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Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Lowe-Conner-Smith Feud Ends

On February 11th, 1885 a new trial was held for Fed Conner. He was again found guilty and given life imprisonment. The case was again appealed, but on March 30, 1885 the court's verdict was affirmed. It was sometime shortly thereafter that the Conner's escaped from the Sabine County Jail. Ruth Sibley Davis stated that local tradition held that on the day the opinion of the Appeals Court was issued that Willis Conner "held up his forefinger and stated, 'tonight.' And that night the break-in of the jail occurred.

The Hemphill jail was made of logs and several men had come to break the Conner's out. These included Pete Loggins, Alfred Click, Wade Noble, Dutch Watkins, W.E.T. Ogletree, Sterling Eddins, Jim Sanders, Alfred Conner and Leander Conner. The men tried to "force open the jail and were forced to dig under the jail an opening large enough for the imprisoned men to be freed." This must have taken some time and been fairly noisy, but no one interferred, including any lawmen who may have been in the vicinity. Willis, Fed, William and John escaped into the woods, but their friends and family were arrested and convicted of assisting in the jail break. Only Pete Loggins and Alfred Click escaped and were never tried for their part in the jail break, as they left Texas at the time.

Joseph Combs wrote that the Conners immediately sent word that they "would never again submit to arrest and would fight to the last man against any effort to take them into custody." Ruth Davis stated in her book that the conner escape brought about a "reign of terror" in the Southern part of Sabine county. Apparently many people were afraid to go into their fields to work or to enter the woods to hunt for fear of the outlaws. Henry Fuller stated that the Sheriff of Sabine County "made no effort to arrest the men he had known for years as his neighbors and friends."
 
The Texas Rangers
Eventually the Texas Rangers were asked to help apprehend the Conners. The first attempt failed "due to the dense woods and the refusal of local officers to cooperate with them." A second attempt was made around March 31st of 1887. Company F of the Texas Rangers was composed of Captain William Scott, Sergeant John Brooks and Rangers Harvey, Fenton, John Rogers, J.H. Moore, Frank Carmichael and William Treadwell. They were accompanied by a squad of local citizens who had volunteered to help and one Baldy Alfers who reportedly had "promised to lead the Rangers to the Conners." The other volunteers were W.W. Weathered, James Polly, Henry Harris and Mr. Toole.

According to Mike Cox's book, Texas Ranger Tales II, Captain Scott and his men "approached within three hundred yards of the outlaw camp deep in the pine trees." At day break Captain Scott sent two Rangers and four citizens to the left of the camp, while he and five other Rangers went to the right, leaving the two groups approximately eighty yards apart. The Conners had laid in ambush behind trees less than "thirty feet away." They opened fire on the surprised Rangers. Captain Scott later wrote that "Private Moore fell dead from the first volley fired by the Conners. Myself, Sergt. Brooks & Private Rogers, each fired two or three shots before being disabled each of us having recieved serious wounds. The fight continued some seconds longer, Private Carmichael shooting whenever he could see one of the Conners."

The Rangers on the left with the citizens "rendered but little assistance during the fight, the citizen squad none." Captain Scott believed that "had the squad come to our assistance we would have captured the entire Conner gang." The fight must have been terribly confusing and ferocious. The Conners had four highly trained dogs that also attacked the Rangers at the time. William Conner was killed "with four bullets." Combs stated that "when Bill Conner fell mortally wounded, he continued to fire from his knees." Willis, John and Fed escaped into the woods. The four dogs were killed as well as the Conner's pack horse.

The Rangers had suffered perhaps their worst defeat. J. H. Moore was dead, Captain Scott "was shot through the lungs," and Brooks lost the two middle fingers of his left hand and Rogers was wounded in the arm and his side, his life having possibly been saved by an account book in his pocket which had deflected a bullet.

Rogers and Brooks recovered and became known as two of the greatest Ranger Captains in Texas History, though the Rangers left Sabine County and did not return to tussle with the Conners ever again.
 
The Feud Ends
Now only Willis, Fed and John were left. They went deep into the woods and reportedly prepared for a final stand. John Conner must have decided that it was a battle they couldn't win as one day he took his horse and abandoned Willis and Fed. According to Ruth Davis, he went to Louisiana and started a new life.
The local officers still refused to take action against the Conners and the populace remained in fear of the outlaws. Someone hired a private detective to find the Conners. He disguised himself as a cattle buyer and went throughout the county talking to everyone he could. He apparently discovered that Willis and Fed traveled "the same trail one day a week to pick up supplies sent by their relatives." Local officers, finally driven to do something, hid in a small shack near the trail and waited to ambush the Conners. Combs stated that, "When the two were almost even with the shack, the officers opened fire. Fed was wounded slightly, but not enough to destroy his accuracy with his rifle." Willis fled as Fed exchanged fire with the Posse, reportedly shooting a hinge off the door of the shack as one officer tried to peep through the crack. Fed was finally felled by an officers' bullet and lay dead on the trail. Willis escaped back into the woods, now a lone outlaw. 

Nineteen days later, on November 13, 1887, Willis' twelve year old grandson, Thomas Williams, was taking a meal to his grandfather. The boy had been tracked by men searching for Willis. It is not known if these men were officers or a community posse, but they obviously had decided to bring an end to the feud. These men opened fire on Willis and killed him, but they also killed the boy. Combs stated that the men opened fire without warning killing Willis and young Thomas. Fuller stated that the detective had followed the little boy and had opened fire, killing both Willis and Thomas. Did Willis have a gun at the time? Did he exchange shots with his killers? It is unknown, but the end of the tragic affair had finally come about at the cost of seven lives and untold terror, fright and sorrow for the families of Sabine County Texas.

Final Thoughts
 
I have written this article for those interested, as I am, in the History of Sabine County, Texas. It has not been my aim to cause any hard feelings or to attack the good families of Low, Conner and Smith in East Texas. I believe we need to study such tragedies and work to keep similar episodes from ever occuring again. I have been contacted by many Low and Conner descendents and most of the comments have been complimentary. I hope I have done justice to this treatise.

In my opinion the Conners were convicted with circumstantial evidence in a manner that would hopefully not happen in today's courts. Were they guilty? Who can really say. They were guilty of escaping jail and causing the unhappiness that resulted from their actions. These same families continue to live in the area to this day and have even continued to intermarry and carry on many of the noble traditions of deep east Texas. It is a tragic tale that needs to be remembered. For good or ill, it shaped all those it touched, so that the descendents of these people still live with it.

 

Sources
Ruth Sibley Davis, Neighbor Against Neighbor: An East Texas Feud
Joseph F. Combs, Gunsmoke in the Red Lands "The Conner Feud", 1966.
Henry Clay Fuller, A Texas Sheriff: A.J. Spradley, "The Case of the Conners", 1931.
Mike Cox, Texas Ranger Tales II, 1999.
Outlaw with two faces, an article by Bob Bowman.
The 1887 Conner Fight on the Sabine by Paul N. Spellman 
Captain John H. Rogers, Texas Ranger by Paul N. Spellman (University of North Texas Press, 2003)
 
1991 Interview with Blanch Toole.
1992 Interview with Jack Lowe.
Numerous tales past down in the Lowe family and many emails from Conner descendants.

The books are hard to find.  I received a copy of Gunsmoke in the Redlands from a relative, and a copied version of Neighbor Against Neighbor: An East Texas Feud from Blanch Toole, a Sabine County historian who sadly died a few years ago.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for this work. William H Smith (ggg grandfather) was the Sheriff who brought "Old Man" Conner in to jail the first time. After he escaped, he decided he wasn't gonna try to get the old man by himself. Everybody else was too scared to go help him. He didn't even own a gun when the feud started. He went to the general store and bought one for $5.00-6.00. Wish I had that old gun. Or at least knew what kind it was. And yes the Smiths-Lows and Conners were or would be related later on. I had heard the story all my life, then later started finding books on the subject. Very interesting reading should be made into a movie. You might want to contact Weldon McDaniel in Hemphill. Very knowledgeable man. Pictures of the time and specifically of the principles would be fantastic. I have a book written by Cecil McDaniel (now deceased)which has the only picture of my Great Grandfather. "Pictoral History of Sabine County" I believe he was the County Clerk at the time of the photograph. ANY information you have would be greatly appreciated. History and Genealogy keep memories alive. Thank you again and God Bless

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  2. Just a minor correction. William H Smith was my Great Grandfather not GGG...sticky finger. Thanx

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  3. Having been reared in Sabine County, I am familiar with the feud. There are still Conners living in Sabine Co. My Step Grandfather was William E. Smith and once owned a large part of south county including the area referred to as Scrapin' Valley. Mister Smith, as he was known, sons Ferrel and Hillery. He was also a Baptist minister and lived to the age of 88 residing just north of Bronson. As a child I attended the First Methodist Church in Hemphill. The Texas Ranger Moore is buried in the church cemetery. I'm not sure of any relationship between my grandfather and William H. Smith. A great uncle was Everett Smith a longtime sheriff of Sabine County and a Ragerw.

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  4. Having been reared in Sabine County, I am familiar with the feud. There are still Conners living in Sabine Co. My Step Grandfather was William E. Smith and once owned a large part of south county including the area referred to as Scrapin' Valley. Mister Smith, as he was known, sons Ferrel and Hillery. He was also a Baptist minister and lived to the age of 88 residing just north of Bronson. As a child I attended the First Methodist Church in Hemphill. The Texas Ranger Moore is buried in the church cemetery. I'm not sure of any relationship between my grandfather and William H. Smith. A great uncle was Everett Smith a longtime sheriff of Sabine County and a Ragerw.

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  5. I am Willis Conner's descendant. This is the first time I was told this story. I have some things sent to me from my eldest sister, I shall share later, after I read it.

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