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Wednesday, November 5, 2003
I've Been Thinking, Historical Account of the Montgomery Area
by Narcissa Martin Boulware
"A
Tragic Affair" in Old Montgomery Part II
By Sue Barnes Moore
Part II
Ironically, his name "William" had once been an honorable one, passed down from "Black Bill's" father, William McGrew, Territorial Representative, commandant of the 15th Regiment Militia, Clarke County, Alabama, and a hero of the Creek War, killed by Indians at Bashi Creek in Alabama in 1813. "Bill" was only two years old when his father was killed and his mother Nancy Hainsworth McGrew Phillips did not maintain such an honorable reputation. In the Voice of Sumter, August 9, 1836, she was denounced by Regulators, as "Jezebel" for harboring mixed Indians and borders among her clan, and for aiding and abetting the Kemp-McGrew feud. The article by Louis C. Gaines called for her to be driven from the country, but she said she would "die on the grit". Evidently, she did choose to return to Texas. She had been listed in the failed Wavell's Colony in Texas in 1830, causing her to remain in Alabama, but 1850 she was in Leon County, Texas, whether by choice or force is unknown.
"Red Bill" McGrew was arrested in St. Stephens, Washington Co., AL., in June 1836. He was arraigned, pleads not guilty, but evidently was never tried, probably due to the inconsistencies brought out in his cousin's trial. The Voice of Sumter reported his court appearance: "Thursday being a fair day, our town was crowed to with persons anxious to witness the interesting trial of McGrew, which has received double interest from its notoriety. About 10 o'clock, the accused, a young man of fine personal appearance, was brought to the bar, and a great rush was made for the Courthouse to secure an opportunity of witnessing the event. But a small number of the multitude could crowd in the house, and the yard was thronged with spectators on tiptoe to listen to the trail." Evidently, "Red Bill" could no longer remain in Alabama, so he sought a new home.
Economic depression occurred in Alabama beginning with the Specie Circular and by the early 1840's the cotton market was in shambles. The McGrew's had once been very influential and wealthy planters. The patriarch of the family, John McGrew, had arrived on the Tombigbee River above Mobile in 1779, settling in what would become old Washington and Clarke counties. He had survived the English, the Spanish and the Indians, carving out the largest holdings in the area. The chiefs of the Choctaw Nation had deeded him 1500 acres of the best river land because, "in his kindness he had saved them from famine". He ran more than 1,000 cattle on his plantation. The infamous "Bills" were his grandsons. With the economic crash, Caroline McGrew, "Red Bill's" mother, moved her family to Claiborne County, Mississippi, after seeing her once-fine plantation sold for taxes after the death of her husband, John Jr., in 1842 in Texas. Bill and his family evidently accompanied her at this time, eventually succumbing to the greener and fresher pastures of Texas in the 1840's.
How "Red Bill" ended his days is uncertain, but McGrew cousins who lived in old Milam, Sabine Co., TX passed down a story of two men who arrived sometimes in the mid-to-late 1840's at their home. One was a McGrew cousin they called "Red" and he was wounded. The men had saddlebags full of gold, which they were taking to Mississippi. During the night, "Red" crept out, buried the gold, and returned to bed to die before morning. The gold was never found, and he was buried north of the house. His mother's estate papers in 1853 in Claiborne County, MS, revealed that Bill was dead in Texas, survived by several children, including a son William-William J. McGrew who would come to no good end in Montgomery in a few short years at the hands of a group of vigilantes lead by the Cartwright family.
Ironically, the Cartwright's and McGrew's knew each other back in old Washington County, AL. Thomas Peter Cartwright, the patriarch of the family, had served on juries with the McGrews. He was a Methodist minister and he and his wife Elizabeth Shaw had eleven children, all were born there. Old John McGrew and his sons John Flood McGrew and Col. William McGrew were judges and representatives of that area to the Mississippi Territorial Legislature. Flood McGrew had been appointed by President John Adams as a member of the Territorial Council of the five men who served as a virtual Senate of the Mississippi Territory. So the families certainly knew each other. When they moved to Texas, the Cartwright's also became influential in county government, with old Peter Cartwright becoming a Justice of the Peace in 1836 and Samuel Cartwright becoming Sheriff of Montgomery County. For an unknown reason, Samuel resigned in 1866. Records do not show how or when William J. McGrew became the county attorney, but records indicate he was in office in 1867.
About this time, according to Robin Montgomery's History of Montgomery County, Jesse James had camped at McGrew's Crossing of the San Jacinto River for a few weeks. When the gang departed, they left behind Charles "Tex" Brown, a Yankee sympathizer, with whom Jesse had grown weary. "Tex" then fell in love with the McGrew-Oliver clan.
What caused the shoot-out in late December of 1868 is not recorded. According to Montgomery's History, "Finally, the citizenry had had enough, and led by the old family of Cartwright's from Bear Bend, they engaged in a bloody shoot-out with the outlaws in Montgomery which ranged over several blocks. At the end of the battle, all four desperados were dead and placed on Mrs. Oliver's porch." The desperados were not buried in the consecrated ground of the old cemetery, but rather outside the gates in what would become Montgomery's New Cemetery. There is a CSA marker on Lt. William McGraw's grave, but his young stepbrothers, buried near him lie unmarked. The only good thing said of William McGraw was recorded in the Houston Times, picked up by the Texas News, dateline January 23, 1869, "Tragical affair at Montgomery County. Death of William McGraw, county attorney. Mr. Brown of San Antonio and two brothers named Oliver...William McGraw was in no way connected with the difficulty. He was trying to prevent the parties from using their pistols.” |
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