[Granville-Hough] 11 Oct 2009 - Lost Thornton Boy 3
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough-trust at oakapple.net
Tue Feb 1 06:17:06 PST 2011
Lost Thornton boy.(continuation)
On the day of the trial, a surprising number of citizens previously
empaneled sent word that they were sick, or that there was a
communicable disease in their family, or that they had to attend a
funeral that very day. The judge turned to the Sheriff and ordered him
to empanel non-related adult males who had showed up for the trial. The
judge was soon able to seat a jury, most of whom just happened to be
former Confederate soldiers from the company in which McAlpin had
served. Just one juryman ex-buddy could have hung the jury, but there
were enough to give a clear NOT GUILTY. So McAlpin boy returned to
Smith County, scot-free. This ends the story as I, Granville Hough,
recall it. (Martha Miller remembers the Jury aquitted McAlpin, as the
only thing it heard was circumstantial evidence.)
Trivial Question: Did McAlpin boy get to keep the pony? No one said;
however, McAlpin boy is said to have grown into a swaggering bully
around Mize, especially shunned and feared when he got drunk. So it
would have been in his character to keep the pony. Actually, if he
admitted he did not find the pony or get it legally from Thornton, his
whole fabrication of an alibi became suspect. A former Mize schoolmate,
Harold Hopkins, has kindly provided me with the names of Jasper Thornton
as the victim, Little Bill McAlpin as the accused, and Bill McAlpin,
Sr, as the father (or grandfather). Harold also remembers the story
quite differently. What he heard in childhood was that McAlpin and
Thornton were travelling together to some unrecalled destination when
the tragic events occurred. McAlpin returned with the horse and claimed
he had purchased it from Thornton.
Harold also recalls that many people believed Little Bill was guilty
and were literally up in arms about it. At some time later, Little
Bill McAlpin was shot dead by unknown assailants in or near Mize. Part
of the story is that when Little Bill was shot down, he grimaced and
said, Tell em who shot me, then expired. With the situation as noted
heretofore, these words made no sense. Art McAlpin was told by a
relative that years later, someone in Chrystal Springs had made a
deathbed confession to killing Jasper Thornton. Art was also told that
Little Bill was killed when he stepped off a train at the Abel siding
of the Laurel Branch which was about two miles west of Mize.
The death story of Little Bill is new information to me. I must have
heard it in childhood but it did not remain in my memory. I often heard
it said about another McAlpin boy whose mis-behaviors were well
documented that he was trying to act like Wild Bill McAlpin. I
probably mis-heard the name and it should have been Little Bill. Or
the person talking could have confused Little Bill McAlpin with Wild
Bill Sullivan, another Beat 3 character of similar disposition and
equally violent behavior (continued .)
----------------------------------------------------
Remember the "mote and the beam," or the "splinter and the plank," and
consider the Greek philosopher Epictetus: "When you are offended at any
man's fault, turn to yourself and study you own failings. Then you will
forget your anger."
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