Thomas Bell Poole (1820–1865) was a lawman in

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

, who joined the

Knights of the Golden Circle The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle ( es, Círculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. T ...

and served as a crewman of the

Confederate privateer The Confederate privateers were privately owned ships that were authorized by the government of the Confederate States of America to attack the shipping of the United States. Although the appeal was to profit by capturing merchant vessels and seizi ...

J. M. Chapman.

Biography

Poole was born in 1820 at

Franklin County, Kentucky Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,541. Its county seat is Frankfort, the state capital. The county was formed in 1795 from parts of Woodford, Mercer and Shelby cou ...

. He married Mary Caroline (Duff) Davis. He went to California during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

and filed for a homestead in

. In 1856 he brought his family to

Watsonville, California Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self ...

. In 1858 Poole become an Undersheriff for a Monterey County Sheriff, Henry DeGraw. He became known statewide for the hanging of the convicted murderer Jose Anastasio on February 12, 1858, despite the California Governor

John B. Weller John B. Weller (February 22, 1812August 17, 1875) was the fifth governor of California from January 8, 1858 to January 9, 1860 who earlier had served as a congressman from Ohio and a U.S. senator from California, and minister to Mexico. Lif ...

's order to postpone the execution. After Weller accused Poole of murder, Poole, supported by Monterey citizens, took part in public spat with the Governor mounting his defense on technicalities. Weller's clemency was mistakenly issued in the name of Anastasio Jesus. However, his two-year term of employment was not renewed by DeGraw.Reader, Phil
Copperheads, Secesh Men, and Confederate Guerillas: Pro-Confederate Activities in Santa Cruz County During the Civil War
Santa Cruz Public Libraries, 1991
Archived
/ref> After his wife died in 1860, Poole took his family to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and engaged in livery stables business. He joined with the

there. In 1863, he conspired with

Asbury Harpending Asbury Harpending (September 14, 1839 – January 26, 1923) was an adventurer and financier in San Francisco, California, Mexico, and New York City. Early life Harpending was born in Hopkinsville in Christian County in southwestern Kentucky. At th ...

, Ridgley Greathouse, Alfred Rubery, and other California members of the Knights of the Golden Circle to outfit a 90-ton

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, '' J. M. Chapman'' as a

. William Law, who was hired as the navigator, informed the authorities, and Poole along with the others was jailed in

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

accused of treason. He was released after Lincoln's amnesty of December 8, 1863, after swearing allegiance to the Union. In 1864, Poole became one of the leaders of

Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers was the name given by the '' Sacramento Union'' to a band of about fifty Confederate Bushwackers organized from local Copperheads and members of the Knights of the Golden Circle in 1864 by Rufus Henry Ingram in ...

based in the Santa Cruz mountains. He took part in the

Bullion Bend Robbery Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from th ...

. On the next day Ingram's

bushwhacker Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tra ...

s were apprehended by three lawmen including

El Dorado County El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...

Deputy Sheriff Joseph Staples. During the gunfight Poole was hit by Staples in the face and went down. Other gunmen returned the fire that killed Staples. On August 27, 1864, the jury found Poole guilty of first degree murder after fifteen minutes of deliberations. He was sentenced to death by hanging. One of Poole's accomplices, Preston Hodges, was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labor. Several other people were charged, but were all acquitted. The

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

upheld Poole's death sentence. Requests for clemency were signed by the sheriffs of

, Santa Cruz County, and

. However, all pleas for leniency were rejected by the California Governor

Frederick Low Frederick Ferdinand Low (June 30, 1828July 21, 1894) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 9th Governor of California and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Early life and education Born in Frankfort ...

. Poole was hanged at

Placerville, California Placerville (, ; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown) is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sa ...

on September 29, 1865. John Boessenecker, ''Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1997, pg. 135-136
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Thomas Bell 1820 births 1865 deaths Lawmen of the American Old West American law enforcement officials American people executed for murdering police officers People of California in the American Civil War Confederate States Army officers Bushwhackers Outlaws of the American Old West History of Monterey County, California People from Monterey County, California People charged with treason People convicted of murder by California People executed by California by hanging Inmates of U.S. Military Prison, Alcatraz Island Recipients of American presidential pardons Knights of the Golden Circle members

Biography

See also

References