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"A TRAGICAL
AFFAIR" IN OLD MONTGOMERY"
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by Sue Burns Moore
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William J. McGrew might have been a hero, but unfortunately he turned out to be
a scalawag. Born in 1844 in either Claiborne or Copiah County, Mississippi, his
roots were Old Alabama, but his destiny was an early grave in unholy ground in
Texas.
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He joined the Porter’s Guards, Co. H of the 4th Texas Infantry C.S.A., at the
beginning of the Civil War in Montgomery, Texas, but was discharged in 1861 as
being disabled. He was only seventeen at the time. He returned home to
Montgomery in Montgomery County, Texas, to eventually become a lieutenant of the
home guard, Co. K, 20th Texas Regiment, basically assigned to duty in Texas and
the Indian Territory.
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Remaining in the Porter’s Guards of Hood’s famous Texas Brigade were the
Cartwright brothers of Montgomery's Bear Bend. Unfortunately, E. W. "Ras"
Cartwright became the first casualty of the company. As the group was being
shipped to the Virginia battlefields, the train stopped at Holly Springs,
Mississippi. “Ras,” six feet six, borrowed a sword and was impersonating an
officer in order to impress the Southern belles gathered on the platform.
Evidently, he was enjoying himself so much that he was the last man to leap
aboard the moving train. Somehow the sword caused him to trip and fall beneath
the train, severing both legs and resulting in his death. The Cartwright's bad
fortune continued when brother James G. W. Cartwright was killed in the bloody
Wilderness Campaign in Virginia, and brother Lemuel, the eldest, was wounded and
lost an arm in the last major conflict before Appomattox. Their unit was
devastated, and of the 143 men of Porter's Guards, Hood’s Texas Brigade, only
nine remained to surrender with Lee in April of 1865. However, the survivors of
the Cartwright family would soon cross paths with the McGrew-Oliver clan.
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Following the war in 1867, William J. McGrew/McGraw was appointed county
attorney during Reconstruction. His reputation among town folks was "a
Republican appointee by day, a KKK by night, and a horse thief in between,"
according to Montgomery County Historical Society’s “Choir Invisible.” Added to
his list of misdeeds were the actions of John P. and Robert O. Oliver, his
younger half brothers, teenagers who maddened the town folks by riding their
horses into business establishments, shooting up the town, robbing and
stealing.
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These boys had
inherited a terrible legacy. Their father and William McGrew’s stepfather, Egbert O. "Eg" Oliver, had been shot down in 1853 in old Montgomery when the
boys were small children. From The Autauga Citizen, Prattville,
Autauga County, Alabama, issue of Thursday, Oct. 20, 1853:
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“Death of an Outlaw:
The Galveston Civilian has a letter dated Montgomery, Texas, October 1st,
in which the writer says: A sad occurrence took place in our (town) between
seven and eight o'clock. A man, well known in this section of the country, if
not in others, named Eg Oliver, was shot from his horse on the public square. He
had been arrested by the sheriff of which was for an assault with intent to kill
a fellow named Lang in this county. It being the greatest charge on which the
sheriff was authorizer to arrest him, he brought him to our town and delivered
him to our sheriff, who committed him to jail in default of bail. About a week
before court began here he broke out, and was then supposed left. But during
court he was seen several times in this vicinity, and one night went to the
house of our sheriff and called him up, but would not let him approach near
enough to arrest him. Yesterday, while most of our citizens were at dinner, he
rode into the square, galloped about it, and then rode off again, in defiance to
all. He was pursued by the sheriff and several citizens but eluded the pursuit,
and last night just at dark came into town again, threatening, as I am informed,
to burn the jail. In attempting to arrest him for the purpose of recommitting
him, he refused to surrender, and while in the act, as was supposed from his
action (it was dark) of shooting upon those gathered around him, he was shot
down, fell from his horse and died immediately. Who committed the deed, can
never be known, as there was several shots fired at the same time. Thus perished
a man, who, by his reckless and lawless course of life has been a horror to
some, and respected by but few. May the memory of his many errors be buried with
him. He has left a wife and two small children who have been compelled to flee
from him, and seek protection under the roof of strangers.”
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To make matters worse, William's real father had been an outlaw in his own
right. William "Red Bill" McGrew and his cousin William "Black Bill" McGrew, in
their early twenties, had killed two teenage boys in Sumter Co. AL in 1835. In
May, Alabama Governor John Gayle put out an $800 bounty for their apprehension.
From the Commercial Register of Mobile:
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“Wanted - A Proclamation - On or
about the first day of April of the present year [1835], William McGrew and
William P. McGrew, in the county of Sumter [Alabama] murdered a couple of boys
in the foulest manner, and under the most shocking and aggravated circumstances.
The oldest of the lads was 16 or 17 years of age, and his little brother about
11 or 12. Their name was Kemp. They were peaceably at work, earning a
subsistence for the indigent family to which they belonged, having given no
offence or provocation whatsoever, when they were cruelly shot down at the same
time, in a very wantonness of deliberate and cold blooded murder.”
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Notices of
the reward appeared in Mobile, New Orleans, and even in Texas. Soon another
reward of three thousand dollars was raised by the citizens of Sumter and
Marengo with this descriptions of culprits: " William P. McGrew (“Black Bill”)
is about twenty four years of age, hair a little dark, fair skin and blue eyes;
mild, and retiring look when sober; six feet high. William McGrew, (“Red Bill”)
the cousin of the other, is about 21 years old, red hair, fair skin, eyes
between gray and blue, six feet high, down look and forbidding countenance. Both
addicted to intemperance." This was published in Mobile, New Orleans and in the
Brazoria, Texas Republican 24 October 1835.
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“Black Bill” McGrew fled to Texas, to a place "about 125 miles from
Nacogdoches" where bounty hunters from Alabama " handed a letter, perhaps from
some authority in Texas, to a man there by there by the name of Bowie with the
expectation of getting his assistance in the taking of McGrew; but he being the
friend of McGrew showed him the letter. The party in pursuit of McGrew
immediately became alarmed and fled,” according to the Voice of Sumter
paper, Nov. 6, 1837. Eventually McGrew was betrayed by a man posing as a friend
and turned over to the three bounty hunters. He was returned to Alabama where he
escaped from the Mobile jail and was subsequently recaptured by the sheriff in
Little Rock, AR. As he was being returned to Alabama, he created such a
commotion on board the steamboat trying to escape that the Captain was obliged
to put him and the sheriff off at Vicksburg. He was then shackled and the
sheriff and a contingent of men delivered him for trial in Sumter County. Tried
for murder, he received a $500 fine and one year for manslaughter since evidence
proved the Kemp boys had readied guns in an ambush position. In addition, the
Kemp boys’ mother, who was the only eyewitness, told at least three different
stories to different people, and did not fare well under cross-examination. Yet
within the year, “Black Bill” died from his prison experience.
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Ironically, his name "William" had once been an honorable one, passed down from
“Black Bill's” father, William McGrew, Territorial Representative, Colonel and
commandant of the 15th Regiment Militia, Clarke County, Alabama, and
a hero of the Creek War, killed by Indians at Bashi Creek in Alabama in 1813.
“Bill” was only two years old when his father was ambushed, and his mother Nancy
Hainsworth McGrew Phillips did not maintain such an honorable family
reputation. In the Voice of Sumter, August 9, 1836,she was denounced by
Regulators, as a “Jezebel” for harboring mixed Indians and borderers among her
clan, and for aiding and abetting the Kemp-McGrew feud. The article by Louis C.
Gaines called for her to be driven from the country, but she said she would “die
on the grit.” Evidently, she did choose to return to Texas, She had been
listed in the failed Wavell’s colony in Texas in 1830, causing her to remain in
Alabama, but 1850 she was in Leon County, Texas, whether by choice or force is
unknown.
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“Red Bill” McGrew was arrested in St. Stephens, Washington Co. AL. in June of
1836. He was arraigned, plead not guilty, but evidently was never tried,
probably due to the inconsistencies brought out in his cousin’s trial. The
Voice of Sumter reported his court appearance:
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“Thursday being a fair day,
our town was crowded to with persons anxious to witness the interesting trial of
McGrew, which has received double interest from its notoriety. About 10
o’clock, the accused, a young man of fine personal appearance, was brought to
the bar, and a great rush was made for the Court house to secure an opportunity
of witnessing the event. But a small number of the multitude could crowd in the
house, and the yard was thronged with spectators on tiptoe to listen to the
trial.” Evidently “Red Bill” could no longer remain in Alabama, so he sought a
new home.
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Economic depression occurred in Alabama beginning with the Specie Circular, and
by the early 1840's the cotton market was in shambles. The McGrews had once been
very influential and wealthy planters. The patriarch of the family, John McGrew,
had arrived on the Tombigbee River above Mobile in 1779, settling in what would
become old Washington and Clarke counties. He had survived the English, the
Spanish, and the Indians, carving out the largest holdings in the area. The
chiefs of the Choctaw Nation had deeded him 1500 acres of the best river land
because "in his kindness he had saved them from famine." He ran more than 1,000
cattle on his plantation. The infamous "Bills" were his grandsons. With the
economic crash, Caroline McGrew, “Red Bill's” mother, moved her family to
Claiborne County, Mississippi, after seeing her once-fine plantation sold for
taxes after the death of her husband, John Jr., in 1842 in Texas. Bill and
family evidently accompanied her at this time, eventually succumbing to the
greener and fresher pastures of Texas in the 1840's.
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How “Red Bill” ended his days is uncertain, but McGrew cousins who lived in old
Milam, Sabine Co TX, passed down a story of two men who arrived sometimes in the
mid-to-late 1840's at their home. One was a McGrew cousin they called "Red," and
he was wounded. The men had saddlebags full of gold which they were taking to
Mississippi. During the night, “Red” crept out, buried the gold, and returned
to bed to die before morning. The gold was never found, and he was buried north
of the house. His mother's estate papers in 1853 in Claiborne County, MS,
revealed that Bill was dead in Texas, survived by several children, including a
son William - William J. McGrew who would come to no good end in Montgomery in a
few short years at the hands of a group of vigilantes lead by the Cartwright
family.
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Ironically, the Cartwrights and McGrews knew each other back in old Washington
County, Alabama. Thomas Peter Cartwright, the patriarch of the family, had
served on juries with the McGrews. He was a Methodist minister, and he and his
wife Elizabeth Shaw, had eleven children, all were born there . Old John McGrew
and his sons John Flood McGrew and Col. William McGrew were judges and
representatives of that area to the Mississippi Territorial Legislature. Flood
McGrew had been appointed by President John Adams as a member of the
Territorial Council of five men who served as a virtual Senate of the
Mississippi Territory. So the families certainly knew each other. When they
moved to Texas, the Cartwrights also became influential in county government,
with old Peter Cartwright becoming a Justice of the Peace in 1836 and Samuel
Cartwright becoming sheriff of Montgomery County. For an unknown reason,
Samuel resigned in 1866. Records do not show how or when William J. McGrew
became the county attorney, but records indicate he was in office in 1867.
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About this time,
according to Robin Montgomery’s History of Montgomery County, Jesse James
had camped at McGraw's crossing of the San Jacinto River for a few weeks. When
the gang departed, they left behind Charles "Tex" Brown, a Yankee sympathizer,
with whom Jesse had grown weary. “Tex,” also
believed
to be a murderer and deserter from Wheeler’s Cavalry,
then fell in with the McGrew-Oliver clan. He was described by J. W. DeForest in
Harper’s Weekly, December, 1868, as “Twenty-three or twenty-five years of
age, of medium height, slender, sinewy, and agile, with a dark complexion,
piercing black eyes, and a jaw disfigured by a pistol shot, and an expression of
brutal ferocity.”
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What
caused the shootout in late December of 1868 is not recorded in the county
records, but two old citizens of Montgomery County, Mrs. W. C. Cameron and Mr.
Buck Martin recounted the following, according to Narcissa Boulware of the
Montgomery County Times:
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“When they (the gang) stole a fine horse from the Cartwrights and came into town to rob the stores and head out on ‘a scout’ for
Mexico, a mob was formed at Bear Bend where the Gaffords, Cartwrights and others
who came in after the men, lived.” According to Montgomery’s History,
"Finally the citizenry had had enough, and led by the old family of Cartwrights
from Bear Bend, they engaged in a bloody shootout with the outlaws in Montgomery
which ranged over several blocks. At the end of the battle, all four desperadoes
were dead and placed on Mrs. Oliver's porch." Sadly, Cameron and Martin,
recounted the deaths of one of the boys, “Bob Oliver the youngest, was scarcely
16 years old at the time. When the shooting started, he ran to Mrs. Chilton’s
house. The mob followed, promised not to shoot him if he would come out. Someone
killed him with a Bowie knife. He ran back into the house before he died. Here
he died under a bed. The blood stains can still be seen on the floor.”
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Another
citizen and local judge, Nathaniel Hart Davis, recorded the bloody event on page
33 of his journal, “McGrew-Oliver Killing of Dec. 28, 1868:
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On the 28th of
December in the forenoon four men , Wm McGrew Esq. County Atty. for the last two
years and his two half-brothers, John and Bob Oliver of this town and "Charles
Brown" of Cokesbury, S. Carolina alias "Texas Brown" of whom an account is given
in Harper’s Monthly of Dec. 1868 were shot to death here (Montgomery) by some
ten to 20 or thereabouts, men of this town and vicinity. If the people or
society can be said to act in necessary self defense in the destruction of
lawless desperados then I am of the option that this was such a case- a few
others hereabouts may be nearly as bad as they-or some of them-one, May, made a
narrow escape. McGrew for a young man was a moral disgrace to the legal
profession as we as to the office he filled. I did not recommend him to the
Police Court - the appointing tribunal. After I started for Miss. and Tenn. in
Jany., I learned that he was in the crowd that took the Negro at court and that
he and others had disguised themselves in the Post Office that night. On my
return I found quite a change for the better in Montgomery.
It is now rather an orderly quite place. And the general expression is that much
good was done in the killing of Dec. 28. There may be some, for reasons best
known to themselves who regret the death of McGrew. One white single female to
whom he paid marked attention both before and since his marriage, manifests a
fondness for his memory and a sorrow at his loss and continues to talk long
after with a silly sentimentality-so says gossip. I heard not talk but believe
it true - Miss E.A.”
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The desperadoes were not buried in the consecrated ground of the old cemetery,
but rather outside the gates in what would become Montgomery's New Cemetery.
There is a CSA marker on Lt. William McGrew/McGraw's grave, but his young
stepbrothers, buried near him lie unmarked. The only good thing said of William
McGrew was recorded in the Houston Times, picked up by the Texas News,
dateline January 23, 1869, "Tragical affair at Montgomery County. Death of
William McGraw, county attorney. Mr. Brown of San Antonio and two brothers named
Oliver...William McGraw was in no way connected with the difficulty. He was
trying to prevent the parties from using their pistols."
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This article first appeared in the Oct. 29 and Nov. 5,
2003, editions of the
Montgomery County News, Montgomery, Texas.
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Montgomery New Cemetery
Founded 1868
New Cemetery Historical
Marker
Text of New
Cemetery Historical Marker
Courtesy of
Texas
Historical Commission:
Burial place of many
honored Texans, including Dr. Charles B. Stewart, a signer of the Texas
Declaration of Independence and first secretary of state; also wife of
Gen. Memucan Hunt, Texas soldier and statesman. Other noted individuals
here include soldiers of the Texas army and veterans of the Civil War and
other wars engaged in by the United States. This cemetery was founded
December 1, 1868, to relieve "Old" Methodist plot. First persons buried on
land (donated by P. J. and R. S. Willis, merchants) were 3 men killed by
vigilantes. A fourth was buried nearby.
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William J.
McGraw's Tombstone,
New Cemetery, Montgomery County Texas
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Photos Courtesy of Robert "Dan" McGrew
William J. McGraw
1st Lt Co K 20 Regt Texas Inf
Confederate States Army
Dec 28, 1868
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"Because the people of the town did not want to bury the
outlaws in their existing cemetery, they were buried outside the consecrated
ground in an area simply called the "New Cemetery." The first to be buried
here, McGrew is the only one who has a marker, but his half brothers, the Olivers, are said to be buried beside him."
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