I love to discover history that has been hidden by time. This story, sent to me by my good friend Carol O'Keefe Wilson, is a revelation from long ago and involved some local Lampasas families. It was printed in the Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday 10 April, 1870. Carol is a great researcher. – Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission. See Facebook page.
"A very sad affair. – We have in a private letter from Lampasas, Texas, an account of a very sad affair – one of the many resulting from the carrying of arms and indulgence in liquor. James A. Espy, eldest son of our esteemed friend, Thom. H. Espy, Esq., in company with his brother-in-law and another young man named Tom Hill, the latter of whom had been drinking during the day and very boisterous, flourishing his pistol, etc., started from Lampasas for home, on the evening of the 12th ult.
Hill was persuaded by young Espy and the other to get into their wagon and leave with them, in order to avoid arrest. They had not proceeded far before Hill again became violent. The man seemed crazed with liquor. He raised himself up from his recumbent position on the floor of the wagon, and flourishing his pistol, fired twice, the second shot entering young Espy's side and passing out under his arm, killed him instantly.
There can be no doubt that the verdict of the coroner's jury is correct – "reckless homicide," committed by a man crazed with drink. This is the opinion of the community, too, for had there been a doubt about Hill being beside himself, summary vengeance would have been wreaked upon him. As it was, he had a narrow escape, and is now bound over before the criminal court.
The deceased was but 27 years old, had been married two years, and leaves a wife and child. He was a universal favorite. A correspondent of an Austin paper reported young Espy as "killed in a drunken brawl." This is a very painful misrepresentation. Hill was the only one of the party who had been drinking. We beg to tender our deepest sympathy to our venerable friend and family."
[End of newspaper article.]
The young man who was shot, James Albert Espy, served all through the Civil War as a confederate soldier. He was a descendant of two well- respected Lampasas County families, the Hulings and the Espys. Search this page for articles I have posted about the Huling and the Espy families.
There were 12 Espy children in this family, some dying young. The Espy brother-in-law would have been John A. Knight, husband of Catherine Lavinia "Kate" Espy Knight, James' oldest sister. All other sisters married later than this date.
As for the killer, Tom Hill, we're not completely sure. It's a very common name; could have been a neighboring cowboy who was looking for a little pleasure shooting up the town of Lampasas. That's what cowboys did in the 1870s, after all.
But Thomas Crawford Hill (1847-1896) of the right name and the right age and the right burial place in Lampasas Oak Hill Cemetery may be our drunken killer. Matching these three pertinent facts is enough to make me surmise that I have the right person.
The unsuspecting James Albert Espy (1843-1870), son of Thomas Huling Espy, and John A. Knight, his brother-in-law, probably knew the drunken Hill well enough and cared enough about him to be willing to cajole him into their wagon to save him from being arrested. This fact alone would lead one to suppose that Hill was not only a a neighbor but probably a friend, since Espy and Hill were near the same age.
I found no pictures of either James Espy or Thomas Hill; The Hill family pictured here is Sarah Ruth Hill, daughter of Thomas Crawford Hill, and her husband; Benjamin J. Northington, on their ranch north of Lampasas.
Family researchers show that Espy's widow and child who were left behind at his untimely death were Annie Kemper Espy and son Sidney Walton Espy of Brady who married Beulah Ella McGrew; Sidney's family is pictured here. Pictured here also is the family of Espy's father, Thomas Huling Espy, probably made some years after James' death in 1870.
Tom Hill married Nancy A Guinn on Christmas Eve a few months after this killing in March or April of 1870. Their children were Mary A. Hill who married John Henry Wilkerson of Lampasas and Temple; Lorenzo Hill who may have married a woman named Ida; Frances Hill who married Thomas Rufus Sale of Lampasas and Martin; Sarah Ruth Hill who married Benjamin J. Northington of Lampasas; and Tommie Pearl Hill who married Herbert Johnson Abney, also of Lampasas. Some current Lampasans will recognize surnames from this list as shared by honorable officials of our county and maybe your own ancestors.
And this Tom Hill may be my own long-lost and far-distant cousin. My great-great-grandparents Hill had their home on the border of Mills and Comanche County, and visible in the distance was Mercer's Gap. Thomas Crawford Hill's father was James Mercer Hill. No proof here, but it's an interesting juxtaposition of times, names, and places.
– Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission.
***
Sources:
Ancestry.com. Various family searches. Various dates.
Espy, Florence Mercy. HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE ESPY FAMILY IN AMERICA. 1905.
Find-a-Grave.com. Various searches. Various dates.
Lampasas County Historical Commission. LAMPASAS COUNTY TEXAS, ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE, VOL. I. 1991.
Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sun 10 April, 1870. Newspapers.com. 2021.
"A very sad affair. – We have in a private letter from Lampasas, Texas, an account of a very sad affair – one of the many resulting from the carrying of arms and indulgence in liquor. James A. Espy, eldest son of our esteemed friend, Thom. H. Espy, Esq., in company with his brother-in-law and another young man named Tom Hill, the latter of whom had been drinking during the day and very boisterous, flourishing his pistol, etc., started from Lampasas for home, on the evening of the 12th ult.
Hill was persuaded by young Espy and the other to get into their wagon and leave with them, in order to avoid arrest. They had not proceeded far before Hill again became violent. The man seemed crazed with liquor. He raised himself up from his recumbent position on the floor of the wagon, and flourishing his pistol, fired twice, the second shot entering young Espy's side and passing out under his arm, killed him instantly.
There can be no doubt that the verdict of the coroner's jury is correct – "reckless homicide," committed by a man crazed with drink. This is the opinion of the community, too, for had there been a doubt about Hill being beside himself, summary vengeance would have been wreaked upon him. As it was, he had a narrow escape, and is now bound over before the criminal court.
The deceased was but 27 years old, had been married two years, and leaves a wife and child. He was a universal favorite. A correspondent of an Austin paper reported young Espy as "killed in a drunken brawl." This is a very painful misrepresentation. Hill was the only one of the party who had been drinking. We beg to tender our deepest sympathy to our venerable friend and family."
[End of newspaper article.]
The young man who was shot, James Albert Espy, served all through the Civil War as a confederate soldier. He was a descendant of two well- respected Lampasas County families, the Hulings and the Espys. Search this page for articles I have posted about the Huling and the Espy families.
There were 12 Espy children in this family, some dying young. The Espy brother-in-law would have been John A. Knight, husband of Catherine Lavinia "Kate" Espy Knight, James' oldest sister. All other sisters married later than this date.
As for the killer, Tom Hill, we're not completely sure. It's a very common name; could have been a neighboring cowboy who was looking for a little pleasure shooting up the town of Lampasas. That's what cowboys did in the 1870s, after all.
But Thomas Crawford Hill (1847-1896) of the right name and the right age and the right burial place in Lampasas Oak Hill Cemetery may be our drunken killer. Matching these three pertinent facts is enough to make me surmise that I have the right person.
The unsuspecting James Albert Espy (1843-1870), son of Thomas Huling Espy, and John A. Knight, his brother-in-law, probably knew the drunken Hill well enough and cared enough about him to be willing to cajole him into their wagon to save him from being arrested. This fact alone would lead one to suppose that Hill was not only a a neighbor but probably a friend, since Espy and Hill were near the same age.
I found no pictures of either James Espy or Thomas Hill; The Hill family pictured here is Sarah Ruth Hill, daughter of Thomas Crawford Hill, and her husband; Benjamin J. Northington, on their ranch north of Lampasas.
Family researchers show that Espy's widow and child who were left behind at his untimely death were Annie Kemper Espy and son Sidney Walton Espy of Brady who married Beulah Ella McGrew; Sidney's family is pictured here. Pictured here also is the family of Espy's father, Thomas Huling Espy, probably made some years after James' death in 1870.
Tom Hill married Nancy A Guinn on Christmas Eve a few months after this killing in March or April of 1870. Their children were Mary A. Hill who married John Henry Wilkerson of Lampasas and Temple; Lorenzo Hill who may have married a woman named Ida; Frances Hill who married Thomas Rufus Sale of Lampasas and Martin; Sarah Ruth Hill who married Benjamin J. Northington of Lampasas; and Tommie Pearl Hill who married Herbert Johnson Abney, also of Lampasas. Some current Lampasans will recognize surnames from this list as shared by honorable officials of our county and maybe your own ancestors.
And this Tom Hill may be my own long-lost and far-distant cousin. My great-great-grandparents Hill had their home on the border of Mills and Comanche County, and visible in the distance was Mercer's Gap. Thomas Crawford Hill's father was James Mercer Hill. No proof here, but it's an interesting juxtaposition of times, names, and places.
– Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission.
***
Sources:
Ancestry.com. Various family searches. Various dates.
Espy, Florence Mercy. HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE ESPY FAMILY IN AMERICA. 1905.
Find-a-Grave.com. Various searches. Various dates.
Lampasas County Historical Commission. LAMPASAS COUNTY TEXAS, ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE, VOL. I. 1991.
Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sun 10 April, 1870. Newspapers.com. 2021.
I love to discover history that has been hidden by time. This story, sent to me by my good friend Carol O'Keefe Wilson, is a revelation from long ago and involved some local Lampasas families. It was printed in the Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday 10 April, 1870. Carol is a great researcher. – Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission. See Facebook page.
"A very sad affair. – We have in a private letter from Lampasas, Texas, an account of a very sad affair – one of the many resulting from the carrying of arms and indulgence in liquor. James A. Espy, eldest son of our esteemed friend, Thom. H. Espy, Esq., in company with his brother-in-law and another young man named Tom Hill, the latter of whom had been drinking during the day and very boisterous, flourishing his pistol, etc., started from Lampasas for home, on the evening of the 12th ult.
Hill was persuaded by young Espy and the other to get into their wagon and leave with them, in order to avoid arrest. They had not proceeded far before Hill again became violent. The man seemed crazed with liquor. He raised himself up from his recumbent position on the floor of the wagon, and flourishing his pistol, fired twice, the second shot entering young Espy's side and passing out under his arm, killed him instantly.
There can be no doubt that the verdict of the coroner's jury is correct – "reckless homicide," committed by a man crazed with drink. This is the opinion of the community, too, for had there been a doubt about Hill being beside himself, summary vengeance would have been wreaked upon him. As it was, he had a narrow escape, and is now bound over before the criminal court.
The deceased was but 27 years old, had been married two years, and leaves a wife and child. He was a universal favorite. A correspondent of an Austin paper reported young Espy as "killed in a drunken brawl." This is a very painful misrepresentation. Hill was the only one of the party who had been drinking. We beg to tender our deepest sympathy to our venerable friend and family."
[End of newspaper article.]
The young man who was shot, James Albert Espy, served all through the Civil War as a confederate soldier. He was a descendant of two well- respected Lampasas County families, the Hulings and the Espys. Search this page for articles I have posted about the Huling and the Espy families.
There were 12 Espy children in this family, some dying young. The Espy brother-in-law would have been John A. Knight, husband of Catherine Lavinia "Kate" Espy Knight, James' oldest sister. All other sisters married later than this date.
As for the killer, Tom Hill, we're not completely sure. It's a very common name; could have been a neighboring cowboy who was looking for a little pleasure shooting up the town of Lampasas. That's what cowboys did in the 1870s, after all.
But Thomas Crawford Hill (1847-1896) of the right name and the right age and the right burial place in Lampasas Oak Hill Cemetery may be our drunken killer. Matching these three pertinent facts is enough to make me surmise that I have the right person.
The unsuspecting James Albert Espy (1843-1870), son of Thomas Huling Espy, and John A. Knight, his brother-in-law, probably knew the drunken Hill well enough and cared enough about him to be willing to cajole him into their wagon to save him from being arrested. This fact alone would lead one to suppose that Hill was not only a a neighbor but probably a friend, since Espy and Hill were near the same age.
I found no pictures of either James Espy or Thomas Hill; The Hill family pictured here is Sarah Ruth Hill, daughter of Thomas Crawford Hill, and her husband; Benjamin J. Northington, on their ranch north of Lampasas.
Family researchers show that Espy's widow and child who were left behind at his untimely death were Annie Kemper Espy and son Sidney Walton Espy of Brady who married Beulah Ella McGrew; Sidney's family is pictured here. Pictured here also is the family of Espy's father, Thomas Huling Espy, probably made some years after James' death in 1870.
Tom Hill married Nancy A Guinn on Christmas Eve a few months after this killing in March or April of 1870. Their children were Mary A. Hill who married John Henry Wilkerson of Lampasas and Temple; Lorenzo Hill who may have married a woman named Ida; Frances Hill who married Thomas Rufus Sale of Lampasas and Martin; Sarah Ruth Hill who married Benjamin J. Northington of Lampasas; and Tommie Pearl Hill who married Herbert Johnson Abney, also of Lampasas. Some current Lampasans will recognize surnames from this list as shared by honorable officials of our county and maybe your own ancestors.
And this Tom Hill may be my own long-lost and far-distant cousin. My great-great-grandparents Hill had their home on the border of Mills and Comanche County, and visible in the distance was Mercer's Gap. Thomas Crawford Hill's father was James Mercer Hill. No proof here, but it's an interesting juxtaposition of times, names, and places.
– Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission.
***
Sources:
Ancestry.com. Various family searches. Various dates.
Espy, Florence Mercy. HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE ESPY FAMILY IN AMERICA. 1905.
Find-a-Grave.com. Various searches. Various dates.
Lampasas County Historical Commission. LAMPASAS COUNTY TEXAS, ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE, VOL. I. 1991.
Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sun 10 April, 1870. Newspapers.com. 2021.
"A very sad affair. – We have in a private letter from Lampasas, Texas, an account of a very sad affair – one of the many resulting from the carrying of arms and indulgence in liquor. James A. Espy, eldest son of our esteemed friend, Thom. H. Espy, Esq., in company with his brother-in-law and another young man named Tom Hill, the latter of whom had been drinking during the day and very boisterous, flourishing his pistol, etc., started from Lampasas for home, on the evening of the 12th ult.
Hill was persuaded by young Espy and the other to get into their wagon and leave with them, in order to avoid arrest. They had not proceeded far before Hill again became violent. The man seemed crazed with liquor. He raised himself up from his recumbent position on the floor of the wagon, and flourishing his pistol, fired twice, the second shot entering young Espy's side and passing out under his arm, killed him instantly.
There can be no doubt that the verdict of the coroner's jury is correct – "reckless homicide," committed by a man crazed with drink. This is the opinion of the community, too, for had there been a doubt about Hill being beside himself, summary vengeance would have been wreaked upon him. As it was, he had a narrow escape, and is now bound over before the criminal court.
The deceased was but 27 years old, had been married two years, and leaves a wife and child. He was a universal favorite. A correspondent of an Austin paper reported young Espy as "killed in a drunken brawl." This is a very painful misrepresentation. Hill was the only one of the party who had been drinking. We beg to tender our deepest sympathy to our venerable friend and family."
[End of newspaper article.]
The young man who was shot, James Albert Espy, served all through the Civil War as a confederate soldier. He was a descendant of two well- respected Lampasas County families, the Hulings and the Espys. Search this page for articles I have posted about the Huling and the Espy families.
There were 12 Espy children in this family, some dying young. The Espy brother-in-law would have been John A. Knight, husband of Catherine Lavinia "Kate" Espy Knight, James' oldest sister. All other sisters married later than this date.
As for the killer, Tom Hill, we're not completely sure. It's a very common name; could have been a neighboring cowboy who was looking for a little pleasure shooting up the town of Lampasas. That's what cowboys did in the 1870s, after all.
But Thomas Crawford Hill (1847-1896) of the right name and the right age and the right burial place in Lampasas Oak Hill Cemetery may be our drunken killer. Matching these three pertinent facts is enough to make me surmise that I have the right person.
The unsuspecting James Albert Espy (1843-1870), son of Thomas Huling Espy, and John A. Knight, his brother-in-law, probably knew the drunken Hill well enough and cared enough about him to be willing to cajole him into their wagon to save him from being arrested. This fact alone would lead one to suppose that Hill was not only a a neighbor but probably a friend, since Espy and Hill were near the same age.
I found no pictures of either James Espy or Thomas Hill; The Hill family pictured here is Sarah Ruth Hill, daughter of Thomas Crawford Hill, and her husband; Benjamin J. Northington, on their ranch north of Lampasas.
Family researchers show that Espy's widow and child who were left behind at his untimely death were Annie Kemper Espy and son Sidney Walton Espy of Brady who married Beulah Ella McGrew; Sidney's family is pictured here. Pictured here also is the family of Espy's father, Thomas Huling Espy, probably made some years after James' death in 1870.
Tom Hill married Nancy A Guinn on Christmas Eve a few months after this killing in March or April of 1870. Their children were Mary A. Hill who married John Henry Wilkerson of Lampasas and Temple; Lorenzo Hill who may have married a woman named Ida; Frances Hill who married Thomas Rufus Sale of Lampasas and Martin; Sarah Ruth Hill who married Benjamin J. Northington of Lampasas; and Tommie Pearl Hill who married Herbert Johnson Abney, also of Lampasas. Some current Lampasans will recognize surnames from this list as shared by honorable officials of our county and maybe your own ancestors.
And this Tom Hill may be my own long-lost and far-distant cousin. My great-great-grandparents Hill had their home on the border of Mills and Comanche County, and visible in the distance was Mercer's Gap. Thomas Crawford Hill's father was James Mercer Hill. No proof here, but it's an interesting juxtaposition of times, names, and places.
– Peggy Smith Wolfe, 2022, for Lampasas County Historical Commission.
***
Sources:
Ancestry.com. Various family searches. Various dates.
Espy, Florence Mercy. HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE ESPY FAMILY IN AMERICA. 1905.
Find-a-Grave.com. Various searches. Various dates.
Lampasas County Historical Commission. LAMPASAS COUNTY TEXAS, ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE, VOL. I. 1991.
Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. Sun 10 April, 1870. Newspapers.com. 2021.
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