Nadia Dean - Murder in the Mountains: Historic True Crime in Western North Carolina

MURDER

IN THE

MOUNTAINS

Historic True Crime in

Western North Carolina

Nadia Dean

Copyright 2021 Nadia Dean

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the permission of the publisher.

Published by Valley River Press, P.O. Box 369, Cherokee, North Carolina 28719

ISBN: 978-0-9831133-5-5 (paperback)ISBN: 978-0-9831133-6-2 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021913396

Cover and interior design: MediaNeighbours.com

This book narrates true murder stories. While the author has written with compassion and respect, it may yet be troubling for some readers. Discretion is advised.

This book is dedicated to my papaw, D. D. York, who told me the family history that inspired this collection of stories.

Contents

This book narrates true murder stories. While the author has written with compassion and respect, it may yet be troubling for some readers. Discretion is advised.

he Lynching of Bob Brackett

urder in Big Bend

ugitive Justice

Acknowledgments

I thank the Creator, who awakens our sense of story and its importance in our lives. Im thankful for my parents, who gave me a never-ending curiosity of the world. Im grateful for my grandfather, D. D. York, who told me the story that led to the making of this bookthe story of my 2nd great-grandfather being murdered by fratricide. Thanks to my husband, Hugh Lambert III, whose love and support makes my work possible. Thanks to Evelyn Duffy, whose excellent editorial assistance for legendary journalist Bob Woodward carried over into four stories in this chronicle of a fascinating, yet overlooked time in American history. Thanks Dr. Lloyd Bailey for sharing Yancey County research. Special thanks to Marshal Trimble, Arizonas premier state historian, for help in sorting out the train robberies. Thanks Charles Miller for introducing me to the story of Oma Hicks. Thank you, Sheila Kay Adams, for inspiring talks about your extraordinary ancestor Nancy Franklin. Thanks, Dan Slagle, for sharing research about Nancy Franklin and for urging me to write the story of Montraville Ray. Thanks to Susan Sloate for great story insights and editorial assistance on four stories. Thanks to Robert Ryals for helpful editorial assistance. Thanks to Bryan Koontz for creating lovely depictions of our beautiful Smoky Mountains. Thanks, Sonnet Fitzgerald, for insightful editing. Thanks, Mary Neighbour, for editing and book production. Thanks, Susan Winstead, for research assistance. Thanks to Lamar Marshall for collaborating on the maps. Thank you, Sherry Jarrett, for your friendship, encouragement and prayers. Thanks, Linda Brown, of the Old Buncombe County Genealogy Society, as well as Matt Bumgarner, for help with southern railroad history. Im grateful for the men and women who work to preserve history so that all of us may benefit from the stories of those who lived before us; stories that allow us to see the imperfections of our own humanity.

Authors Note

T his book has its beginnings in genealogy research. When I climbed up into and shook my family tree, I knocked loose stories that compelled me to tell them. Over thirty years ago, my grandfather told me a shocking story. In 1885, my 2nd great-grandfather was murdered by his brother, who then escaped jail with two notorious outlaws. Nothing further could be learned about the murder or the jailbreak. Fast forward three decades to the digital age and online historical newspapers. And I began digging again.

Reading about the jailbreak, I learned that my 2nd great-grand-uncle was awaiting trial at the time he escaped. A local newspaper reporter interviewed one of the prisoners in another cell whod watched the whole getaway. His name was Jack Lambert, and hed also been convicted of murder and was awaiting execution by hanging.

Being married to a Lambert, I was curious. I asked my husband, Are you by chance related to Jack Lambert? To my surprise, he said, Yes. He was my 2nd great-grand-uncle. Happy to relate what Id learned, I said, Your uncle, in jail for murder, watched my uncle, also in jail for murder, break out. What do you make of that?

Id also learned that at the time of the escape, Jack Lambert had been married to my 2nd great-grand-aunt for the previous eight months. This meant he and my uncle were brothers-in-law. Discovering that my husbands nineteenth century family had been so intimately intertwined with mine invited me to look deeper. And that I did, unearthing long-buried stories of true crime in nineteenth-century western North Carolina.

The research of Madison Countys Nancy Franklin came about many years prior to this book being an idea. Seventeen years ago, my friend and fellow historian Dan Slagle shared his research with me, and since then, Nancy has lived in my imagination. Exploring what her outer and inner worlds must have been like, I wrote essays about her, and some of that prose made its way into this book.

The process of researching, writing, and publishing A Demand of Blood taught me much about correlating the attributes of the past with the realities of the present in order to reach a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. In discovering our pastwhether its our collective experience or individuallywe come to a knowledge of our humanity in ways nothing else can provide.

In all but one story in this book alcoholeither the consumption of it or the dealing in itfigures prominently in the act of murder. As a culture today, we might joke about the proverbial drunk Irishman or small-town drunk, but in reality, many lives were deeply marred by alcohol. Moonshine, guns, and hot tempers stole the lives of many young men. The North Carolina mountain region was every bit as fraught with danger as any town in the American Wild West, and in some cases, perhaps more so. As I searched for compelling stories from the history of the Smoky Mountains, I found a common thread that runs through all of them: resentments allowed to grow out of control, in the end, control everything.

Nadia Dean