Deposition from Justice of the Peace William Hood to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; August 28, 1868

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Deposition from Justice of the Peace William Hood to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames; August 28, 1868

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People

Ames, Adelbert, 1835-1933 Cranford, T. W.Hood, William Owens, Jack Patton, G. W.

Events

Crime Crime--Murder Criminal Procedure--Arrest

Organizations and Businesses

Churches

Occupations

Justices of the peace

Places

Covington County (Miss.)Jones County (Miss.)Leaf River (Miss.)

Vital Statistics

Death

Page 1

Davis County, Missi,
August 28^th 1868

His Excellency A. Ames.
Prov. Governor of Miss.

Sir:

I herewith send you the testimo-ny of T. W. Cranford, the only person present at the killing of G W Patton, by one Jack Owens, for whose appre-hension you were petitioned to issue your proclamation offering a reward, by myself and sundry other citizens of this county soon after the murder

Respectfully yrs &c

W^m,, Hood

P, S,
after writing the above I have bin informed that ther has bin newley decuvred Evidence ^that will^ sent to you from Covington County in a few days

W^m_,, Hood

Page 2

State of Mississippi
Davis County

Personally appeared be^fore me W^m,, Hood an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said county, T. W. Cranford, who being duly sworn deposes and says "G W Patton and myself were returning home from Church on Sunday afternoon of the 10^th,, of May; after we crossed Leaf river at Reddicks ferry—about one miles distance from the Church, just as we were rising the second bank of the river from the ferry, Jack Owens stept out of the bushes into the road in front of us, with a club in his hand and a pistol in his ~~poc~~ pocket and his hand on his pistol. Patton spoke to him in a friendly manner. Owens responded, you have acted the damned rascal with me. Patton told him he had not; and asked him if he had written certain letters that he (Patton) had received purporting to come from him. Owens said, Patton I am not afraid of you sir. Patton told him that he did not want him to be afraid of him, and said Patton, I am not afraid of you neither. Owens said, Patton I have paid you too much rent for the land I rented from you last year. Patton replied, you have not. Owens told Patton he was a damned liar, and at the same time drew out a repeater and shot twice at Patton, the second shot taking effect, killed him instantly.

Question. Did M^r,, Patton show any angry feeling or hostile purposes towards M^r,, Owens when they met, or during [page torn] conversation that passed between them? Answer, none.

Did Patton try to resist Owens? Yes he drew his Pistol just as Owens was in the act of shooting him

Had there been any difficulty between them previous to the time when Patton was killed? None that I know of. I understood that Owen had rented land from Patton and refused to pay the rent, and that Patton attached a part of his crop to secure his rent. And for that Owens became angry with Patton

Page 3

and threatened to kill him. Was there any person present at the killing of Patton besides yourself and the parties? No person

T. W. Cranford

Sworn to and subscribed
before me, August 28^th 1868
W^m,, Hood L S

J. P. D. C.