(cross-posting to a number of lists, sorry for any duplication) 100 YEARS AGO, AUGUST 1, 1900 Harvey L. BOLIN killed Charlie Walter WHITE near Lynchburg, TN. (Bolin found spelled a variety of ways). Names besides Bolin and White are also mentioned, including: Woodard, Phillips, Waggoner, Taylor, McDowell, Silvertooth, Haslitt, Pierce, Sebastian, Allen, Foster, Stone, Sollomon, Chapman, Bickley, Wagster. Details follow. Hope someone, somewhere, can tell me more! THE MANHUNT IS ON!!!!! Various Bolin families who may be linked to Harvey have ties into Moore, Franklin, Lincoln, Giles, Bedford, & Coffee Counties in TN, and Limestone and Madison Counties, AL. Seeking more info on this incident and the personages (both major and minor) involved, but most especially trying to find out more about Harvey - his parents, and what happened to him after this event. Please read on. I will let the documents I have found tell the story. ========================= _The Fayetteville Observer_ newspaper Fayetteville, Lincoln Co. TN Vol. XLVII No. 30, August 9, 1900, p. 3 col. 1 read: MURDER IN MOORE COUNTY Lynchburg, Tenn., Aug. 1 - This morning about 7 o'clock Harde Bowling waylaid and shot Charley White near the latter's home in the 7th district of this county. White was returning to his home from a wheat field some distance away, and it is charged that Bowling met him and opened fire on him with a Winchester. After shooting him once, Bowling is said to have run after him a hundred yards or more, firing as he ran. Six shots were fired in all, four of them taking effect. The killing is the result of a difficulty between the men which occurred yesterday morning in a field, in which they were working together. White accused Bowling of striking him with a pitchfork, and Bowling denied it. White called him a liar, and Bowling returned the imputation. White struck him with a pitchfork, breaking it. They were parted by friends. Bowling has not been arrested. ============================= _The Weekly Mercury_ newspaper Huntsville, Madison Co., ALA Aug. 8, 1900 p. 3 col. 5 MURDERED AT LYNCHBURG Chas. N. White Killed By a Former Huntsville Man News has been received in this city by the sheriff and the police force, from Sheriff Woodward, of Moore county, that Chas. W. White was shot and instantly killed by Hardy Bolin, in Moore county, near Lynchburg last Wednesday. The murderer formerly lived north of Huntsville, near the county line. Deput Sheriff Robert Phillips left yesterday afternoon for the above place to apprehend the escaped murderer, who is thought to be enroute to his fathers home who lives at Lynchburg. It is stated that White was murdered by Bolin in cold blood. ========================= _The Limestone Democrat_ newspaper Athens, Limestone County, AL Aug. 18, 1900 p. 4 col. 1 wasn't as detailed, or as accurate, in their reporting: FATAL SHOOTING AFFRAY News has reached Huntsville that Henry Bolin was shot and killed by C.W. White near Lynchburg, Tenn. ======================== Moore County, TN County Court Clerk Minute Book Vol. 5, p. 561 Monday, Oct. 1, 1900 Inquest of Charlie White as follows: W.A. Waggoner, Coroner 5.00 Dr. J. N. Taylor, Phisician 5.00 Jury Samuel McDowell one day 1.00 Jas Silvertooth " " 1.00 S.L. Haslitt " " 1.00 Jim Pierce " " 1.00 E. W. Sebastian " " 1.00 D.C. Allen " " 1.00 Henry Waggoner " " 1.00 W.A. Foster serving subpeonas 2.75 Witness in above case William Woodard Sr. .50 William Woodard Jr. .50 Mrs. Mit Woodard .50 Asberry Allen .50 Henry Stone .50 Will Solloman .50 Jeff Chapman .50 Henry Pierce .50 ------------------- $23.75 ================================ Moore County, TN County Court Clerk Minute Book Vol. 6, p. 5 Monday, January 7, 1901 On motion of J. T. Bickley which met with a Second and was carried by a vote of a majority of the magistrates present that a reward of Twenty five Dollars $25.00 be offered by the County of Moore for the arrest and delivery of Harvey Bolin to the Sheriff or Moore County at Lynchburg, Tennessee. Said Bolin being charged with the murder of one Charley W. White. And the chairman is authorized to issue his warrant in payment of said reward when said Bolin is so delivered. ============================ As far as I can tell, Harvey Bolin never was apprehended. We truly have no idea what happened to him after the murder. Family tales and stories from "old timers" in the area said he hid out at his father's house a few days, near Lynchburg, and then together they walked to Alabama. The old timers said they thought his father was Will Bolin (son of Jeremiah), but I've found nothing definitive on this. Will Bolin (son of Jeremiah) did go to Alabama and work in the Merrimack Mill in Huntsville sometime after 1900, and died there in 1931. His obituary does not mention having a son, Harvey. At this point, I consider the link to Will Bolin (son of Jeremiah) to be speculative, at best. Other rumors said after making his escape to Alabama, Harvey may have gone to Texas, Oklahoma, or elsewhere "out West." Some stories even said that Harvey was killed in a gunfight somewhere out west. Others said he turned himself in. My grandfather seems to recall visiting a prison or some other institution as a child, where he thought his older brother told him that his dad (Harvey) was there. But that could just be a prank of an older brother upon a gullible younger brother. Both sons claim to have seen an obituary sometime in 1930s-1950s time period, which ran in their respective hometown newspapers (Nashville, TN and Fort Smith or Little Rock, Arkansas), announcing the death of a Bolin that they thought must be their father - who was somehow wanting to let them know of his passing. How much is truth, fiction, or just wishful thinking in all of this is impossible to discern. Harvey's life before the murder is almost as difficult to track as it is after the murder. H.L. Bolin married Miss Alma Pierce in January 1895 in Moore County, with W.C. Wagster as witness. (I have no idea who Wagster is, or what, if any relationship, he is - though I have often heard it said that witnesses to weddings were nearly always kin.) Harvey appears, at age 26, on the 1900 Moore County census with his wife, Alma, and two boys, Chester Carl and Dewey Hobson. According to the census, Harvey was born in Nov. 1874. There is a 7 year old Harvey in the household of Pinkney and Elizabeth Bolin in Lincoln County TN in 1880 - close enough to the right age for my Harvey, but no relationships are given. There is a young woman, Fanny Bolin, age 28, who might be his mother, in the same household. But his parents remain a mystery. Complicating matters further, Thomas G. Bolin has a son named Harvey, 19 years old, in his household in the 1900 Limestone County ALA census. I believe that many of the post-murder stories about Harvey, may in fact be about this man, instead. Still other family members claim a P.J. Bolin (son of Pinkney and Elizabeth - or perhaps Pinkney and Elizabeth themselves) had a son, Harvey, b. 1868, but this 1868 Harvey seems to be missing from the 1870-1900 censuses - at least I haven't found him yet. It is this 1868 Harvey who married Nora McDaniel prior to 1900 in Limestone Co. ALA, and then moved to Kosse, Texas. I think some researchers assume that the 7 yr old Harvey in Pinkney & Elizabeth's household in 1880 is this same Harvey - with a woefully wrong age (1868 Harvey would have been 12 yrs old! in 1880!!) - but I think it more likely that he is my 1874 Harvey, who would be closer to the appropriate age. But there's still nothing there to tell us who his parents were. ANYONE out there EVER HEARD OF "MY" HARVEY (b. 1874)?????? He's definitely one of those mysterious ancestors, who just literally disappear. ANY tidbit of information appreciated!!! **PLEASE REPLY TO ME DIRECTLY, in addition to any list where this was posted; I've oversubscribed myself, and will have to be leaving some lists soon.*** Thanks for any help, advice, or INFO!!!!! Linda B. [email protected] LOOKING FOR THESE TN ANCESTORS: In Franklin, Moore, Lincoln, Bedford Counties: BOLIN, PIERCE, WOODARD, MASSEY, WEST I'm A New Lamb in the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists! http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~blksheep/index.html