> > Part Two > > >And Away Went the Rabbit, Part II > >Greetings! I believe Id better add a bit of Part I, to catch you up, for >those of you that are like me and forget a bit. Do you remember how they >used to do it on Saturday Morning Movie Serials? Lets see, we were saying, >"Well, it looks like the Rabbit is slowing down. I don't think he is >looking over his shoulder as much as he usually is. He married Laura F. >Brown, who lived in Bonham, Fannin Co., TX, March 19/1871, under his >correct name, Andrew D. Coffman, and also sold three plots of land, that >had been in Magdaline's name, as Andrew D. See what four wives, and a girl >friend in Sherman, Grayson, Co. TX, plus being on the run can do to you? >What? You want to hear about the girl friend? And you want to know about >how this case of mis-direction was solved? >I can't answer those two questions quite yet. We have to go back and look >at some county history in Polk County and some hot saddles on the Military >Road, and also a bit more about these Polk County outlaws who took the Army >Road to Oklahoma Territory, Louisiana, and Texas to continue their crime >spree. They were finally stopped in Bonham by getting hung. And last, >where was the Rabbit from 1850 to1866. >I think I will put in the two paragraphs of exact history, so that you can >see just how bad things were in frontier Missouri before the Civil War, and >I have read they didn't differ much from Tennessee and Alabama. Another >reason for the exact history is to show Andrew Joness actions in Missouri, >that were repeated in Texas with others. And we begin: The Missouri Militia >in the past, when there was a Civil upset, could go in and make a few >arrests and things in the county would quiet down. Not so with the Slickers >and Anti-Slickers. In Warsaw, MO, the courts were full of lawsuits, and >between 75 and 100 armed men stood around in a camp facing off each other. >Anti-Slicker Andrew Jones pulled a gun on Slicker Thomas Cox, but did not >fire, not that he hadn't shot a lot of people in the past, but this time >the Army was watching. Mackey shot a Jones supporter who hand knifed a >Turk supporter. Two Slickers, Turk and Hobbs, clubbed an Anti-Slicker. >Somehow, Militia Captain John Holloway stopped the outbreak >of violence. Lots of the group that were charged by the Army for crimes, >made bond, and ran to the Military Road, which is a few miles west of >there. They made a left turn and burned leather going south into Texas and >the Oklahoma Territory. At that time the law could not go into a territory >and bring you back to trial. The Military Road would be what is now U.S. >69. Remember these outlaws were having a nice day, because the law and Army >were watching. The cases that brought these two groups to town read like a >roll call of Slicker war participants. The spring term of court was to hear >a large variety of cases: Abraham Nowell was to be tried for murder; Henry >Hodge, >Hilton Hume, and the Keatons, also for murder; Archibald Cock for >conspiracy; Andrew Jones for stealing, assault, and assault with intent to >kill; Morgan Traham for stealing horses; Tom Turk for kidnapping; and Tom >and other Slickers for assault. Wow, what a bunch of bad boys, and a lot >of them will be on their way to Texas. You see they could pull crimes in >Texas, step across the Red River into Oklahoma and be safe from the law. We >will be out of the Show-Me-State real quick now, just a bit more on the >Baptist Church at Aldrich and the up-roar with the Slickers. You see >preachers changed towns a lot and his name may be important somewhere else. >One other thought - "The people were left a legacy of violence and >bitterness that would take years to subside". Lots of the Slickers would >remain in Polk Co. and that's why Andrew D. Coffman, I believe, may have >been on the run, for his life. Maybe the Rabbit did the right thing. The >Baptist Preacher in Aldrich, Mo. was Richard Ownings. This was about 1843 >and at that time you had hard working and respectful people trying to build >a country for their children and a place for themselves. In Polk you also >had the slickers, most of the Anti-slickers had been run out by then (Jones >is on his way to Texas). The Slickers took exception with the sermon >Ownings was giving. One of them stood up in front of the church and said, >"If the Baptists took sides against them, the Baptists would be run out of >the county, too." This was their undoing. Peace was soon to be, but the >Slickers would never forget how powerful they once were, and who took them >down. The slickers even went as far as to make phony graves along >the road with Baptists names on a wooden cross to try to scare them. It >didn't work, and good prevailed in the end. But at what a great cost it >was! We now go back to the Rabbit and the Red River Valley. Isn't it real >interesting how the Anti-Slickers and the Rabbit's trails keep crossing; >The Rabbit was married in Harrison County, and then went to Shreveport. >The Slickers went to Shreveport to sell their loot. The Anti-Slickers >pulled crimes in Fannin Co. The Rabbit and wife, Magdaline, bought land in >Fannin, Co. There are some years between the times, but the Rabbit was >missing from 1850 to 1866. The Rabbit may not have been too afraid of the >Anti-Slickers, but more so of the Slickers back in Missouri, but I find the >Slickers had a reach into Texas and Caddo Parish, LA. It seems that >Shreveport was like a capitol to the whole area. I don't know why, because >of the waterway near by, maybe? Now, on to the sad crime wave of the >Anti-Slickers. Besides what follows, Andrew Jones and others were also >reported to have been in Arkansas doing a murder for hire type thing. So >when you read his last words before getting hung you will understand more >on what he was saying. After this story about the crime wave we will nail >down the Rabbit and take away his running shoes. Remember the Rabbit was my >great-grandfather and I sure would like to have a talk with >him. (Does anyone know a Swami?) Also keep in mind this is the crime >Jones got caught doing, and there were many more he didn't get caught >doing. Fate caught up with Andy Jones in 1844. After leaving Missouri in >1842 with his family, Andy along with Loud Ray, Harvey White, and many >other men, went on a rampage in present day Bonham, TX. One of their >sprees turned out to be a fatal mistake. Jones et al entered an Indian >campsite, pretending to be friendly and killed three members also seriously >injuring one. One of the Indians they killed was a little boy who was >reportedly held at arms length by Reed while Mitchell gutted him with a >knife, all the while the little boy pleaded for his life and those of his >family. What loot did they carry off for this disastrous deed? Twelve >horses, four guns, and some knives. Their mistake was soon evident when >Mitchell, who lived just seven >miles south of the crime scene, was arrested. It seems he was recognized >and identified by two of the survivors of the camp. Either Mitchell ratted >on his buddy or Loud Ray was also recognized because he was soon hunted >down and captured by a posse. He was found on his return trip from >Shreveport, Louisiana where he had sold off the stolen goods and stolen >more on the way back. Caught red handed with his newly stolen merchandise >Loud Ray had no choice but to talk, and talk he did. Acting on Loud Ray's >information, Andy Jones and Harvey White were retrieved by a posse of >twenty men. White and Jones were found passed out from too much liquor in >Fort Houston, near Bonham. The pair was surprised and disarmed before they >were fully awakened. Andy shrieked and fought as he awakened, and when >later questioned he revealed that he thought the Turks had him and relayed >many of the events in Missouri. Jowland, Harris, and Bob Jones were also >apprehended, and they were all presented to South Sulphur in Fannin Co, TX, >where a "trial" took place. The impartial jury was selected right out >of the crowd of two hundred, most of whom had at one >time or another been either directly or indirectly victimized by Jones and >his gang. Loud Ray, Harvey White, Mitchell, and Andy Jones were sentenced >to hang on the charges of murder and theft. Bob Jones, Harris, and >Jowland, who were only found guilty on the charge of theft, were sentenced >to hangthe others and get out of the county in ten days. (???) Old Andy >went out subdued and very calm, if not somewhat remorseful. An eyewitness >account was published in a Texan newspaper: "Andrew Jones told his wife, >who was present, that he had expected this for the last six years, and that >he considered his arrest a providential event, by which he had been saved >more crime, and men's lives had been saved, as had they been awake (he and >Harvey White), at least four men would have been killed. He commenced >praying and preparing for death, and said, finally, that he believed he was >going to a better world. The tenor of his, and his wife's conversation, >was >an admission of long and continued guilt, without specification of acts >committed." What of the Turks? Well Nathan Turk, who was said to have a >hand in apprehending Andy, was killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a brawl >over a card game. He was never again seen or reported as being in Missouri >after Andy's death. Ironically his death place in Shreveport was not far >from where Andy was laid to rest. But the fighting continued for many >years after the end of the Slicker War, bad blood between neighbors took >many generations to fade. Those who escaped the law, such as Reed, Harris, >and others in Missouri, vowed never to give up on their mission for >revenge. Wow, what a story! Maybe it could make us thankful for our law >and order today, and also that we are not at war somewhere in the world >this year. We must continue this story with the ending next time. If you >have questions >thus far, e-mail us. > Submitted by Zella and Carl Coffman in Wichita, Kansas > > > ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com