HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Sutton–Taylor feud began as a county law enforcement issue between relatives of a Texas state law agent, Creed Taylor, and a local law enforcement officer, William Sutton, in
DeWitt County, Texas DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,824. The county seat is Cuero. The county was founded in 1846 and is named for Green DeWitt, who founded an early colony in Texas. Hist ...
. The feud cost at least 35 lives and eventually included the outlaw
John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming h ...
as one of its participants. It began in March 1868, not reaching its conclusion until the Texas Rangers put a stop to the fighting in December 1876.


Background

The Sutton–Taylor feud arose from a growing animosity between the Texas Taylor family—headed by Pitkin Taylor, the brother of Creed Taylor (a Texas Ranger)—and local lawman William E. Sutton, who moved to DeWitt along with his mother when she married a man named William McDonald. Sutton had been elected deputy sheriff in Clinton, Texas, before the feud began. The feud lasted almost a decade, and has been called "...the "longest and bloodiest in Texas history..."


Events


Lead-up

On April 23, 1866, William P. "Buck" Taylor shot a black
reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
soldier, Sgt. John O'Brien, who had come to a dance. That same month, John Hays Taylor had killed a black soldier, Sgt. Josiah Ripley, in an Indianola saloon.''I Hope to be With You... The Civil War in Texas and Cork''
Irish American Civil War online; accessed September 2015
On November 14, 1867, Maj. John A. Thompson and Sgt. John A. McDougall of the US
4th Cavalry Regiment The 4th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage is traced back to the mid-19th century. It was one of the most effective units of the Army against American Indians on the Texas frontier. Today, the regiment exis ...
were killed in
Mason County, Texas Mason County is a rural county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,953. Its county seat is Mason. The county is named for Fort Mason, which was located in the county. History * ...
, by Hays Taylor, P.G. Taylor, and a man named Spencer.''Hardin, John Wesley''
article; Leon C. Metz; Handbook of Texas Online; published by the
Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...
; accessed October 16, 2013.
Deputy Sutton shot and killed a Taylor kinsman, Charley Taylor—whom he was trying to arrest for horse theft—on March 25, 1868. Nine months later, on Christmas Eve, Deputy Sutton killed Buck Taylor and an associate, Richard Chisholm, in a Clinton saloon, following an argument regarding the legality of the sale of some horses.''The Sutton-Taylor Feud of DeWitt County''
legendsofamerica.com; accessed October 15, 2013
These killings ignited the feud.


The feud begins

On June 5, 1869, Capt.
Jack Helm John Jackson "Jack" Helm (sometimes Helms) (c.1839–May 17, 1873), was a lawman, cowboy, gunfighter, and inventor in the American Old West. He fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, but worked as a lawman for the Union during Rec ...
assisted Capt. C.S. Bell in trying to arrest members of the Taylor family. Helm, as a deputy sheriff, assisted in the capture of Jim Bell. Goliad County Sheriff Andrew Jackson Jacobs, however, was killed in the process by the Peaces brothers, who were Taylor allies. Later that summer, on August 23, 1869, the Sutton faction allegedly shot John Hays to death after he had caused repeated disruptions in town. The following year, in July 1870, Sutton was appointed to the Texas State Police Force, serving under Captain Helm. The police force was tasked with enforcing the Reconstruction policies of the federal government. This force was known to have operated with a bit of a free-hand: more often than not returning with "wanted" suspects dead. On August 26, 1870, the Suttons were allegedly sent to arrest brothers Henry and William Kelly on what some reported to be a trivial charge. The brothers were related by marriage to Creed Taylor's brother, Pitkin. During the attempted arrests, the Kellys were killed. Following his handling of the task, Helm was dismissed from the State Police Force, although he was legally cleared of any wrongdoing. In summer of 1872, a group of Sutton supporters gunned down Pitkin Taylor outside his home. His son James Creed "Jim" Taylor took his place as head of the family and vowed to be revenged on Sutton. Jim Taylor twice tried to kill Sutton, but he escaped both times.


John Wesley Hardin joins the feud

In early 1872, on-the-run outlaw
John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming h ...
joined his cousin, Mannen Clements, in neighboring
Gonzales County, Texas Gonzales County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, adjacent to Greater Austin-San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,653. The county is named for its county seat, the city of Gonzales. The county was created in 1836 a ...
. There, Clements and his brothers were active in the cattle herding (or, by most accounts,
cattle rustling Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination of the English language and English ...
) business, working in close alliance with the Taylor family. On May 15, 1873, Sutton family allies—Capt. James W. Cox and Jake Christman, were gunned down by the Taylor faction at Tumlinson Creek. There were reports that Hardin had led the fight in which the two men were killed, but he never confirmed or denied his involvement.


Deaths of lawmen

Hardin's main notoriety in the Sutton-Taylor feud occurred two days later, in a July 18, 1873, gunfight in
Cuero, Texas Cuero ( ) is a city in and the county seat of DeWitt County, Texas, DeWitt County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,128 at the 2020 census. History The city of Cuero had its start in the mid-19th century as a stopping point on the Chisho ...
. Hardin killed DeWitt County Deputy Sheriff J.B. Morgan. Hardin played a part in the death later that same day of Morgan's superior, DeWitt County's Sheriff Helm in
Albuquerque, Texas Albuquerque, Texas was a settlement established in 1857 by Samuel McCracken and Henry Hastings in what they thought was Wilson County. Its population grew, and following the American Civil War, the town boasted a mercantile store, saloon, blacks ...
.''Deputy Helm''
article;
Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...
online; accessed October 11, 2013.
Reportedly, Hardin, Helm, and Sam McCracken Jr. were talking in front of a blacksmith shop. Helm, who was an amateur inventor, was working on a project in the blacksmith's shop. He was therefore unarmed (having left his revolvers in his room at a boarding house). During the heated discussion, Jim Taylor snuck up on Helm from behind and attempted to shoot him, but his revolver misfired. As a startled Helm turned, Taylor managed to get off a shot, striking Helm in the chest. Helm rushed Taylor with the intent to grapple with him, but Hardin shattered Helm's arm with a shotgun blast. Helm then attempted to flee into the blacksmith shop. While Hardin held the townspeople at gunpoint, Taylor chased Helm down and unloaded the remaining five bullets into him. Afterward, as Hardin and Taylor mounted their horses and prepared to ride away, witnesses claimed they boasted that they "...had accomplished what they had come to do." The next night, Hardin and other Taylor supporters surrounded the ranch house of a Sutton family supporter, Joe Tumlinson. Eventually, a shouted truce was arranged. Both sides signed a negotiated
peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
soon after in nearby Clinton. The peace, however, lasted less than a year.


The feuding resumes

On December 30, 1873, a Taylor supporter, Wiley W. Pridgen, was shot and killed at Thomastown station. The Sutton–Taylor feud reached its apex when Jim Taylor and his cousin William Riley "Billy" Taylor, along with several others, ambushed and gunned down William E. Sutton and a companion, Gabriel Slaughter, while they waited on a steamboat platform in
Indianola, Texas Indianola is a ghost town located on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The community, once the county seat of Calhoun County, is a part of the Victoria, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1875, the city had a populatio ...
, on March 11, 1874. William Sutton had grown tired of the feud, and planned to leave the area for good. John Wesley Hardin admitted in his biography that he and his brother, Joseph, had also been involved—along with both the Taylors—in Sutton's and Slaughter's murders. In retaliation, the Sutton faction caught and lynched three of the Taylor group on June 22, 1874, in Clinton, Texas. Those lynched were Rufus P. "Scrap" Taylor, John Alfred "Kute" Tuggle, and James White. On June 1, 1874, two of Hardin's relatives, his cousin Alexander "Ham" Anderson and Anderson's brother-in-law, Alexander Henry Barekman were gunned down by a Texas Ranger Company ostensibly in retaliation for their involvement with the killing of Sutton, but more likely because of Hardin's recent killing of ex-Texas Ranger and deputy sheriff, Charles Webb, on May 26, 1874. Another member of the Taylor group was George Culver Tennille who was killed in
Gonzales County, Texas Gonzales County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, adjacent to Greater Austin-San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,653. The county is named for its county seat, the city of Gonzales. The county was created in 1836 a ...
on July 8, 1874. The fighting continued, although with much less frequency, after these killings. Jim Taylor, a Mr, Hendricks, and another man were killed by the Suttons near Clinton, Texas on January 1, 1875 . On November 18, 1875, the leader of the Suttons, ex-Cuero Texas Town Marshal Reuben Brown, was shot and killed by five men in
Cuero Cuero ( ) is a city in and the county seat of DeWitt County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,128 at the 2020 census. History The city of Cuero had its start in the mid-19th century as a stopping point on the Chisholm Trail cattle route ...
along with a black man named Tom Freeman. Another black man had also been wounded. In his autobiography, Hardin made only two references to Brown: that "Rube" Brown had arrested Billy Taylor before sending him to
Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
for trial, and that Brown had been among the leaders of a Sutton "posse" that had been out to "get" him in Gonzales County. It is not known if Hardin was directly or indirectly involved in the killing of Reuben Brown as he made no further mention of the incident in his life story. Billy Taylor was tried twice and acquitted. Reportedly, he was killed in Oklahoma in about 1895. On Sept 16, 1876, Dr Phillip H. Brassell and his son, George, were killed by the Suttons. Following the resultant outbreak of violence in October 1876, Texas Ranger, Captain
Jesse Lee Hall Jesse Lee Hall (October 9, 1849 – March 17, 1911) was a Texas Ranger of the Old West, and is a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame, and was later a soldier. Early years Born Jesse Leigh Hall in Lexington, North Carolina, son to James ...
led a force into Cuero, Texas, to break up the feud for good. By January 1877, he and his supporting troop had put an end to the conflict once and for all.


See also

*
List of feuds in the United States Feuds in the United States deals with the phenomena of historic blood feuding in the United States. These feuds have been numerous and some became quite vicious. Often, a conflict which may have started out as a rivalry between two individuals ...


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton-Taylor feud Internal wars of the United States History of the Southern United States History of the American West Culture of the Western United States Feuds in Texas