Dimmitt Murder

In the summer or fall of 1884, a man by the name of Dimmitt taught a school three or four miles south of Edom, near the line of VanZandt and Henderson Counties. He was charged with having grossly insulted one of his girl students. She reported it to her parents and it soon got out all over the neighborhood. Dimmitt heard of threats made against him, he became frightened, ran away and left for parts unknown. A posse of citizens composed of Jeff Ford, Ike Malone, Boss Lewis and others went in search for him and in a few days found him somewhere above there near Grand Saline. They arrested him, tied him with a rope and led him back to the neighborhood where the crime was said to have been committed. Dimmitt walked while the posse rode on horseback. They stopped at a house to get dinner, which was located a few hundred yards north of where the Edom and Canton Road crossed the road which the posse traveled, who were going south. After getting dinner, they left with the prisoner. The crowd separated when they came to the Edom roads. Some of them took the road east leading to Edom and the balance went straight on south and took the prisoner with them. One of them was riding a mule, and that was the last seen or heard of the prisoner. Everybody in the neighborhood knew that he had been arrested and brought back by the posse, but no report was made to Judge Cauthron, Justice of the Peace, or other officers of the arrest and no effort was made to deliver him to custody of the law, but the posse scattered and all went home, and Dimmitt, the prisoner was no where to be found.

In a day or two the whole country was aroused to the highest pitch of excitement. A search for Dimmitt and an investigation was put on foot by the officers to solve the strange conduct of the posse, as well as the mysterious disappearance of Dimmitt. The facts developed showed that a short time after the posse left the house they took dinner, the report of a pistol was heard plainly in the direction they had gone, and the facts further showed that the posse separated when they got to the Canton and Edom road, some going east towards Edom and some of them going south, and the further that the one who rode the mule was with the last part of the posse. And as shown by the track they left the road soon after crossing in to Edom and dense thicket. It was discovered that they had dismounted there and a large hickory club had been cut down and there was evidence of a scuffle all around there as if they engaged in a fight or conflict of some kind. The prints of the men's tracks in the sand showed plainly, and indicated that they had been jumping or moving very rapidly. Blood was found there on the ground and leaves, and freshly cut hickory stock was there with blood on it. The tracks leading from that point was taken up and pursued. The mule tracks were specially noticed, and from that point fresh blood was discovered where it had been dropped on the leaves, not only in one place but in many on the trail enroute; and human hair was found sticking to brush in a number of places on the routes. This tracking was followed through the woods about one-half mile to a large lake of water and then it stopped

A hickory shirt was found at the lower side of the lake in the creek that ran through and Dimmitt was wearing a hickory shirt when last seen. In the meantime diligent search was made for Dimmitt, but he was no where to be found, and all members of the posse who had arrested him were at home. They were all arrested and held as prisoners by the officers; all but one refused to talk and he told the officers enough to convince them that the prisoner had been foully dealt with. The blood found on leaves was put to test by strict analysis by a good doctor and reputable citizens, and the swore that it was beyond doubt human blood. Others who knew Dimmitt quite well, swore that they had examined the hair found on the trail and that it was human hair, and that it was light colored, looked like and resembled the hair of Dimmitt. The firm of Faulk and Faulk of which I was a member and Judge Russell of Canton were employed by defendants and Hon. Bob Lively prosecuted. We went to Edom and there found ten or twelve men under arrest and in an old church building under heavy guard, charged with murder. When we got there, we were almost confronted with a mob, sundry serious threats were made to take them from the officers and hang them on the spot.

The attorneys investigate the case from every angle and it seemed to be a perfect chain of circumstances pointing unerringly to the murder of Dimmitt by defendants. Nothing was lacking, except his dead body and we expected to see it brought in at any moment, after the lake was drained. The lawyers were dumfounded and paralyzed, we did not know what to do. We decided that the only thing we could do would be to talk to some of the defendants, possibly they might throw some light on the situation, that it could be no worse than it appeared to be. Judge Cauthron was my personal friend, having served one term in the legislature with him, besides I knew him to be a just and honorable man. I went to him and asked permission to see such ones of the defendants as I desired privately, be granted the request and told the officers in charge to allow me to talk with them privately. So I went into the old building where they were and took Jeff Ford off to himself where no one could hear us talk. I says, "Jeff this evidence which I have gone through thoroughly shows that the ones who took Dimmitt off in the bushes at the cross roads are guilty of killing him, and we have been unable to find any circumstance in your favor, and I have come to you as the last resort, hoping that you can throw some light on this serious situation. It is against my rule to allow any man I defend to admit his guilt to me, because I always want to believe him innocent. I can do better for him, and I don't want you to admit your guilt in this case unless you have circumstances justifying it." "What you tell me, I want it to be nothing but the truth." His first utterance was, "We are not guilty, but we did take him out in the bushes and give him a 'damn' good whipping and then turn him loose. And I saw him walk off through the woods in a westerly direction towards Canton." I told him of the report of the gun, the scuffle, hickory club, blood and hair and tracks to the lake and the shirt of the deceased, and that it was human blood, and not only human hair, but some of the witnesses would identify it as Dimmitt's. I says, "Jeff how do you explain that?" He replied, " I can't explain it, but so far as we and our connection with Dimmitt is concerned it is not true." I said, "Jeff, the dead body of Dimmitt is only needed to complete the chain of circumstances and I am expecting every moment for the body to be produced." He replied, " They'll never find it, because he is not dead, and if Judge Cauthron will grant me bond I'll get on my horse, hunt him up and bring him back here."

Again I said to him: "Can your lawyers act with faith and confidence on what you have told me as the truth?" He replied: "Yes" and said "I hope God will strike me dead in my tracks if it is not true." After what he had told us the lowers felt better, but even then with misgivings. At the end of about one week the court granted them bail from $3000 to $5000 for their appearance to the grand jury. My recollection is that Ford gave his bond first. He then told his family, that he was going at once and hunt up Dimmitt and bring him back if it took a year to do it. And he went. After searching for him a week or ten days he located him in Wood Co. and Jeff told me when he first saw Dimmitt he was working on a farm and when Dimmitt discovered him he (Dimmitt) ran. He persuaded him to stop and that he meant no harm and told him all about the case, and by persuasion and promise that he would not be harmed, he came back with him and went to Edom and saw his friends there and went before the grand jury and of course no bill was found. Everybody then wanted to know about the strange incriminating circumstances. It was discovered that some one living in the neighborhood owned a mare and mule colt, two or three years old, that ran out in the woods on the range and that the owner had sterilized the mule and it followed its mother all over the woods, the wound was left bleeding and traveling around after its mother, blood was dropped at different places and that their watering place was the lake of water spoken of and that instead of the blood being human, it was blood from the mule, and the hair, thought to be Dimmitt's, was cow's or horse hair scratched off by the brush as they went through the woods. The hickory club proved to be the switch or small hickory stick that the men used in whipping Dimmitt, who admitted that he had been whipped as Ford stated and that he left from there and went nearly to Canton and then turned north to Wood County. I have never heard any explanation of the shirt.

J.J. Faulk, History of Henderson Co.

Court Records & Miscellaneous Records Henderson Co. TX

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