Hi, never heard of him? His life was depicted in the 1950's TV movie or programs called THE TEXAN. He was born WILLIAM PRESTON (WILD BILL) LONGLEY and was a veteran of the Civil WarHe was hanged and buried in Giddings, Texas in 1878The story persisted that the sheriff was bribed to put some leather harness under his shirt and fake a hanging. TEXAS HAS NEVER HAD PUBLIC HANGINGS, ACCORDING TO h. GRADY PERRY, State Rep. from Erath County. The scaffold was prepared as crowds of families gatherred to watch. Blinds were raised around the actual hanging site. The criminal was marched in vew of the crowd, Blinds were raised for privacy,thehanging took place, and the blinds or privacy shields were dropped after he was pronounced dead for all to see as a crime prevention and education method. Ted Wax of .Gonzales, la. claimed he was a grandson of CAPT. JOHN CALHOUN BROWN, a prosperous planter of Bienville Parrish , La. This line followed the idea that a box of Rocks were in Wild Bill's grave in Texas. BROOKS ELWOOD, Chairman of Genealoogy Dept of Louisiana State Universith started investigating and somehow got the Smithsonian Institute interested. They used imaging equipment to find Bill's grave in Giddings , as the family knew where it was- but his headstone had been moved as some objected to be buried by a criminal. - moved twice, according toplats and historians. The Grave was not moved. When LSU and the Smithsonian excavated the grave recently, they found decayed clothing, boot heels (tops had rotted) and a tooth. Bones had decayed too much to test(?)According to DNA testing on the tooth and known descendants of Mr. Longley, they are 100% sure this was a Longley, and 95.something% that it was Wild Bill, not a box of rocks for a fake funeral. ( I know of one Texas Cemetery where Blacks and whites are buried in same cemetery, but several graves of white Cattle Rustlers are buried down the road to themselves. I do not know if they were hanged legally or by Vigilantes during the days that the Reconstrution days sheriff and deputies stayed close to the office unless in groups. Does anyone have a Geneaology chart which shows these percentages of accuracy? According to this report, Jesse James DNA proof should be 95% accurate, decreasing each generation. If it did not , all us Coffee or Cleveland or Wyly or Sevier or Miller or Harris cousins or Copeland or Carey or Hipp cousins. would have the same DNA. Any answers? Scientists and archeologists and Geneaologists worked on this grave and family testing for 15 months before issueing their final report. The past is fun to read about and profit from their mistakes once we recognize them, and also for hereditary disease predictions, but I just wish we would SPEND AS MUCH TIME FINDING OUR SOLDIERS IN KOREA AND vIETNAM, ALIVE OR DEAD. Ask most Jr. High and many High School kids when and where was the Korean War and they will askif it was before or After WW1? I taught 33 years and have been Substituting since 1989. Korea and Vietnam had many lessons we could learn if we just quit ignoring its lessons. We did not ride down and shoot Vets who went to Canada to avoid the draft as some did on both sides , making their own law as they went along. I did not agree with them but they have the same freedonm to their ideas as I doo to mine, . SOURCE OF LONGLEY INFO; Waco Tribune- Herald, June 14, 2001, from Cox News Service, Stphen Krupin , reporter. Take care, Charles A. Wyly

Charles: You are the person to ask about Wild Bill Longley. The Dallas Morning News article in today's paper says that Longley was hanged in 1878 at the age of 27 and that he was "one of the West's bloodiest pre-Civil War outlaws. I've never been very good at math, but just how bloody a career can someone manage before the age of 10?! And did he enlist near the beginning of The War or the end? Was he just a drummer boy? The Dallas Morning News also has a picture of full skeletal remains for Longley, exhumed in 1998--not just a tooth. In fact, they used his remains to disprove a one of Longley's wild stories that he had been shot in the mouth: "'That didn't happen because he's got beautiful teeth and didn't lose any of them,' Dr. Owsley said." They matched the DNA of the skeleton to the DNA of Helen Chapman, a great-grand daughter of Longley's sister. Still there are no details about Longley's prepubescent crime-spree and that seems like the most interesting part of the story!! :) In any event, it looks like Ted Wax is going to have to give up and do some real research on his Brown family!! Can't blame him for trying to turn his Brown's into Longleys--Brown has got to be the worst name on the planet to research. It's right up there with Smith. Kathy Duncan wyly1@juno.com wrote: > > Hi, > > never heard of him? His life was depicted in the 1950's TV movie or > programs called THE TEXAN. He was born WILLIAM PRESTON (WILD BILL) > LONGLEY and was a veteran of the Civil WarHe was hanged and buried in > Giddings, Texas in 1878The story persisted that the sheriff was bribed to > put some leather harness under his shirt and fake a hanging. TEXAS HAS > NEVER HAD PUBLIC HANGINGS, ACCORDING TO h. GRADY PERRY, State Rep. from > Erath County. The scaffold was prepared as crowds of families gatherred > to watch. Blinds were raised around the actual hanging site. The criminal > was marched in vew of the crowd, Blinds were raised for > privacy,thehanging took place, and the blinds or privacy shields were > dropped after he was pronounced dead for all to see as a crime prevention > and education method. > > Ted Wax of .Gonzales, la. claimed he was a grandson of CAPT. JOHN > CALHOUN BROWN, a prosperous planter of Bienville Parrish , La. This line > followed the idea that a box of Rocks were in Wild Bill's grave in Texas. > BROOKS ELWOOD, Chairman of Genealoogy Dept of Louisiana State > Universith started investigating and somehow got the Smithsonian > Institute interested. They used imaging equipment to find Bill's grave in > Giddings , as the family knew where it was- but his headstone had been > moved as some objected to be buried by a criminal. - moved twice, > according toplats and historians. The Grave was not moved. > > When LSU and the Smithsonian excavated the grave recently, they found > decayed clothing, boot heels (tops had rotted) and a tooth. Bones had > decayed too much to test(?)According to DNA testing on the tooth and > known descendants of Mr. Longley, they are 100% sure this was a Longley, > and 95.something% that it was Wild Bill, not a box of rocks for a fake > funeral. ( I know of one Texas Cemetery where Blacks and whites are > buried in same cemetery, but several graves of white Cattle Rustlers are > buried down the road to themselves. I do not know if they were hanged > legally or by Vigilantes during the days that the Reconstrution days > sheriff and deputies stayed close to the office unless in groups. > > Does anyone have a Geneaology chart which shows these percentages of > accuracy? According to this report, Jesse James DNA proof should be 95% > accurate, decreasing each generation. If it did not , all us Coffee or > Cleveland or Wyly or Sevier or Miller or Harris cousins or Copeland or > Carey or Hipp cousins. would have the same DNA. Any answers? > > Scientists and archeologists and Geneaologists worked on this grave and > family testing for 15 months before issueing their final report. > > The past is fun to read about and profit from their mistakes once we > recognize them, and also for hereditary disease predictions, but I just > wish we would SPEND AS MUCH TIME FINDING OUR SOLDIERS IN KOREA AND > vIETNAM, ALIVE OR DEAD. Ask most Jr. High and many High School kids when > and where was the Korean War and they will askif it was before or After > WW1? I taught 33 years and have been Substituting since 1989. Korea and > Vietnam had many lessons we could learn if we just quit ignoring its > lessons. We did not ride down and shoot Vets who went to Canada to avoid > the draft as some did on both sides , making their own law as they went > along. I did not agree with them but they have the same freedonm to their > ideas as I doo to mine, . > > SOURCE OF LONGLEY INFO; > > Waco Tribune- Herald, June 14, 2001, from Cox News Service, Stphen Krupin > , reporter. > > > Take care, > Charles A. Wyly > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com