Henry Tuggle's Dying  Statement:
"Tom Kinder shot me . . ."

White Lightning Feud Series: Part 7

 

NOTE: This is another in a series of articles reprinting prior published information on White Lightning Feuds.

 

Historical Series Chronology Resposes have been favorable to this historical series. Additional material continues to come to light. This means the series will be longer than originally expected; therefore, we are including a brief chronology of past articles: Part 1 (printed 10/13/05) - J. H. Tuggle's rabid dog bit several livestock and other animals; W. W. Maddox assassinated by unknown person and rewards totalling $500 offered for arrest and conviction of the killer; J. H. Ramsey wounds J. D. Tuggle near Denman and Co. Hardware in Homer... Part 2 (printed 10/20/05) - Near Denman and Co. Hardware in Homer, J. D. Tuggle shot at John H. Ramsey, missed, and killed Professor J. H. Williams; W. W. Ramsey died and Hamp and Henry Tuggle were wounded in a shootout between the jail and Knighten's saloon in Homer... Part 3 (printed 10/27/05) - J. D. Tuggle and I. N. Glover died when ambushed by unknown assailant about three and a half miles toward Summerfield... Part 4 (printed 11/10/05) - Murray Tuggle, Hamp's 15-year-old son is shot and wounded; continuation of Dosia Williams' account of Hamp Tuggle's stay at Loyd Hall... Part 5 (printed 11/10/05) - Murray Tuggle, Hamp's 15-year-old son is shot and wounded; continuation of Dosia Williams' account of Hamp Tuggle's stay at Loyd Hall Part 6 (printed 11/17/05) - Henry Tuggle killed in field in presence of his three children. Link Waggonner shoots a Mr. Holland, then flees to Texas... Part 7 (printed 11/24/05) - Waggonner-Kinder grudge; Henry Tuggle makes dying statement that Tom Kinder shot him; Coroner's jury determines Tom Kinder shot and killed John Ferguson, a black man; Tom Kinder shoots at A. K. Clingman...

 

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(continued from last week)

            We also learn that Henry Tuggle, who was recently shot and killed in his field at Cotton Valley, made a dying statement to the effect that he saw and recognized the man who shot him and that it was T. D. [Tom] Kinder of  [Claiborne] parish. We do not know whether or not a warrant has been sworn out for Kinder. So far as we know he has not been seen in this vicinity since the shooting. Both of these crimes were committed in Webster Parish.

            Later.—We learn that the report that Mr. Holland was dead is a mistake. At last account he was still alive, and it was thought that he might possibly recover. We trust that such will be the case.

            We also learn that Mr. T. D. Kinder has been in the Dykesville neighborhood for some days looking for Waggonner.

— Guardian-Journal, page 3

November 23, 1892

            (NOTE: Our research shows that Tom Kinder of Claiborne Parish and Abraham Lincoln (Link) Waggonner of Webster Parish had a long-running grudge. John Agan, who produces a weekly column "Echoes of Our Past" printed in the Minden Press-Herald, has written: "Waggonner tacked a note to a tree in the center of the [Minden] community bearing the following message: `I am not here to harm a living soul, except Tom Kinder...if he continues to haunt me, I will make it lively for him as I stand six foot in my stockings, wear a number nine shoe, and cover every inch of ground on which I stand.'" Agan also wrote that when Waggonner fled to Arkansas after shooting Mun Newsom [a Webster Parish resident], Waggonner was captured and held in the Homer jail. While there, a mob "knocked a hole in the jail wall and attempted to kill Waggonner....the outlaw Tom Kinder [was a member of the Homer mob and] a former Sheriff and United States Marshall [and] had been banned from law enforcement for his fondness for killing prisoners.")

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Rumors from the Seat of War

            We learn that the man Holland who was shot near Dykesville by Link Waggonner some weeks [ago] is still alive. His arm has been amputated, and it is thought that he will recover.

It is also reported that a band of men are still on the scout for Waggonner. It is said that he has been seen in the community several times within the past week.

            [As to] the dying statement of Henry Tuggle that it was Tom Kinder who shot him, we learn that Mr. Kinder is able to establish his whereabouts at the time the shooting was done and can show that he was not at or near the place where Mr. Tuggle was shot.

— Guardian-Journal, page 3,

November 30, 1892

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            Mrs. Frank Gill of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, has been among her Homer friends for several days past.

— Guardian-Journal, page 3

July 5, 1893

            (NOTE: We include this deceptively  insignificant detail because it connects with an item from Part 4 of this series: "...friends of Hamp Tuggle advised him to leave, which it is thought, he did; also Frank Gill, the barber, and Joe Clingman, friends of Tuggle." The brief report of Mrs. Frank Gill's Homer visit indicates that Frank Gill and his wife apparently relocated to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, after the killings of John H. Ramsey and an unnamed negro plus J. D. Tuggle and I. N. Glover, all between March and August, 1891. Likely Mrs. Gill came back to Homer for a July 4 holiday visit with old friends. Parts 4-6 of this series cover Dosia Moore's account of Hamp Tuggle's absence from Claiborne Parish while staying at Loyd Hall Plantation near Cheneyville.)

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            Early Sunday morning last [August 20, 1893] the body  of John Ferguson, colored, was found in the road dead near Cainey (sic) bridge on the Trenton road about one mile from town. He had been shot in the back with buckshot and twice in the breast with a pistol. The shooting is supposed to have been done about nine o'clock Saturday night, as guns were heard in that direction at that time, and the dead man was seen going in that direction just before the guns fired.

            It is the same old story. The place where the parties stood concealed behind the fence was found. There were two parties, one on each side of the road, and two tracks were found leading off from the place. These tracks were followed for some distance, and back in the woods a half mile from the place the shooting was done, a place was found where the parties had camped, apparently for several days. This is what was found by the sheriff and the coroner and his jury. The coroner's jury up to yesterday morning was still holding over trying to obtain more evidence.

            John Ferguson lived on Mrs. Hamp Tuggle's place. When he left town Saturday night he had some letters and some other mail matter for Mrs. Tuggle. This was missing from his person when he was found, as was also some tobacco which he had purchased in town Saturday evening. (NOTE: Hamp Tuggle's 15-year-old son Murray had been shot only a few days before this—August 12. Our research indicates Hamp Tuggle was at Loyd Hall near Cheneyville from late August, 1893, until late February or early March, 1895. It also seems Hamp made brief visits to Claiborne Parish from time to time, undoubtedly to spend time with his wife Sallie and 17-year-old daughter Maud.)

            Every law-abiding citizen will condemn such crimes. It is the duty of our officials and of all good citizens to exert themselves to the utmost to put down such crimes by discovering and punishing the perpetrators of such deeds. The parish will become unfit for civilized people to live in if these assassinations are permitted to go on unchecked and unpunished.

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            There are plenty of people who can tell what ought to be done to put down crime in this parish. What is wanted is action—somebody to do something and something that will count. Where are the men who will do it?

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            When the report of a gun is heard nowadays, the first thought in many people's minds is, who is killed now?

— Guardian-Journal, page 3

August 23, 1893

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            The coroner's jury summoned to investigate the killing of John Ferguson, colored, which occurred Saturday night a week ago, after investigating the case until the following Wednesday, returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased came to his death from gunshot wounds inflicted by T. D. Kinder, aided by an accomplice. Wednesday night the sheriff summoned a posse and went out to Kinder's place for the purpose of effecting his arrest, but he was not found and consequently was not arrested. We presume the grand jury now in session will investigate the case.

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Mr. T. A. Smith came into town Monday and reported that he saw Tom Kinder and another party sitting on a log in Beaver Swamp. Deputy Sheriff Brown, Constable Bailey, and Tom Hamilton at once went out to the spot in company with Mr. Smith. Investigation disclosed the fact that the parties Mr. Smith saw were Mr. J. W. Johnson and Tilry Carter who were out squirrel hunting and had sat down on a log to rest.

— Guardian-Journal, page 3

August 30, 1893

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As Others See It

            In commenting on the last chapter of Claiborne anarchy, the Shreveport Times makes use of the following language. The  comments of the Times may be taken as a mild reflex of the opinion that is entertained of Claiborne affairs away from home. It is as follows:

            "Claiborne is one of the best and most prosperous parishes in north Louisiana. Before the terrible Ramsey-Tuggle feud began it was renowned for the peaceable and law-abiding character of her people generally. Since [June 15, 1888] when the assassination of Bill Maddox, a friend of the Ramseys, took place some three years ago, murder has run riot and pandemonium has reigned among a people who are by instinct and education a peace-loving and law-abiding community. The fact seems to be that the two factions of desperate men so terrorized the people that they were afraid to say or do anything to put a stop to the murders which followed in rapid succession until the men, white and black, had been killed.

            "The only two men of the opposing factions now left are Tom Kinder and Hamp Tuggle, both fugitives from justice, hiding in the brush armed to the teeth, hunting each other like Indians or wild beasts.

            "This last chapter of the bloody vendetta ought to, and no doubt will, arouse the people of Claiborne, make them rise up in their might, and rid their parish of these men who have so long defied and paralyzed the strong arm of the law. They owe it to themselves, their parish, and state to at once and forever put an end to such horrible deeds in their midst.

            "It seems to have come to that pass that either the peaceable and law-abiding citizens must get out and give their fair land over to desperadoes or, as far as in their power lies, wipe this blot from their parish."

— Guardian-Journal, page 2

October 25, 1893

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Another Chapter in Our Record of Crime

            Saturday morning last [October 21, 1893] between eight and nine o'clock the town was thrown into a blaze of excitement by the report that Mr. A. K. Clingman had been attacked in his own house by Tom Kinder. The report proved to be true, but fortunately Mr. Clingman was not hurt.

            On Monday morning of last week Kinder met Mr. Clingman in the road just beyond the Methodist parsonage and gave him a general abusing and threatened to kill him. On Friday evening Kinder was seen about the nursery and probably was then looking for Mr. Clingman.

            On Saturday morning Kinder came to the nursery and inquired of one of the men where Clingman was. The man would have told him had not Kinder gone on to state that he had come to kill him. When Kinder made this statement, the man informed him that Mr. Clingman was in a part of the nursery where he knew [Clingman] was not. When informed that Mr. Clingman was in the nursery, Kinder said he was glad of it as he did not wish to kill him in the presence of his family. As soon as Kinder started for the place where he had been informed Mr. Clingman was, the man hastened to Mr. Clingman and informed him of what had occurred. Notwithstanding the warnings Mr. Clingman had received, he made no preparations for a murderous assault, but he at once hastened to the house and commenced to prepare some shells. He did this by removing the wads from the shells loaded with bird shot and replacing them with buckshot. This was hastily and imperfectly done. There were only six shot to the shell. By the time the shells were barely made, Kinder made his appearance at the side gate and inquired for Mr. Clingman. He was told that he was there and would be out in a few minutes. Mr. Clingman walked out on his front gallery, took deliberate aim.......to be continued.

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Note: Bill Hightower and Jimmy Dean researched this series of articles.