring one of those murdering Evans.” At a 1986 Hill family reunion at Fort Smith, Arkansas, an older Hill family member stood up to say that the family should never forget the 1898 killing of U.S. Marshal Leonidas Hill by those murdering Evans. That event caused my research of various newspaper articles of the time in Arkansas and Oklahoma; and Federal Court records and other materials in the National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas. I found the following....
The Hill family has always been very religious, with high morals and
strong principles regarding what is right and what is wrong.
Known as God-fearing, law-abiding, hard-working people, who are very
active in their Church. The
family has produced several preachers. One
early family tradition says that an Aaron Berry Hill, a lawman, was murdered
in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1839. His
widow remarried a preacher and they, with three of the four Hill boys (James
M., Robert J., and Aaron), moved to Arkansas before the Civil War.
The fourth son, William Hill, remained in Georgia.
When the Civil War came, the Arkansas Hill boys supported the Union.
Robert and James joined the Union Army and fought Confederates in Arkansas.
James’s first child by his first wife (who died in childbirth) was
Leonidas S. Hill, born in 1855.
After Fort Smith’s “Hanging Judge,” Judge
Parker,
was forced to leave the federal court, new federal courts were set
up for eastern Arkansas and in the Oklahoma Indian Territory, which
bordered western Arkansas. One
such court was located at Cameron City in Indian Territory (IT) in what is now Le Flore
County, Oklahoma. Other Indian
Territory courts were located at Atoka, Antlers and South McAlester.
Leonidas Hill, from Sebastian County, Arkansas, became Cameron's City
Marshal. He then succeeded J. P. Grady as Deputy U.S. Marshal at Cameron when
Grady became a full federal marshal for the Second District of the United
States Court for eastern Indian Territory and was stationed at South
McAlester, Oklahoma. Boley Grady,
eldest son of Federal Marshal Capt. J. P. Grady, became Hill’s posse.
The young Grady was a very popular young man among his associates, and
considered being a fearless man with iron nerve.
Until 1889, Oklahoma and Indian Territories were a haven for those
running from the law and those who lived outside the law.
Judge Parker hung many of them but things really began to change when, in
April 1889, the great “Oklahoma Land Rush” opened up part of the Oklahoma
territory for settlement. With the establishment of new federal courts and the new
settlements, the safe areas for the lawless shrank in size.
These safer areas bordered the western fringes of Indian Territory
which
joined the eastern part of Oklahoma territory and were known as “Hell’s
Fringes.” But in 1889,
lawlessness continued until after statehood.
It was early July 1898, when two preachers, the Reverend Akin and Jones,
conducted
a protracted revival meeting at the Walnut Grove church in Jasper, Arkansas,
which is located on
the border of Indian Territory. They
set up a brush arbor to have a cool place to conduct the meeting. The church building itself was in Jenson, Arkansas, but the
brush arbor, fifty yards away, was over the state line in Indian Territory.
The practices of brush arbor meetings continued for years by many churches
until the installation of ceiling fans or modern air conditioning.
We know generally what happened to Bud Hill and Boley Grady, but
time distorts people’s memory of events and facts so that even today, Hill
family members still do not know the truth.
At the time of the killing, eyewitnesses told different stories.
People seeing the same event did not see or report the same things.
We can today make an unemotional evaluation of and pass judgment on the
facts we discovered; but how can we, with the disadvantage of time, ascertain
the whole truth? At the time, the
tragedy of the killings caused so much intense excitement and aroused emotions
to the extent that in the end the federal court was unable to serve justice or
punish the guilty for the crime. Consequently,
at this late date, the full truth is not completely discernible by us, but we
have learned most of the story, which is told for the first time since 1904.
The following is one example of factual errors made in the telling
and re-telling of this story.
My
name is Robert Les Kersy and I am one-eighth Cherokee Indian.
I was born in Marian County, Arkansas, on June 4, 1870.
Nearly all the children who went to this school were whites.
The name of the school was Walnut Grove. We lived on a farm ... about three-fourths of a mile west of
Jenson, Arkansas. The line
between the Indian Territory and Arkansas ran down the Main Street then. ...
Where Cameron is now was then called Riddle Prairie....
A
man by the name of Mat Touch got out a warrant for Floyd Samson, a boy, for
disturbing public worship at the Walnut Grove Church. He got this warrant at the U. S. Court at Cameron.
Bud Hill was City Marshal and Boley Grady was his deputy.
Grady walked up to the Samson boy, who was standing about forty yards
from where the preaching was taking place.
Grady
Said, “I have a writ for you.” The
boy tried to jerk his arm away and then Grady took his gun and hit him on the
head several times. The boy’s
mother called to Jasper Simpson, her husband, that they were beating up the
boy and were about to kill him. Simpson
came up and shot Grady in the back of the neck with a .38 pistol. Then someone yelled, ‘Look out behind you for Hill’.
Simpson turned around and shot Hill.
Grady died where he fell. Hill
lived long enough to ask for a drink of water.
Simpson left and was out on the scout for about six years, then came
back and stood trial at McAlester, coming clear.
While the above story by Mr. Kersy is
partially correct, it was
related many years after the event and contains some errors.
The following facts, however, leading up to the killing are not in
dispute.
W. J. Simpson had been a famous (infamous to some) professional
gambler who “got religion” and was trying to change his life.
He owned a farm and settled down with his family.
He started a general mercantile business in Jenson, Arkansas.
Known as Jasper, he had an extremely nervous disposition. His oldest child was a son, age 19, and he also had a
daughter. The boy, named Floyd,
was known to be a “harem sacrum sort of boy” who could be led into all
sorts of indiscretions. He was
also nervous and high-strung like his father.
Floyd and a young man named “Setf”, whose last name is lost to
history took umbrage to one of two preachers conducting the protracted revival
meeting. So, on Sunday, June 10,
1889, one of the boys threw a rotten egg into the congregation.
It broke when it hit a young man and the debris soiled the dresses of
several young ladies sitting nearby. On
the next Wednesday evening, several eggs were thrown at the preachers.
A Mr. H.M. Couch, of Hackett City, Arkansas, went on Sunday morning,
July 17, to the federal court at Cameron, Indian Territory, where he swore out
a warrant for the arrest of the boys, charging them with disrupting a
religious service. Bud Hill was
sent to arrest the boys. On that
evening of Sunday, July 17, 1898, Bud Hill and Boley Grady found the two boys
near the camp meeting and attempted to arrest them at about 9 p.m.
There are several versions of what happened next.
Most of the accounts by eyewitnesses are at variance with each
other’s account of the events and differ widely.
One version says that Hill attempted to arrest Floyd Simpson, who
broke away and began to run.
Grady gave chase and caught Floyd, while Hill arrested Setf.
Floyd resisted and Grady hit the boy over the head with his revolver
knocking him to the ground. Jasper
Simpson was nearby. He goes to
the defense of his son
with his pistol in his hand, but was stopped by Hill, who told him to consider
himself under arrest. At that
point, Floyd’s mother and sister had gotten mixed up in the tussle with
Grady and the boy, and they called for his father.
Jasper pushed by Hill and rushed at Grady.
As Grady was in a stooped position with the boy on the ground, Jasper
shot him in the neck, causing instant death.
Jasper turned on Hill and grabbed the marshal’s pistol hand with his left
hand, throwing it up just as the weapon was discharged.
Jasper Simpson then shot Hill in the left side just below the heart.
As Hill sank to the ground, Simpson wrenched Hill's pistol from his hand
and carried it away with him. Hill
lived thirty minutes. His only
words before he died were to ask for a drink of water.
Another version of the struggle with Grady says that during the
scuffle Simpson got hold of Grady’s revolver and shot him through the neck,
and then wheeling around, he shot Hill who was tussling with the other boy
Self. Simpson shot Hill through
the heart.
Another version is that Jasper Simpson, knowing that the preacher
was going to have his son arrested, went to the meeting with the boys, and
went armed and looking for trouble. As
soon as Grady laid his hands on his son, the old man pulled his gun and fired
at Grady and then shot at Hill.
Yet another version said that as Hill was holding Setf, his gun was
in its holster. Jasper Simpson
took Hill’s gun and shot him and then shot Grady.
And yet another version says that Floyd’s sister called to her father
while Grady was striking him, which caused Jasper to rush to the aid of his
son, shooting the two lawmen.
A further version says that Grady knocked Floyd down and was
holding him until help arrived from Hill when he was through arresting Seth.
The father was some distance from his son when he learned of his
son’s arrest. He started for
his son but was intercepted by Hill. Simpson
pushed Hill to one side and went to where Grady was holding his son down on
the ground. Jasper had a .45 caliber pistol in his hand, and when he
reached Grady he stooped over and placed the muzzle of the gun near his neck
and fired. Grady died instantly.
As soon as Simpson killed Grady, Simpson straightened up and turned
around facing Deputy Hill who had reached the place of the shooting.
Jasper caught Hill’s right arm pushing it up as the gun discharged.
At the same time, Simpson placed his gun against Hill’s heart and
pulled the trigger. Hill fell and
expired in an hour’s time.
It was also reported that the sister of Floyd Simpson, while trying
to help him escape from Grady, was cut by her brother in her right hand.
The young man was using a knife in his attempt to free himself from
Grady. Her hand was almost
severed.
Some people who witnessed the affair claim it to be as cold blooded
a murder as was ever committed in the territory.
“They stated that there was absolutely no necessity for the murderous
onslaught by Simpson and that his coming there armed with a forty-five was
evidence that he knew that the marshals would attempt to arrest his son and he
was going to prevent it if possible.”
What happened next is also in dispute. The South McAlester Capital newspaper reported that
immediately after the killing Jasper Simpson went directly to his home and
armed himself with a Winchester rifle. He
then returned to the center of town, and went to the train depot where he sat
for some time discussing events with some of his friends and the
stationmaster. After no attempt
was made to arrest him by the local officer or any citizens, Simpson returned
to his home, saddled his horse and road away.
The Elevator newspaper of Fort Smith reported that Simpson left the
scene immediately after the shooting, going to the Frisco depot where he told
the agent what he had done, and saying he was a ruined man and he regretted
the occurrence. Simpson left and
no one tried to stop him. No one
knew where he went. His wife said
he told her good-bye, saying he might never see her again.
The next morning, Deputy Stone of the town went to Fort Smith and
got two coffins, which he had shipped to Jenson for the two slain law
officers. The bodies of Hill and
Grady were taken to Cameron on Monday morning.
Hill’s body was taken to Kullychaha (today Skullyville, OK) were he was buried with Masonic
honors on Monday evening. He left
a widow and seven children. A
close friend said, “God almighty never made a better man than Bud Hill.”
Grady left a young wife and two small children.
He was buried later at McAlester.
Marshal J. P. Grady offered a $500 reward, and Bud Tucker, a
brother-in-law of Bud Hill, offered $200 more.
Those who knew Simpson said he would never be taken alive.
It was thought Simpson passed through Greenwood, Arkansas on Sunday
night going east. Bud Tucker was in hot pursuit. People knew he planned to take
Simpson dead or alive—preferably dead.
The Elevator newspaper reported on Tuesday, July 19, that the boy,
Floyd, went to Hackett City, Arkansas where he surrendered to Constable
Parkins Walker. Floyd had his
head dressed by Dr. Fannin, the wound from the blow by Grady being very
severe. Dr. Fannin objected to
the boy being moved for two or three days and he was left there.
The boy was then persuaded to go with the deputies to Cameron, which he
did. This caused an uproar
because the boy was taken from Arkansas to Indian Territory Oklahoma without
seeking permission of the Governor of the State.
A $5,000 bond was set for Floyd Simpson.
Jasper Simpson sent word to the authorities at Fort Smith he would
give himself up if he would be allowed to remain in the Fort Smith federal
jail, at least until the excitement in the territory had calmed down.
Simpson was afraid Bud Tucker or Captain Grady would kill him.
He was promised safety, and he gave up at six o’clock in the morning
of July 21. He was placed in the
jail as agreed. There he remained
until October.
A grand jury was impaneled. The
petit jurors numbered 26, but none were from the immediate area of Jenson.
The jury heard 14 witnesses’ present testimony, eight of who were
from the town of Jenson. One
witness was Jasper’s wife, Ellen. On
October 6, 1898, a true bill was returned and Jasper and Floyd Simpson were
both indicted for the murder of the two marshals.
On October 8, Floyd filed a motion for a change of venue, claiming he
could not get a fair trial in the Central District Court.
The case was moved to Antlers. His
attorneys were the firm of Read and McDonough.
After the grand jury’s indictment, Jasper became convinced that
he could not get a fair trial for his murderous deeds. His wife slipped a pistol under her dress and went to visit
Jasper at the federal jail to bring him some food she had prepared.
Later that night, Simpson faked illness, rolling on the floor groaning
as if in great pain. When the jailer entered the cell, Simpson pulled his hidden
gun, locked the jailer in the cell, and left.
A horse was waiting for him behind the jail. He made good his escape.
The escape brought Bud Tucker back into the picture.
He was able to raise a posse of several friends and began to track
Simpson. The effect of Bud
Tucker’s search kept the pressure on so much so that Simpson could not
afford to be seen anywhere without word getting back to Tucker.
Word was spread far and wide, and Simpson feared for his life.
Newspapers carried stories of the killing of Hill and Grady, of
Simpson’s escape, and of the trial of Floyd Simpson.
In December, Jasper began a campaign among friends and newspapers
to change public opinion by telling his side of the story, blaming the two
dead lawmen. Someone apparently
wrote the letters submitted by W. J. Simpson more educated that he.
The grammar, spelling and punctuation cause one to believe the campaign
was orchestrated by an attorney who had connections in Fort Smith.
Simpson sent a letter to the Elevator newspaper at Fort Smith avowing
his innocence. The letter said:
To
my friends and enemies at home. I
have this to say. Some of them
think I ought to have given up, but I know that I would have been lynched, and
I knew before I left that country what the intention was to do with me.
I haven’t left for what I did. I
don’t think I did any more than any other man would have done had he been in
my place. I had to do it or be
done up, as many other men have been done by deputy Marshals.
There
are some good Marshals but the best ones are those who are dead.
I have this to say. I
never thought of any trouble that might or I would not have gone to the
church. I regret what happened as
much as anybody but if I hadn’t been there they would have killed my boy and
people, you know how they would have been, they would have claimed
self-defense and that would have been the last of it.
Now
see, on the other hand what I have to contend with? I did what I did to save my life and my boy’s life.
I don’t blame Marshal Grady for trying to catch me, he is doing his
duty as an officer and a father but I do blame him for putting his son in that
place as he was too fiery for that business.
He was the cause of the trouble. I
would not be afraid to stand trial in Judge Clayton’s court if it were not
for prejudiced people. There are
some people who have taken a stand against me that I never harmed in my life.
I wish everybody knew as much about the case as I do.
People,
I can tell the straight of it from start to end. I was not scared but I did not see much show for myself.
If I ever come to trail I can tell the straight of it but if I am
caught I will never have any trial as they will not give me any chance so I
don’t want to hurt anybody and don’t want anybody to hurt me.
This will be the last the public will hear from me for a long time.
The above was not the last time as he said.
He wrote again in February 1899. Only
these two letters from Simpson has been found.
By his letters, Simpson was attempting to heavily influence future
juries with his version of events. His
second letter was published in the Fort Smith Elevator newspaper.
It reads as follows:
A TALE OF SUFFERING
The
Slayer of Bud Hill and Boley Grady Writes Another Letter
I
write again to let the good people Arkansas know that I am still alive.
About the only means I have of ascertaining that I am still alive and
on this old earth is that I get both cold and hungry.
Were I _?_ I would not be here and were I before I would not be
cold. So I must still be on earth
and God saves me and I loose those blood hounds govnt. got after me I expect
to remain here.
I
am not looking for trouble. I
want peace. God in his heaven
knows I did not want to shoot those men, but it was his will not mine.
I
want to say right here that if an officer comes for me, and comes like a
gentleman, I will go with him. But
Bud Tucker and his mob must not come after me.
He has made too much talk for me to surrender to him or any of his
gang. I have never harmed him in
my life and I will prove it some day. All
I want is right and protection, and when I can get it I will come in and
surrender. I have done nothing of
which I am ashamed, and would do it again if placed in the same position.
I think any father would have done the same as I did.
I am called murder but I am not, and I do not fear my God on account of
what I have done. I was raised
with a set of high-tempered people and I have seen some crimes committed, and
I have sent many a prayer to God that nothing like this would ever never
happen to me, but it was his will not mine, and I will do the best I can.
I
hope and trust God that the time will come when I can call Arkansas by home
again. No one can begin to tell
the trouble I have gone through since this has happened to me.
I have been hungry and cold, from the 24th of January to the 13th of
February I never slept in a house. I
was in a wilderness and for two days was almost without food.
People, it grieves me when I think where my boy is and I can’t help
him. It is a shame that he has to stay there for nothing.
Those officers did not act as peace officers, but like mad men.
Oh, how I wish some cool head had been there, but no one tried to stop
them. I am satisfied they came
there to do me harm. I don’t
say Mr. Hill was not a good man, but he certainly did not act like one that
night. Some, folks will say I was
the cause of them doing as they did, but it is not so.
When I came in sight of them they both had their guns out and Grady was
beating my son over the head with his gun.
Anyone knows that was not right. I
did all I could to get them to stop abusing my son, but they kept on.
When I shot Grady Hill shot at me and I was forced to kill him to save
my own life. Many a tear have I shed over this, but it is all over now.
All
I ask is the good will of everybody. I
am broken up, but I would to God that I was free today and with my family,
even though I did not have a bite to eat.
No
one knows how cold this world is until they have tried it as I have.
May God bless the widows and orphans of both dead men and my own
family. God in heaven knows I did
not want to do what I did. I do
not think I am afraid of anybody, but I don’t want to hurt any one else.
I will say again, gentlemen, if anybody finds where I am, let him come
after me like a gentlemen and I will go with him.
I love a good officer and don’t want to hurt one, but Bud Tucker and
his gang must not bother me.
Good
bye for this time.
When young Floyd Simpson was brought to trial in April 1899, his
attorney, J.B. McDonough was successful in persuading the prosecuting attorney
the government did not have sufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
Although the jury had already been impaneled, the case was dismissed
for lack of evidence. It was
obvious that an indictment for murder was not appropriate in the case of Floyd
Simpson. It was another matter for his father.
Jasper Simpson remained on the run until July 1899, when he became
ill with smallpox. He contacted
the officials at Fort Smith and was arrested in Arkansas. He was confined for safekeeping in a dugout near Fort Smith
where he remained for twenty-two months.
He escaped again before he could be brought to trial. One day in April 1901, while the guards were not watching
closely, Floyd Simpson brought a horse near the dugout.
Jasper leaped through a window and made good his second escape.
A $6,000 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of the
fugitive, but the Simpson family had disappeared.
For the two widows and their children, as well as for Bud Tucker,
and J.P. Grady, families, time passed slowly, sorrowfully days passed into
weeks, and weeks into months. Another
U.S. Deputy Marshal, one Chris Madsen, was on official business to the noted
resort for outlaws on the run on Bear Creek in Oklahoma.
There he found traces of the Jasper Simpson family; but he soon lost
their trail. Months ran into
years with no word of the whereabouts of the murderer of the lawmen.
Then out of the blue word came in January 1904.
Simpson was found in “Hell’s Fringe” and arrested by Madsen.
Chris Madsen, who served in
Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders", was one of Oklahoma’s more famous marshals, along
with Evett Dumas Nix and William Matthew Tilghman.
The lawmen were known as Oklahoma’s Three Guardsmen.
Madsen was born in Denmark in 1851.
The Germans captured him in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.
He made a daring escape and joined the French Foreign Legion, serving
in Algeria and the Sudan. At the
end of his enlistment he came to America and joined the U.S. Army as a scout. He had many hair-raising adventures during the Indian
Campaigns in the West. When the
Oklahoma Territory was opened in 1889, he became a U.S. deputy marshal.
No matter where Marshal Madsen’s business
took him, he had kept his eyes open for any trace of the killer of his two
fellow marshals. Madsen and his
deputy (named Burk) spotted Simpson on the streets of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma,
on Saturday, January 2, 1904. They
followed Simpson to his camp where Jasper and his wife were living in a tent
in a deep canyon nine miles east of Marlow.
Marshal Madsen sent Deputy Burk to Marlow where he joined him on
Monday. They got City Marshal
Metcalf to go with them to arrest Simpson.
They arrived at Simpson’s camp before daylight the morning of
Tuesday, January 5. Simpson was
asleep and offered no resistance when he was confronted by the lawmen.
The two federal marshals took him to the federal court at Chickasha,
arriving in the afternoon. Jasper
was taken to South McAlester as soon as a court order was obtained for his
trial. It was thought Simpson
would finally stand trial for the killing of Bud Hill and Boley Grady.
People who knew Simpson in the Marlow area said that Jasper had
been a good citizen reported it. He
had lived there for about two years. For
the people of Jenson, Arkansas, memories faded as they tried to forget the
horrible events in the intervening years since 1889. Some people had moved away, some went to the great beyond,
some to Texas, and some to the burgeoning opportunities in the Oklahoma
Territory. Finding witnesses for
the government’s case after six years would prove very difficult if not
impossible.
Jasper remained in the federal jail in South McAlester.
Simpson’s attorney, J.A. Hale, filed a motions on March 28, and April
5, 1904, for a changes of venue with the United States Court for the Central
District of the Indian Territory, sitting at Poteau.
A change of venue was denied and subpoenas were issued for the trial
which date was set for May 17, 1904. Before
he could be brought to trail, a motion was made on May 4, 1904, to quash the
indictment.
As the case was about to come to trial, the federal prosecuting
attorney dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. No one who witnessed the killing could be found to testify
that it was a cold-blooded killing. Only
friends of Simpson would testify. Jasper
Simpson then went free. No one
was ever punished for the killing of the two federal marshals.
It is no wonder the Hill family was bitter.
So, it was more than 82 years later, when a Hill family member asked
the family reunion to remember Leonidas Hill, killed by those murdering Evans.
As the above proves, no Evans family members were involved.
In fact the Evans family were not even in the immediate area.
For over twenty years, the Evans family lived in Sebastain County as
did the Hill brothers. The Hills
lived south and west of Hartford, and the Evans northeast of Hartford at
Excelsior.
A Robert Evans was arrested for gambling in 1891 in Vinita, Indian
Territory, but there is no evidence he was member the Robert M. Evans family. Gus Hill, half-brother
of Leonidas, and Robert M. Evans both moved to Gerty, Oklahoma.
The Evans family moved there about 1900, and Gus Hill moved there in
1917, staying until 1926. What the members of the Hill family in Arkansas did not know
was that Gus Hill was referring to the killing of David Kinslow in 1924 by C.B.
Evans when he said he did not want his daughter marrying into the Evans
family.
At Gerty the Evans were well placed and politically influential
Democrats, while Gus Hill was a Republican, when it was unpopular be one in
the south. Robert Evans, C.B.’s
father, owned a general mercantile store and operated a farm. During the First World War, Robert made a lot of money
selling farm products to the army. C.B.
Evans and his brother, Reed, went to France and returned very popular young
men. C.B. was a bachelor who was
well liked by the ladies—of course a young handsome man with money is always popular.
He was also a gambler before his family had money.
The young Alvin Elmer Ford moved to Gerty, Indian Territory in
1901. He was the son of the Baptist preacher George Washington Ford.
There he befriended C.B. Evans. Together they would operate a gambling
hall in Allen, four miles west of Gerty.
In 1905, Alvin would marry Ethel, C.B.’s Sixteen-year-old sister.
Their first child was Robert W. Ford, father of the author.
Alvin “got religion” and became a Baptist preacher after an
unhappy poker looser pointed a gun at his head and said, “I’ll blow your
brains out if you bat an eye!” The
other gamblers got the distraught man to give up his gun before anyone was
hurt. Alvin Ford preached for
over forty-five years in Oklahoma, Arkansas and California.
Gus Hill took umbrage with the fact that C.B. in 1924 shot and
killed Dave Kinslow when Kinslow was unarmed.
A local jury acquitted C.B. on the grounds of self-defense, and that is
what Gus Hill did not like. The
Arkansas Hill family was unaware of C.B. Evans or David Kinslow, so they thought Gus was
referring to the killing of his half-brother when he would not give permission
for my father to marry my mother.
But there was more to the story than meets the eye.
If Gus Hill knew all the facts, which is in doubt, he did not consider
that C.B. might have been justified in his action.
The following is the story as reflected in court records and other
information developed in searching for the truth.
How and when David Kinslow and C.B. Evans got together is not known.
We do know it was before the First World War.
Kinslow moved to the Calvin, Oklahoma area where he and C.B. began a
gambling association. For some
reason, the two decided to go to Mexico on some kind of venture.
After a short while, C.B. returned without Kinslow, and soon took up
with Kinslow’s wife. When they
got caught on Kinslow’s return, things got messy.
On the afternoon of July 6, 1915, C.B., with Merritt Givens and
Allie Medford, were setting on the steps to the Evans store in Gerty and
talking. Bob Bare was standing on
the porch leaning against a post supporting the porch roof, while old man
Tommy Gillum was sitting in a chair whittling and chewing tobacco.
Tom was a member of the “spit and whittle club” that hung around
the store. He did that a lot.
In addition to Robert Evans, others in and around the store were J.H.
Hicks, Bob Shed of Williams, Oklahoma, and Mr. and Mrs. Clint Stallanns of
Ritter, Oklahoma, as well as Mrs. Dave Christian of Ritter.
Suddenly Dave Kinslow came from around the corner of the store with
a pistol in his hand. He began
shooting as soon as he saw C.B. Three
bullets hit C.B., one each struck Allie Medford and M. W. Givens, and one
missed hitting anyone. After
emptying his gun, Dave turned and ran, but he was too late not to be
identified as the shooter by several witnesses.
On July 13, County Attorney Tom H. Fancher, filed charges of
assault with intent to kill against David Kinslow and a warrant of arrest was
issued. He was taken into custody
by Sheriff D.A. Roff, and taken before Judge Ralph P. Welch of the Hughes
County Criminal Court where he waived his preliminary examination and entered
a plea of not guilty of all charges. Bonds
on the three charges of attempted murder were set totaling $5,000 ($2,500,
$1,500 and $1,000).
Kinslow employed the legal firm Anglin and Stevenson of
Holdenville. A petition for a
writ of habeas corpus was filed with the court on July 15, claiming the bail
to be excessive and that Kinslow as a poor man without property, unable to
make high bail. On July 27, a
court order of release freed Kinslow after he made bond.
A court date was set for December 6, 1915, which was later changed to
December 14. David and his wife
went to Muskogee, Oklahoma where he remained until his trial.
On December 1, subpoenas were issued for over thirty witnesses for
the trial. Several people were
subpoenaed from the area and surrounding counties. The partial list of names read like a Who’s Who of Gerty of
that day: Dr. Randell Taylor, Tommie Gillum, J. H. Hicks, Tom Wainwright, John
Mouser, Amon Halilton, John Stoe, John Bailey, Dick Black, C.B. Philpot, J.G.
Ingram, Tobe Skaggs and B.E. Loving.
The day of the trial the courtroom was packed and the courthouse
was full. People stood outside
talking and visiting about things. It
was a festive occasion with a holiday atmosphere.
Talk about the trial dominated conversation for days before and after
the trial. The twelve members of
the jury were selected from a panel of twenty-nine county citizens, of whom
eight were challenged by the defense, and nine challenged by the prosecuting
attorney.
At the trial, Kinslow’s wife gave testimony that she and C.B.
were lovers and that was the reason David shot him. Kinslow’s defense was
that he was temporarily insane. He
said that C.B. had, “...wrecked my life and ruined my home.” Kinslow
claimed the wounding of Givens and Medford was unintended, and that they were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Of the many instructions to the jury by the judge, the defense
attorneys requested Instruction Number 2.
It dealt with his strategy and read as follows:
After the trial, Mrs. Kinslow recanted her testimony to members of
the Evans family. She said David
made her tell that story, but it was not true.
She said there was some other reason Dave shot C.B., but she did not
say what it was.
It is most interesting to note that one of Kinslow’s attorneys
was W. T. (Tom) Anglin, who would later defend C.B. Evans when he killed
Kinslow in 1924. Anglin became a
very influential citizen of Hughes County.
Although he was first a Republican when he came to Oklahoma from
Virginia, he changed to a Democrat and was elected in 1918 to the Oklahoma
legislature where he served almost continually until 1948.
He was Speaker of the House of Representatives during the 1930’s and
later a senator. He became
wealthy during the oil boom in the county.
When he was House Speaker during the 1930s, he was one of the four most
powerful legislators in the state. They
were known as the “Four Horsemen.” (As a side note, one of the Four
Horsemen was Senator Al Nicholes of Wewoka who would later defeat the author
for the state senate seat in 1962.)
Kinslow lost his appeal on April 24, 1916, and Dave went to
McAlester to serve his sentence. He
arrived at the penitentiary at 4 o’clock the afternoon of April 26.
He swore vengeance upon C.B. Evans, and he would later try several
times to carry it out.
It is not clear if Dave Kinslow divorced his wife after her affair
with C.B. Evans, or if she divorced him.
It appears he divorced her. We
do find that after Kinslow got out of McAlester Prison in 1918, a David
Kinslow married the widow Rosie Lewis in Eufuala, Oklahoma, in September
1919. They moved to Muskogee.
Rosie’s four daughters and two sons were living with them when the
1920 federal census was taken there.
C.B. Evans and his brother Reed went to France with the American
Expeditionary Forces during World War One.
They returned after Dave Kinslow got out of prison.
When C.B. returned, he moved to a farm five miles south of Gerty on
Panther Creek. He took
Kinslow’s threat to kill him very seriously.
C.B. acquired a .38 caliber Smith and Weston revolver with a six inch
barrel. A large oak tree grew in
the front yard about twenty-five feet from the porch next to the gate by the
road. The tree was more than four
feet around. Every day C.B. would
practice shooting at a Prince Albert tobacco can tacked to the tree about 6
feet off the ground. The tobacco
can had on it a picture of the British Prince Albert.
C.B. shot so many bullets into that tree that it died.
(It must have died of lead poisoning.)
C.B. was known to be such an excellent shot and a high stakes
gambler that one family story goes like this:
One
day in their Allen gambling hall, two out-of-town high rollers challenged C.B
Evans and A.E. Ford to a shooting match to which they agreed.
A Prince Albert tobacco can was nailed to a fence post out back of the
building. They stepped back about
twenty paces and prepared to shoot.
Then
one of the out-of-towners said to C.B., “You all can go first.”
C.B. turns to Alvin and asks, “Do you want the right eye or the left
eye?”
At
which the two challengers just looked at each other, turned around, walked
away without firing a shot or saying another word.
The left without paying up any money on their wager.
In December of 1919, the twelve-year-old Robert Ford was spending
the night with his Grandfather Evans, the man for whom he was named.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans did not share the same bedroom and the boy slept
with his old man. Some time in
the middle of the night, Mr. Evans got out of bed and picked up a shotgun he
kept by the window. His getting
out of bed woke the boy. The old
man told the boy neither to make a light nor to say anything.
Soon the boy heard a horse on the road and the rider called out,
“Hey! You in the house, ... C.B ... come on out and talk to me.”
The old man crouched by the side of the window looking out and said,
“Dave, C.B. ain’t here!”
“I don’t believe you old man.” was the retort, to which
Robert Evans said, “I’ve got a gun on you.”
The boy could hear the horseman riding away without another word.
He and the old man did not sleep much the rest of the night.
Sometime in 1920 or 1921, Robert Evans came out of the Evans store
in Gerty and came face-to-face with Dave Kinslow. Mr. Evans did not have a gun and he did not see one on Dave.
Both men began backing away from each other until they had reached
opposite ends of the building where they turned and went in different
directions. On several occasions,
Dave was seen in Calvin and Holdenville carrying a gun and said to be looking
for C.B. Evans.
For that reason C.B. was never without his pistol.
He carried it at all times everywhere he went.
It was stuck in his belt and concealed under his coat.
He was never without it. He
slept with it under his pillow, and some family members thought he may have
even wore it to bed. He continued
to practice shooting at the tobacco can on the tree in the yard.
But C.B. and Dave never came face-to-face until about 9 o’clock, on
Wednesday morning January 16, 1924.
The day began cold and clear.
The preacher A.E. Ford, who now lived on a farm north of Gerty at Round
Prairie, about three miles east of Allen, got his sixteen-year-old son,
Robert, up early to load the wagon with corn which they would take to Allen to
sell. They harnessed two mules to
the wagon and set out for town.
On the way to Allen, the preacher said to the boy, “This reminds
me of the time we moved to Gerty from Arkansas. The family came by train, but I had to drive the wagon by
myself with all our things. I got
to about Poteau when I ran out of feed for the horses.
Young Robert thought to himself, “Don’t Pa know I heard this a
dozen times or more.” But he
said nothing.
“I tried to buy corn from a farmer near where I camped for the
night,” continued the preacher, “but he had none to sell.
He told me that old Indian Joe down the road might have some.
When I asked the Indian, ‘Corn two bits.’ He said.
But, I only had a fifty-cent piece, which I gave him for a bushel of
corn and I left.
“That night just as I was about to bed down, the horses became
restless. I got my gun just as
someone came into the light of the campfire.
It was the old Indian. He
gave me a quarter and left, saying, ‘Corn two bits!’
Now what do you think of that son?”
The preacher laughed. The
boy said nothing.
It was late morning when they finished unloading the corn at the
livery stable. The noon train
from McAlester whistled its stop at the Frisco depot. A drummer (traveling salesman) got off the train and walked
across the street to the livery stable looking for a horse and buggy to rent.
The drummer was all excited.
“Boy!” he said, “You will never guess what I saw in Calvin
this morning. I was making my call on the Clayton Grocery Store, and three
fellows and I were sitting around the stove in the back when this guy walked
in. One of the fellows sitting
facing the front saw this other fellow walked in, and he just shot him dead
without saying a word! I would
not have believed it. The guy
that got killed did not even have a gun.”
“Was one of them named C.B. Evans?” asked preacher Ford.
“Yeah, he did the shooting.” the drummer said.
“Was the other Dave Kinslow?”
“Yes! Yes! That was
his name. How did you know?
A.E. Ford did not answer the question. “Good, good” he exclaimed as if talking to himself,
“I’m glad C.B. got the drop on him.”
The preacher got busy unhitching a mule from his wagon.
He said to his son, “Robert, I’ll take old Jake and go to Calvin.
You take Dan and the wagon. Go
tell your mother.”
He added, ”Tell her to go to Gerty. Her mother is going to need her.”
With that he climbed bareback on mule and rode off as fast as that
old Jake would go. Calvin was 13
miles away.
Robert returned home and told his mother all he had heard about her
brother. She flagged down a car
on the road in front of the house and went to Panther Creek where her family
was gathering.
The following appeared in the newspaper on Friday.
DAVE KINSLOW
Shot
and Killed
David Kinslow was shot and killed about 9 o’clock
Wednesday morning by C. B. Evans of Gerty. The shooting occurred just
inside the door of the Clayton Grocery Co., and was unexpected by everyone in
the house, as there were no words passed at the time the shooting took place.
Evans opened the door and walked in and saw Kinslow, and opened fire,
shooting Kinslow twice, once in the neck and once in the shoulder. Kinslow
lived about 20 minutes after being shot, but never spoke a word.
The shooting was the result of an old feud of seven
years standing. In 1915 Evans and Kinslow had a difficulty at which time
Kinslow shot Evans twice and shot two others at the same time, but none of the
three died as a result of that shooting. Kinslow served two years in the
penitentiary for this.
They had never met since 1915 until Wednesday morning
and it is alleged by some that as soon as he saw C. B. Evans enter the door he
threw his hand to his hip pocket where he had a flashlight.
Kinslow was about 45 year old. He leaves a wife
living at Pryor who came down and will take his body back to that place today
for burial. Evans is 33 years old and unmarried. He is a son of
the best known families in the county.
Even the newspaper got the facts turned around.
C.B. shot Kinslow as soon as Dave walked into the store, not when C.B.
went into the store. Evans went up Kinslow after he had shot him twice, holding
his gun as if to shoot again and said, “I should shoot you three times like
you shot me you son-of-a-bitch.” There was no need. Kinslow was dying and said nothing.
C.B. turned and said to those stunned in silence.
“Someone go get the marshal.” He said.
“I am going home to Jackfork. Tell
the sheriff he can find me there.” He
then left without another word. He
got in his car and drove home.
A warrant of arrest was issued January 17, 1924, and served on C.B.,
charging him with murder. He was
taken to jail at Holdenville. He
was released on a $5,000 appearance bond on January 24, with a trial date set
for May 14. C.B. would be
represented by the famed W. T. (Tom) Anglin and Alfred Stevenson.
Nineteen people were subpoenaed as witnesses for the prosecution,
and eight witnesses were called by the defense. Again, it was a show trial.
The courtroom was crowded and people spilled out on the sidewalks.
The defense called witness after witness who testified of the many
times Dave Kinslow was in the county armed and looking for Evans.
The wife of David Kinslow, who took his body to Pryor, was identified
as Myrtle Kinslow.
On May 15, 1924, the jury found Evans not guilty on the grounds of
self-defense. The verdict was
reported in the county newspapers.
C.B.
Evans would later marry and have a son and a daughter.
He was considered a substantial citizen of Hughes County well respected
and liked. He would not talk
about the killing, and his daughter died without ever hearing these facts.
This will become news to his grandchildren.
C.B. is buried in the Gerty Cemetery.
His wife died in 1994 and is buried next to him.
She never discussed the shooting with her children.
My search began to find out why Grandfather Hill did not want my
father to marry his daughter. The
research causes me to gain greater respect for my Hill and my Evans heritage.
But, even to this day, members of the Hill family think that my Evans
kin has something to do with the death of Marshal L. S. Hill in 1898.
The Evans did not.
Even in October 1930, Civil War feelings – Republican Union vs.
Confederate Democrat – were still strong.
Republican Gus Hill was so upset that C.B. Evans had killed an unarmed
man and went free that he said when my father ask for mother’s hand in
marriage, “I don’t want my daughter marrying any of those murdering
Evans.” Gus Hill gave no
credence to the fact Kinslow had first shot Evans and then later stalked him.
He was not referring, in my judgment, to the killing of his
half-brother Bud Hill in 1898 when he said what he did. Anyway, these events
almost kept my father from marrying my mother, but grandpa Hill recanted.
Family confusion continues to this day. It is my hope this will set the record straight.
###