The Basic Facts!
In the 1880's several of Sabine County's families became embroiled in an unfortunate shooting feud that disrupted the whole community. Fathers, sons, daughters and cousins became engulfed in the fighting that would ravage the county from 1883 to 1887.
It began with the murders of Eli Low and Kit Smith in Holly Bottom off Housin Bayou in the southern part of Sabine County. The bodies were found about ten feet apart and the men had been shot in the back. The funerals were quickly held and many thought it suspicious that the Conner family had not attended.
It was known that the Conner and Low families had argued in the past about free-ranging and the building of schools and roads. Apparently many angry words had been exchanged, but the situation had never erupted into violence.
After a short investigation, Willis Conner, along with his sons, Fed, William, John and Charles were indicted for the murders and held without bond. Charles and Fed's trial was held first and they were found guilty. Charles was sent to prison for twenty-five years. Fed was given life in prison, but successfully appealed his case and was retried. He was again found guilty. He would never serve, however, as the jail was broken into and Willis, Fed, William and John escaped into the countryside- where they began a running war with the law enforcement of the day.
The Texas Rangers were called in to assist in arresting the Conners, but were ambushed and one Ranger, J.H. (Jim) Moore was killed. William Conner was also killed and many others were wounded. Willis, Fed and John escaped the battle. The Rangers, having suffered a grievous defeat, left Sabine County and did not return. John Conner then abandoned Willis and Fed and according to Ruth Sibley Davis in her book Neighbor against Neighbor, moved to start a new life in Louisiana.
The people of the county, wanting to end the violence, began to pressure local officers to arrest the Conners.
Eventually, a private investigator was hired and disguised as a cattle buyer went through the county looking for clues to the Conner's whereabouts. He learned that Willis and Fed's families left food and supplies for them on a trail somewhere deep in the woods. An ambush was set up and Fed Conner was killed. Willis escaped, but was killed a few weeks later, when his young grandson, a boy of twelve, was coming to give him food. The boy had been tracked and followed by a posse and in the ensuing gunfight, Willis and the boy were killed.
This sad situation finally ended the Low-Conner Feud which had divided the county for so long. For years, no one wanted to discuss what had occurred as it was simply too divisive and the families too intermingled to be considered a worthy subject of conversation. I've done extensive research into this feud, and I'll publish it here.
The following is a prose report regarding the circumstances of the 1883-1887 Low-Conner feud. It is abstracted from many sources and I tried to write it in a time sequenced manner.
All the information presented here was taken from the books Neighbor versus NeighborGunsmoke in the Redlands, and from Appealate Court records, Sabine County records and A Texas Sheriff, A.J. Spradley. I have searched through these records and tried to understand the who's, what's, when's, where's, why's and how's and to relate these in this writing. That being stated, please understand that my own interpretation of the events may be mistaken, as may be the interpretations of others I have referenced. The tragic feud took place a hundred and seventeen years ago and the full story may never come to light. When I write that Jim Bob stated "whatever...." , I am quoting the court records as reproduced by Ruth Sibley Davis.
Background information
Sabine County in the 1880's was a place of change and transition. The county had long been a main entry point for American's coming to Texas across the Sabine river. The Confederate South had been defeated fifteen years before and Texas had suffered through an age of Reconstruction under an occupying armed force. African Americans had gained their freedom and had received governmental aid, support and protections throughout most of the late 1860's and mid 1870's. However, at the end of the Reconstruction period, they had been left to try to get by as best they could. All the families had to learn how to live in a new age that has come to be recognized as the "Old" or "Wild" West.
Due to dangers from outlaws, Indian raids and a general lack of trained law enforcement personnel, people took to carrying guns for self-protection. Many families in the West raised cattle and hogs and this would also become a source of trouble, feuds and bloodshed as the "Free-Rangers" would let their cattle graze wild and the farmers would occasionally lose large crops as a result. Other times, the cattle would get mixed in with other groups and mistakes, if not outright theft, would occur. People would change brands, crop-mark the ear's of the animals, cut off tails and many other things to take ownership of someone elses free-range cattle. This sort of practice was sometimes known as "Dogging". The dogging of the Conners hogs would be a major cause of the violence that would break out in the 1880's in Sabine County, Texas.
The Conners
The Conner family came to Texas in 1857 from Tattonall County, Georgia. The family patriarch was Willis Conner. He was born in Georgia in 1823 and had married Piercey Douglas. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was known as an intelligent, capable and tough old man.
Willis and Piercey had a large family and had the following sons: William (Bill), Freredick (Fed), Alfred (Bubba), Charles, Leander and John. The family ran a farm about five or six miles east of Hemphill and had several hundred head of hogs that they free-ranged in Holly Bottom, into which, Housin Bayou, a small creek ran.
According to Joseph Combs in his book, Gunsmoke in the Redlands, Willis was a leader in the community and often "supported campaigns for better schools and improved roads, as well as other progressive movements. His activities brought the wrath of his opponents down upon his head, and the community began to divide along lines of philosophy."
Some of the families that often disagreed with him were the Low's and the Smith's. These two families had been in Texas for some time, the Low's since the 1820's, and were well known in the community. The Low's, Smith's and Conner's had all intermarried with other families in the community and were all related in some way. For instance, Fed Conner had married Nancy Pauline Travis, a daughter of Cannon Travis. Another Travis daughter, Malissa Cordelia, married Isaac Low and Leander Conner had married Caroline Smith, the daughter of John Smith and Amanda Low. Charles Conner had married Julia Scruggs, a daughter of Jessie Scruggs and Grace Harper, and Elmer Harper's son, Jessie had married Mary Ann Smith. Jackson Green Low, the father of Eli Low, had married Alma Harper. The community had become a large extended family with many connections to each other.
These familial relations made the 1883-1887 Low-Conner feud such a tragic incident in the lives of the community, that it would be years before anyone would openly discuss the subject. It all probably started with the differences in political opinions, but tempers eventually became inflamed and small incidents took on larger proportions.
Combs stated that "on one occasion, Kit Smith and Charles Conner had a disagreement about who would play the violin at a dance. This disagreement was not peacefully settled- both carried a grudge and quarrelled at frequent intervals."
Sam W. Everett, a local who had occasionally lived with the Conner family and had worked as a laborer for them, later remembered that around July of 1883 he had witnessed Bill Conner and Eli Low, the son of Jackson (Jack) Green Low, passing " a few words" at a bridge raising over Six-mile creek. Apparently they did not settle their differences and Bill Conner "afterward talked as though he was not satisfied." Sam also remembered that the "Conners customarily cursed and abused Jack and Eli Low about bothering their hogs," and that the Conners "cursing and abuse of Eli Low and Kit Smith was common fireside talk." Willis, John and Bill seemed to have been the most vehement and "cursed Jack Low, Eli Low, George Williams, and Kit Smith unanimously."
Joe Ford, a local African-American, recalled that about the last week of November, 1883, he was at the home of Fed Conner and had overheard Willis Conner speaking to Fed: "When are we going to stop them damn rascals?" to which, Fed replied, "The first chance we get." Willis retorted, "If we don't stop them soon, we won't get any hogs this fall." Joe, at another time, was eating breakfast when John Conner came to Fed's house carrying some gun cartridges in his hand and said, "These are what will take them in. If a man won't do right, you ought to make him." Joe would later testify that he thought the cartridges looked larger than buckshot and that in neither conversation had he known exactly who the Conner's were discussing.
Miss Octavine Cooper, a local young lady who had lived with the Conners for the previous six years, stated that on Sunday, December 2, 1883, she had been sitting at the dining table with Mrs. Charles Conner and his children when she reportedly heard Charles say that Bill Conner had "told him that Eli Low had run his (Billy) Conner's hogs out of Holly Bottom. And that he (Charles) was going to help Billy watch the Bottom, and that Eli Low had better not run them out again.
Jack Low, Eli Low's father, lived about ten miles East of Hemphill and he later testified that on December 4, 1883 at approximately 8:00 am, he and his son Ike had met Fed and Willis Conner at a crossing of the Six-Mile Creek. Willis apparently hailed him to come over to talk and stated that, "By God somebody has been bothering my hogs." Jack stated that he had not. Willis then said, "If you have not, your boys have, and they must stop it." The conversation apparently went on this way for around half-an-hour, and Willis also reportedly told Jack, "You and Eli ran over a hog of mine in the road six or eight years ago. By God you cannot deny that." Jack then stated that if his sons were ever caught "dogging or abusing the Conner stock" that he was willing to "pay for any damage resulting," and that he supposedly asked the Conners to "watch his boys and promised to watch them" himself. This apparently did not satisfy Willis as he reportedly stated that "You may watch a wolf all summer, and yet he will eat the pigs in the Fall." Then Fed Conner said, "Fussing is bad business. We had as well drop it and go on to the ones who have done it." Willis then told Jack that "If anybody catches me bothering their stock, I want them to shoot me down like a wolf and leave me in the woods, and I intend to do the same and make it my rule." Jack then warned Willis that in such a course, innocent people might be hurt. Willis replied, "When men dog my stock, I know whether they do it accidentally or on purpose."
At the end of the conversation, Jack turned to go and when he did the Winchester he had been carrying with the butt to his hip, shifted and pointed toward the Conners. "Willis Conner jumped somewhat, brought his gun to half present," and told Jack to "take that gun off me." Jack did and continued on his way.
The Murders
On December 5, 1883, the day of the murders of Eli Low and Kit Smith, John Marshall, who had been hired by Willis Conner to split rails, was working with Joe and Clark Ford after dinner. Willis with sons, Fed, John, Charles and Bill had said they were "going to Holly Bottom hog hunting," and had rode past them in a Northeast direction. He later testified that all but Bill had been carrying guns. About an hour later it had begun to rain and within a short time, heavier showers fell. During this time, Joe Ford, stated that he heard "four distinct shots. The first two shots were fired in quick succession from shot guns. A slight intermission was followed by two discharges from rifles. These shots were fired in the direction of Holly Bottom. These shots were also reportedly heard by a neighbor, Alex McDaniel and that he had "thought it strange that anyone would be hunting while heavy clouds were threatening a storm."
Earlier that day, Eli Low had gone to visit his friend Kit Smith, and after lunch the two had decided to return to Eli's home to mold some new bullets. Mrs. Sallie Low, Eli's widow remembered that when Kit had started to return home, that he asked Eli to go with him. Eli "consented to go as far as Holly Bottom saying he had some hogs to look after." They reportedly took their guns and rode on horseback into the Bottom. Sallie later stated that a "slight rain fell about fifteen minutes after the two men left" and that it had "rained harder toward night." Sallie thought she had heard the "report of a gun late that evening." Neither Eli, nor Kit would return home.
The next morning Sally decided to go to Kit Smith's home to try to find out what had happened to her husband, and according to Ruth Pitt Sibley, she decided to go around Holly Bottom, instead of through, due to the density of the forest in the area. Kit's wife, Mary, while seven months pregnant had also waited up and worried, and the two ladies went to the nearest neighbor, Alex McDaniel for help.
Alex helped organize search parties and began to look for Eli and Kit. He got Jack Low, George Williams, William Ferguson, John Ener and Elmer Harper to help him. They formed two searching parties and met up in Holly Bottom, where they discovered the bodies of Eli and Kit. "The bodies lay about ten to twelve feet apart, between Holly Bottom and Housin Bayou. Smith lay on his back, his feet under him, his head rest [sic] on the ground, and his hands drawn upward. He had been shot through the head. Low's body lay on his face, partly in the water, with hands drawn up underneath and near his face." The party moved Eli's body from the creek, but did not disturb Kit's. Kit's gun was empty and broken down at the breach and was laying near his head. Eli's gun was in the water. Eli's horse had been found about a hundred yards from the bodies and had been shot in the side. Kit's horse was "found in his field" and had not been shot. The search party sent for Dr. J.W. Smith and waited with the bodies.
When Dr. Smith arrived he described that the two men had been dead for about twenty-four hours. "Smith was shot through the right side of the shoulder and in the back, with buckshot and through the left temple with a large rifle ball. The man who shot Smith in the back and shoulder must have been standing behind him. The shot in the temple ranged downward into the throat, toward the body." Eli had been shot in the eye, from a "very short distance and downward. Low was otherwise shot in the shoulder, these two wounds being inflicted by mixed loads of buck and squirrel shot." Dr. Smith also stated that Eli had "two pistol balls wounds", in his back and that his hands were drawn up near his face, and in "one hand he held a piece of gun patching. Two peices of patching were found on Smith's body; one piece of colored new cloth, and the other a piece of white domestic. Since most people at that time made their own bullets, they would use pieces of cloth as wadding for the cartridges. The pieces of patching were seen and described by the members of the Jury of Inquest. The colored piece was "checked in two or three colors, blue, white and copperars. The white was a very small stripe."
The two bodies were then taken home and prepared for burial. At the funerals, many friends and relatives noted that Willis Conner and his family had not attended. The community, worried by what had occured, decided to have all the men of the area meet and make statements as to where they were on the day of the murders.
The Conners did not attend and many began to believe they were involved. The Conners were arrested and indicted for the murders of Eli Low and Kit Smith.
The Trial
According to Ruth Sibley Davis, when the officers went to arrest them the Conner men "protested their innocence and remarked it would be impossible for the State to make a case against them." Some in the community must have believed the Conners might try to escape justice, as the District Attorney requested that they be removed to a jail in Nacogdoches county as he felt the "jail of Sabine County is not safe and insufficient to confine the defenders."
The community was divided and many stood to protest the arrests and to support the Conners, including a local newspaperman by the name of Pete Loggins. Others declared the Conners' guilt and demanded justice.
Fed and Charles Conner were the first to come to trial and were tried jointly. Despite NO direct evidence of their guilt, the circumstantial evidence was considered strong enough that they were convicted of the murders of Eli Low and Kit Smith. Fed was convicted of murder in the first degree and given a life term. Charles recieved a lesser sentence of murder in the second degree and was given twenty-five years in the penitentiary. The convictions were appealed and the cases heard by the Court of Appeals in 1884 to retry the "wholly circumstantial" nature of the evidence.
The first to testify in the appellate trial were those that discovered the bodies of Eli and Kit. The main pieces of evidence testified to were the pieces of gun patching that had been found on the bodies. (See above.) Then the widows of Eli and Kit testified about their husbands whereabouts on the day of the murder. Then, Jack Low testified that the Conner's had threatened Eli regarding the "dogging" of their hogs. (See above.)
Next came some of the most damaging testimonies. Miss Octavine Cooper testified that when she had lived in Charle's Conner's home, that she had heard the Conner's discussing Eli Low. (See above.) She then identified a piece of the colored homespun cloth that had been used as gunpatching. She stated that "Willis Conner had a loom at his house some six weeks before the killing. They loom at that time contained a piece of cloth very much like the piece of evidence." She also testified that she had seen "Miss Nan (Willis Conner's daughter) with a new dress made of the same fabric exactly like the sample in evidence."
Then others testified of the previous arguments and difficulties between the Conners, Lows and Smiths. (See above.) Then Joe Ford, the African American who had worked for the Conners testified for the State.
Joe testified to working on the Conner farm on the day of the murders and that he had watched as the Conners had ridden in the direction of Holly Bottom. He stated that Willis and Charles each carried a rifle and shotgun, and that Fed and John each carried a rifle. He also stated that he had seen William (Bill) Conner "put a pistol in his pocket." Joe stated that it started to shower and later a heavy rain fell. Joe said he heard "four distinct shots" coming from the direction of Holly Bottom.
He then testified that "about half a hour after dark Willis, John and Fed Conner came back to Willis' house driving some hogs." He went on to state that "Willis Conner met his wife at the steps. She then asked him 'Did you do what you went to do?' Willis replied, 'Yes by God I did.' His wife then asked, 'Are you sure they are dead?' 'Yes by God they are and they won't steal anymore of my stock." Joe stated that he had listened from behind the corner of the room.
Joe then testified that later that evening he had went "entirely around the house and hid behind the chimney of the room in which the Conners collected." Joe stated he heard William Conner say, "I guess the son-of-a-bitch won't curse me any more. I took two pops at him with John's Smith and Wesson pistol, and she is as good as Mollie ever rubbed her leg over." Joe then stated that Willis said, "Eli begged mightily, but it was just a year too late. It didn't do any good. he had no business bothering my stock. He had warning not to go into my stock range."
This testimony, despite being hearsay, proved to be very damaging to the defense's case, but is very unusual in that Joe had been brought before Judge Whittlesey on two different occasions before the first trial and had not testified to any of the above information until the Appeals trial. When cross-examined regarding this he stated that he "was afraid to endanger his life."
The Appeal hearing ended with Charles Conner's conviction being affirmed and he was transported to begin his twenty-five year sentence. Fed Conner's conviction was reversed and remanded back to the County Court for retrial.
More to come...
