Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Samuel Carmichael

Samuel Carmichael was born in Tennessee in 1821 and settled in Cooke County prior to 1860.

The 1860 Cooke County, Texas Federal Census gives the following information about Carmichael. He was a thirty-nine year old carpenter from Tennessee, living in Gainesville with his wife Anna. Samuel had $1,200 of personal property and $40 of real estate. Anna was thirty-seven years old and a native of Illinois. It appears that they had no living children of their own. Living in their household with them are the following individuals; fifteen year old Isaac Abele from Alabama, ten year old Josephus L. Wilson from Norway, and twenty-one year old William Gaston from Pennsylvania. It is not known if the younger children were foster children or apprentices or what?

1860 Federal Census, Cooke County, Texas, Gainesville Post Office, page 223, Dwelling 33


By 1862, Samuel Carmichael was assessed for 5 lots in Gainesville, 7 horses and 2 cows.

From Diamond’s account of the trials, we learn that Samuel Carmichael was “an outspoken enemy to the South.”

Diamond reports the following about the Trial of Samuel Carmichael:
It is in evidence that Carmichael was well informed as to the objects and purposes of the organization, but the testimony does not develop the fact that he was ever sworn in. When the detail was made to go to Fort Cobb during the Indian excitement in that quarter, Carmichael peremptorily refused to go, say that he would fight to the death at home, first.
He was an outspoken enemy to the South and, in every way, considered a dangerous and bad man in Society. He was found guilty and hung.”
Diamond's Account of the Great Hanging, Page 75.

So, it appears that Samuel Carmichael was not even a member of the peace party. Apparently, the Citizens Court thought he was just too outspoken and needed to be hanged. McCaslin referenced a newspaper article in the St. Louis Republic, stating that Carmichael was a “big, strappin’ fellow, not afraid of the devil, and he cussed ‘em to the last.”

Carmichael wrote a will just before he was hanged. He named his wife, Anna, executor and sole heir. He tried to get in a last jab at the Confederates, by requesting that Hughes, his attorney, was to collect all monies that was due to him from the Confederates.


Cooke County, Texas Will Book, Vol 1, pg 330-331


Transcription of Will:
In the name of God Amen. I, Samuel Carmichael in the County of Cooke and State of Texas, being of sound mind and memory, and considering the uncertainty of this frail life, do therefore make ordain publish and declare, this to be my last will and testament. That is to say first after my lawful debts are paid and discharged, the residue of my estate real and personal, I give bequeath and dispose of as follows to wit, To my beloved wife Anna Carmichael all of the property I am now possessed for her own benefit.
Likewise I make constitute and I appoint J. C. Hughes my lawful attorney to collect all monies that may be due me from the Confederate States of America. And receipt in my name to the proper officers for the same hereby ratifying and confirming all that he may do in the premises. Likewise I make, constitute and appoint my wife to be the executrix of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made.
I also state that I do not wish my will to go into Probate Court but wish for my wife Ann Carmichael to settle up and close the estate for the best advantage to all concerned, there is some Hay put up by Henry Smith and myself one half of which ______
In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and my seal using scrawl for seal this 13th day of October AD 1862
Samuel Carmichael

Samuel Carmichel was hanged on October 13, 1862.  No known grave, he was probably buried in the mass burial site along the banks of the Pecan Creek, not far from where he was hanged.

It is not known what happened to his wife, Anna Carmichael, after the Hangings.

Those Andersons

Four men with the Anderson surname were hanged at Gainesville during the Great Gainesville Hanging in October 1862. According to McCaslin their names were; C. F. Anderson, George W. Anderson, Richard Anderson and William B. Anderson.

Researching for records using online sites such as Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilySearch.org, Genealogybank.com (newspapers), Portal of Texas History, and using Google's search engine has not provided much in the way of new information to prove who each of the Anderson men could be.

One of the first questions I asked, "Were they random men who happened to have the same surname or were they connected in some way?"

Each Anderson will be reviewed with the information found from McCaslin’s book and Diamond’s account. Any additional information will be added to each man.  The most important "new clue" was found in the 1880 Galveston Weekly News article.

Richard Anderson

McCaslin (Tainted Breeze, pg 195): “Richard J. Anderson is listed in the 1860 Grayson County census (F.N. 1,178) as a twenty-eight-year-old farmer from Missouri with $750 in personal property and no real estate. His wife and their three children, the youngest of whom was six years old, were all born in Missouri.”

The census record below is the one referred to by McCaslin. Is the “R. J. Anderson” listed in Grayson County, the same Richard Anderson who was hanged? No records have be found to prove or disprove this theory.

1860 US Federal Census; Grayson County, Texas; Roll: M653_1295; Page: 218; Dwelling/Family #:1152/1178.


Richard Anderson was sworn into the Peace Party by JWP Lock at the same time Lock swore in P. Q. Russell, William Anderson, George Anderson and John Tourly.

According to Diamond’s account of the Hangings, Richard Anderson had his own individual trial, not a group trial. Diamond shares the following about the Richard Anderson trial: “The evidence against this prisoner being the same in substance as that against Harper & Lock, it is deemed unnecessary to repeat it here. He was found guilty, and after [being] sentenced to be hung, made full confession of his guilt.” Since all we have is Diamond’s opinion of the trial, it will never be known exactly what the transpired during the actual trial for Richard Anderson.

C. F. Anderson > E. F. Anderson > Edward Frost Anderson

Anderson was tried in a group trial along with eleven other men. Diamond’s gives the following description of the trial: “The State vs. C. A. Jones, James Powers, Eli M. Scott, Thomas Baker, Geo W. Anderson, Abraham McNeese, Henry Cockhran, C. F. Anderson, Wm Wernell, B. F. Barnes, Wm Rodes and N. M. Clark.” He further states, “The testimony against the above mentioned conspirators corresponds with the testimony herein before produced on the trial of Childs, Fields, Harper, Lock, and others. They all acknowledged their connection with the organization, and made full confession of their guilt at the gallows.”

According to McCaslin, “C. F. Anderson said Lock swore him in and then told him that the organization was for mutual protection when the Federal army came…Lock took the stand in his own defense, saying that he…had organized the Peace party as a protective society, not to attack their neighbors.” During the trial for JWP Lock, “E. F. Anderson” was a witness.

So, were there two men connected to the trials?  One named C. F. Anderson and one named E. F. Anderson??  Or, was there only one man, who was either C. F. Anderson or E. F. Anderson?

“C” F Anderson from the group trial who said Lock swore him in, and “E” F Anderson, the witness for Lock, are probably the same person. The “E” to a “C” may have been a transcription error. The Anderson man who was hanged was most likely E. F. Anderson. And, his name is probably Edward Frost Anderson, as explained below.

The 1880 Galveston Newspaper article is the earliest record of names of the Great Hanging victims, outside of the court documents.  The 1880 article gave the names of three victims of the Hanging whose names were Anderson: “Frosty, George and William Anderson.” 

For transcription go to Galveston Daily News 1880

Research on the name of Frosty Anderson comes up with a “Frost Anderson” who lived in Lamar County, Texas in 1850.  What is interesting about this Frost Anderson is that his name was Edward Frost Anderson or E. F. Anderson. The Frost Anderson from Lamar County had two sons who were named William (b. 1832) and George W. (b. 1835). Lock, who swore Anderson into the Peace Party and was hanged at Gainesville, was also from Lamar County.  Anderson was asked to testify in Lock's trial.  Frost Anderson and JWP Lock most likely knew each other in Lamar County before moving to Cooke County.  Dr. Henry Chiles, the first man to be hanged in Gainesville, was also living in Lamar County, Texas in 1860.

1850 Lamar County, Texas Federal Census, Precinct 4, page 285

Anderson Family in 1850:  Frost Anderson, Age 40, born Tennessee;  Matilda Anderson, age 38, born Tennessee;  William Anderson, age 19, born Tennessee;  George W. Anderson, age 15, born Tennessee;  Jessee Anderson, age 13, born Arkansas;  Susan E. Anderson, age 5, born Texas;  Mary A. Anderson, age 3, born Texas;  Thomas D. Anderson, age 1, born Texas.

Frost Anderson cannot be found in the 1860 census in either Lamar or Cooke Counties.  In addition to the children listed in the 1850 census, some family databases have an additional son, John Anderson, who was born about 1830 in Tennessee.

This evidence seems to point to the fact that C. F. Anderson and E. F. Anderson were the same man and he was most likely Frost Anderson from Lamar County.
Two of his sons, William and George, may have been the William Anderson and George W. Anderson who were also hanged.

William Anderson

McCaslin (Tainted Breeze, page 195): “William B. Anderson is listed in the 1860 Cooke County census (F.N. 451) as a twenty-seven-year-old farmer from Tennessee with $175 in personal property. His wife was from Arkansas, but their son, age eight, was born in Texas. Anderson first appears on the tax roll for Cooke County in 1859; he paid only a poll tax for that and the next few years, but in 1862 he was accessed for 2 horses and 7 cattle. He did serve for a period of time in a military unit, because the 1862 tax rolls for Cooke County found in the archives at UNT declare that his payment would be delayed because he had ‘gone to war.’”
1860 Cooke County, Texas Federal Census, page 249


In the above 1860 census, William Anderson is a 27 year old Tennessee native and his wife, Lucinda, is a 17 years old Arkansas native. There is an 8 year old Francis King living in the household, who does not appear to be the son of William or Lucinda. The William Anderson in this 1860 Cooke census would be approximately the right age to be the son of Frost Anderson.

A marriage record in Lamar County can be found for William Anderson who married Lucinda Davis on 3 Nov 1855. Lucinda’s father, Abner Davis, can be found on the 1850 census for Lamar County.  He moved to Cooke County, Texas, where he died on 15 May 1859. Lucinda’s widowed mother, Sarah Davis, and Lucinda's siblings can be found living in Cooke County in the 1860 census. It is interesting that Sarah Davis has a 17 year old Catherine King living in the household.  Lucinda and William, also, had someone with the name of King living with them.

The age for Lucinda is bothersome, because she would only be about 13 years old when she married. Marrying at such a young age is not unheard of, but also not all that common. I personally had a great-aunt who married at the age of 13 years old in the 1920’s. So, although uncommon, young marriages could and did happen.

The big question was whether or not William Anderson, with wife, Lucinda, in 1860 Cooke County and hanged in the Great Hangings, is the same William Anderson who married Lucinda Davis in Lamar County. But, the above evidence seems to support the fact that both are the same man. Also, evidence seems to point to the fact that William Anderson is the son of Frost Anderson of Lamar County.

William Anderson was tried and condemned to death by the "Citizens Court" in a group trial, along with Curd Goss, John Miller, Arphax Dawson, and M. W. Morris. Diamond (Diamond's Account, page 85) stated of this group trial, "These prisoners all acknowledged their guilt, giving the signs, grip, and password, and were active members of Capt Ramey Dye's company. All found guilty and hung."

William was hanged on 19 Oct 1862. His body was probably buried at the mass burial grave site.

It is not known what happened to Lucinda after the 1860 census, or if William and Lucinda had any children.


George W. Anderson

McCaslin (Tainted Breeze, page 195): “George W. Anderson first appears in the Cooke County tax roll for 1862, when he paid taxes on $124 in property, including 1 horse and 4 cows.”

According to Jackson Mounts’ testimony in Lock's Trial, he (Mounts) was sworn into the Peace party at the same time as “P Q Russell, Wm Anderson, George Anderson, John Tourly, and Richard Anderson.”

George W. Anderson was tried in the same group trial as C. F. Anderson (or Frost Anderson). He was found guilty along with the group and was hanged on October 13, 1862.  He was buried in the mass grave burial site.

The above information is all that is found from Diamond's Account and McCaslin's Book about George W. Anderson.

In the Lamar County 1850 household of Frost Anderson, there was a 15 year old George W. Anderson. It is very likely that he is the same George W. Anderson who was hanged in the Gainesville Hangings.  He could have moved to Cooke County around the same time as his brother, William.  Both men are on the 1862 Cooke County, Texas tax roll.

It is not known if George W. Anderson was married or had any children.


Conclusion:
Evidence seems to point to Edward Frost Anderson, and two of his sons, William and George, as being three of the "Anderson Men" who were hanged during the Great Hanging at Gainesville in 1862.  I have drawn my conclusions based on documents such as census records and the 1880 newspaper article, and the Anderson connections to family and friends, such as "Lock".
But, one has to wonder how three men in the same family could have been hanged without mention being made in a record, newspaper or document.

Any help or thoughts or corrections on the Andersons would be appreciated. Thanks.

Monday, January 30, 2012

What is Lock's Given Name??

J. W. P. Lock was one of the organizers of the secret society known as the Peace Party. In the account of his trial, Diamond (Diamond, pg 66) refers to Lock as "I. W. P. Lock." But, Anderson, one of the witnesses for Lock's trial, calls him "Wm Lock."  McCaslin (Tainted Breeze, pg. 78, 87, 105, 200) refers to Lock as "Leander W. P. Jacob Lock."  Was his name Leander or Jacob or William or all of the above?  Census records, a marriage record and Diamond's account all list him with only initials -- "J.W.P. Lock"
Note: the “I” in Diamond's account is most likely a “J” that was a transcription error. The first witness in Lock's trial is I. H. Mounts, who is also referred to as Jackson H. Mounts. So, it stands to reason that the “I” in Lock’s name is also a misspelling and should be “J. W. P. Lock”. “J” and “I” are often transcribed wrong by inexperienced transcribers.

It appears that McCaslin combined two people together to come up with the name of "Leander W. P. Jacob Lock."  There is a JWP Lock in the 1850 Lamar County, Texas census. He was a 29 year old native of Tennessee. A family headed by Leander Locke is also found in the 1850 Lamar census. As shown from the census records below, they are definitely two separate individuals. But, they could possibly be related.
The Lock referred to Diamond's account would be the 29 yr old farmer, JWP Lock listed in 1850 Lamar County.  He was living with his wife, Deannah, and two daughters.  The value of his real estate was $1688.

1850 Lamar County Texas Census, Precinct 8, Page 458, Line 29, 458/458

The above Lock is also recorded in the 1850 Agricultrual Schedule for Lamar County, Texas. This time his first given name is recorded: Jacob P. W. Lock. This is the only offical record found so far with his give name of "Jacob" recorded.



 Leander Lock also living in Lamar County in 1850.
1850 Lamar County Texas Census, Precinct 6, Page 293, Line 1, 363/363, Farmer; Leander Lock, White Male, age 39, b. Tennessee, his wife, Sarah, and 5 daughters.  This same Leander Lock can be found in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census records for Lamar County, Texas. So, he cannot be the Lock who was hanged in Gainesville in 1862.

JWP Lock's wife, Deannah, died sometime between 1850 and 1853, although probably early in 1853.  The 1850 census with wife, Deannah, lists two daughters, Emily (b. 1841) and Ann (b. 1849).   Lock gets married again on 5 June 1853 to Evaline Dale in Lamar County, Texas.  The name on the marriage record is J. W. P. Lock. The 1860 census with wife, Evaline, lists two daughters, Diana (b. 1853) and Arazona (b. 1858).  The older two daughters are not listed and it is not known if they are still living.  Could daughter Diana be a daughter from the first wife, Deannah?  Could she have died giving birth?

In 1860, Lock is living in New Mexico Territory with his family. He may have left Texas after the shooting  (described below).  In the 1860 census, Lock is a 38 year old miner living at the Pino Alto Gold Mines with his wife, Eveline, and two daughters. Four boarders are also living in the household.


1860 Census Pino Alto Gold Mines, Dona Ana, New Mexico Territory

McCaslin (pg 105) states that Throckmorton asserted that Leander W. P. "Jacob" Lock, whom he identified as the leader of the "Association," had been acquitted of murder several years earlier in Lamar County."
Throckmorton may have been referring to the following murder in Grayson County, Texas (Dallas Weekly Herald, 22 June 1859).
Transcription of above
"The Sherman 'Texian' records the killing of Howard W. Hales, in the county of Grayson. He had had some difficulty with his wife, who left him and took refuge with at her father's house, to which she was followed by her husband. On reaching the house, Hales made some hostil demonstrations against the family, he was shot at from an outhouse by two young men named Lock, nephews of Mrs. Hales father, sixty or seventy buckshot taking effect, and killing him instantly."
Note: Name may be Harrell instead of Hales.  See below news article.

Another newspaper article, that refers to the above shooting.  This is probably where the confusion over Lock's give name came from. 


Conclusion:
All records indicate that Jacob W. P. Lock was the man who died in the Gainesville Hangings.
His full name may be Jacob William P. Lock.  Leander Lock is a seperate person and is not the man who was hanged at Gainesville.
The parents for Jacob W. P Lock are not known at this time.  If and how he might be related to Leander Lock of Lamar County, Texas is not known.
Any additional comments or information would be appreciated.  Thanks.

TRIAL OF J. W. P. LOCK

Diamond's Account of the Trial of I. W. P. Lock

The State vs. I. W. P. Lock
Disloyality and Treason

I. H. Mounts sworn.
Witness: I was sworn into this society, by I. W. P. Lock. At the same time, he swore in P. Q. Russell, Wm. Anderson, George Anderson, John Tourly, and Richard Anderson.

E. F. Anderson sworn.
Witness: I know of a secret organization in this country. The prisoner, Wm Lock, told me it was to afford us protection when the Northern Army should come in. Mr. Lock gave me the signs, grip, and password. Lock told me that we were to get powder at Sherman. The design of the organization was the reconstruction of the old Constitution, and Union.

The Prisoner [Lock]: Jackson Mount swore me and I wore him into this organization. I introduced the password “Arizina,” and the signs, and grips of the order. Mount and myself were the first starters of this order. I have heard that there was an organization to break up both armies. I have heard since that it was the same as this; and that the signs and password would protect us when the Northern army come. Mount and myself took two oaths. We were to kill, or assist in killing, every man who should reveal wither the existence of the order or its plans and designs. I advised my men, (Lock had a company,) not to go to the war.

Dr Eli Thomas sworn.
Witness: In a conversation with the prisoner last night (in person) I made a clean breast of the whole matter. Lock said he had scruples about doing so himself, on account of the oaths he had taken in the order.

He was found guilty and hung.

George Washington Diamond's Account of the Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862, ManuscripteEdited by Sam Acheson and Julie The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. LXVI, January, 1963, No. 3, pages 331-414.

Note: The “I” in I. W. P Lock is most likely a “J” that was a transcription error. The first witness is I. H. Mounts, who later in the trial is referred to as Jackson H. Mounts. So, it stands to reason that the “I” in Lock’s name is a misspelling also and should be “J. W. P. Lock.”   “J” and “I” are often transcribed wrong by inexperienced transcribers.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

James L. Clark's list of Victims of the Gainesville Hangings

James L. Clark’s list of men “murdered” at Gainesville, 1862


Lemuel D. Clark, ed., The Civil War Recollections of James Lemuel Clark, Including Previously Unpublished Material On The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas In October, 1862 (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1984) page 109-112. 

"After some concideration I will rite a brief statement an give the fact in regard to the 44 good men that was murderd by a mob in Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas in October 1862, as I no more a bout the men then eney body else now in this country. Will say tha were murderd for there Union princeables."

“I will conclude by giving the names of all the men that I pursnoly knew an others that was murdered...In the beginning [I] will give the names of the first settlers that lived in this county when my father came:
One of our near neighbors was William Rhodes. He [came] from North Carolina here, an got 320 acres of land as a homestead from the state. He had a nice famley an his oaldest boy belong to the same company that I belonged to. Now Rhodes sold land to a man by the name of Eli Scott about the time the war started. An Scott moved to the land an was murdered while he lived on the land. He Scott [came] from California here, an had a big famley, an was nice foalks. Him [Scott] an Rhodes were hung the same day. Tha are boath buried on the Rhodes survey, now owned by Sam McClerran.
The next neighbor I will name was Hiram Kilborn. He had a homestead of 320 acres of land patened to him by the state. Tho tha did not hang him. He was shot an killed by some of the Bourland men in trying to git a way. His foalks never got his body an did not no what tha dun with it. He Kilborn was a Babtist preacher, and not one of the kind that preached for the money that was in it. He was the oanly Babtist preacher in this country when we came here. I am informed by Frank Foreman that [he] helped to bury Kilborn.

I will give the names [of others who were hanged] as follows:
Wernell – 160 acres
Richard Martin – landowner
Oald Grandpaw Burch – would talk, say what he thought – landowner
H. J. Esmond – 320 acres
Ward
Evans – Or Quinn
Clem Woods – landholder
Wolsey – landholder
Manon – lived on Preston Road
Oald man Leffel
A. B. McNiece – landholder
Wash Morris – landholder
Wesley Morris – landholder – tha were brothers
Thomas Floyd – shot while under gard – landholder
John Crisp – landholder
James Powers
Rama Dye – oald man – landholder
J. Dawson
Oald Man Wiley – landholder
J. Morris
Barnes
Milburn
W. Anderson
Gross
Ward
Dr. Johnson – nation [probably from the “Indian Nation”]
Childs, Senior
Childs, Junior
Hampton
Locke
Foster
Fields
D. Anderson
D. Taylor
R. Manton
Jones
Carmichael
Henry Cochran
Those names are as tha was give to me by McPherson.
Will McCool and two others were murderd at Bill Young Spring on the river after Welch killed Young in Bourland Hollow."

[Footnote on bottom of page 111]
"JLC often mentions a total of forty-four [hanged].  This list is not complete and many contain some errors in names.  Even the number of men murdered is not known exactly.  The best authorities here seem to be Barrett, Hanging, 21, and Wheeler's diary entry for 19 October 1862.  Both accounts give forty as the number hanged and add that two were shot while trying to escape.  If two were hanged by the military, the numbers then agree.  According to Diamond, three men were hanged by the military.  Diamond, "Account," 402."

BlogNote:  Men mentioned on above list by JL Clark who are NOT on Diamond's list: Evans, Clem Woods, Manon, Wiley, Milburn, Manton.

Related Posts:
List of Men who Died in Hangings

1880 Newspaper List of Hanging Victims
Diamond's List of Men Tried and Convicted
Occupations of Hanging Victims

Saturday, January 21, 2012

WHERE ARE THEY BURIED??? Comment and Follow-up

The following comment was left on on the "WHERE ARE THEY BURIED???" post.  The comment deserves it's own post and thanks the "anonymous" author.

The Burying Place: This location is reported to be near the hanging tree [cut down in 1880 for unknown reason] on the east bank of Pecan Creek about 1/2 mile east of town. It would have been on the far side of a bridge from downtown, although I have not found any reference to a bridge.
In 1867, a Freedmen Bureau agent, Anthony M Bryant, wrote a letter to the Federal authorities requesting that the bodies be exhumed from their mass grave and properly reburied. This request was denied.
I expect that at that time, the location of the burial was common knowledge to many in Cooke County. It would have been hard to conceal in a small town. After, a prisoner was hanged his body was transported back to the old warehouse west of the town square in most cases. Only a few bodies were claimed by relatives because they were afraid to pick them up with the mob in control of the town. Family members were treated as enemies of the state. Remains were left to be buried by the "county". Also it is likely that the bodies started to deteriorate after a few days. This would have been a problem downtown. Some of the bodies were mutilated by hogs because or a hole in the wall of the old warehouse where the bodies were stored. At some point, they had to be buried. Not sure who had this task, but slaves were detailed to make coffins with lumber from an old house that had been torn down for this purpose. There was not enough lumber so some bodies were wrapped in blankets. All were buried in a shallow mass grave on the banks of the creek. Some of the bodies were washed up by heavy rains and the hogs dug some up according to reports. Not exactly a traditional burial.
McCaslin indicates only five traditional burials: Barnibus Burch lies in an unmarked grave on the Marvin Cason farm, James A Powers is buried at John Ware's ranch and has a simple headstone, Nathaniel M Clark is buried in the Clark family cemetery with a large memorial stone, and William W Wernell is buried on the old James L Clark farm, his grave is covered with rocks with a metal marker welded on a post recording his name and his date of death. Also Roma Dye's body was cut down by his nephew, Ben Dye, and taken to his farm in Grayson County and buried in a location now known as the Ben Dye Cemetery. Henry Chiles was picked up by families members and buried in unknown location. An unconfirmed report that Arphax R Dawson was taken back to Grayson County for burial. Also unconfirmed report that John W Wiley was buried in Collinsville by his family. Richard Martin was reportedly picked up by his brother and taken to Hood County in a wagon for burial in unknown location. William Rhodes and Eli Scott were reported by Clark to be buried on the Rhodes survey then owned by Sam McClennen. Possibly a total of eleven bodies that were picked up and buried properly.
This is something that should be addressed. Someday in the future, when evacuating for a new building in Gainesville, they will likely dig up the remains. The mass burial should be located and the remains given a decent burial. I am surprised that the citizens of Gainesville have not done it in the 150 years since it happened. It might be a task for the archaeology department of a major university with expertise. I was at San Jacinto last year, and saw areas of the historic battlefield being evacuated by students from a university. They were marking it off and doing it in the proper way. Hopefully something like this could be done at the hanging site/burial site to locate the mass burial.


Great comment!
Blognote:  It is extremely disturbing that Gainesville City, Cooke County and/or the State of Texas have not tried to lay this issue to rest by locating the mass burial site.  Also, I feel there should be a memorial with all the names of the men who died in the hangings.  There is one more item on the wish list -- Pardons from the State of Texas for all the men who were found guilty in the Gainesville trials and then were hanged or shot.