[Granville-Hough] 14 Oct 2009 - Killings

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

SULLIVAN HOLLOW HOMICIDES.

There were an unseemly number of killings, murders, or unintentional 
homocides in the general area of Sullivan’s Hollow. I will try to 
arrange a few of the ones involving Sullivans I know about 
alphabetically. It seems they started about 1870 and were still going on 
when I left the area in 1941. Some of the feuds probably still go on to 
this day with less violent consequences.
Gus Adams, who had killed Bobbie Sullivan, son of Wild Bill, killed by 
unknown assailants, body found under the sawdust pile at Milton. Wild 
Bill was assumed to be the killer, along with his brother, Red Jack. 
This is the only time I have seen Red Jack’s name mentioned in a homicide.
Stoney Ainsworth, died in 1903 from wounds in the Ainsworth-Windham 
melée, in which 100 shots were fired, after a Justice of the Peace 
paternity hearing. Several people were badly wounded, but Stoney 
Ainsworth was the only one who died. A dog and a mule were killed in the 
crossfire.
Warren Ashley, killed by Mize Town Marshall, Albert Lack, in Feb 1922, 
at the infamous Basketball game between Mize and Magee.
Gabe Chain, killed by John Gibbons at the Battle of Shiloh (Church) 
about 1871. (The overall fracas was between the Chain gang and the 
Sullivan gang of Neese and Wild Bill Sullivan.)
Bryant Craft, killed by Wild Bill Sullivan at Bunker Hill. This was 
before 1880, as Wild Bill was hiding out, because of the killing, that 
census year.
Little Jim Dykes, killed by John Gibbons at the Battle of Shiloh 
(Church) about 1871. (The overall fracas was between the Chain gang and 
the Sullivan gang of Neese and Wild Bill Sullivan.)
??? Eaton, killed by his brother-in-law ??? Hathorn, in a fight over the 
Bunker Hill sawmill. Eaton and an accomplice named ??? Yawn were in the 
process of killing Hathorn at the time. Hathorn grabbed his pistol and 
shot Eaton, then managed to survive.
Pearlie Evans, hung Friday before 16 Feb 1939, at Raleigh for killing K. 
C. Jones, grandson of Red Jack Sullivan, during an argument over a dog.
Bud Hall was killed by Tommie Sullivan in Magee in 1911. Tommie pleaded 
self-defense and was found Not Guilty.
K. C. Jones, grandson of Red Jack Sullivan, killed 2 Apr 1938 by Pearlie 
Evans during an argument over a dog. This was a crime for which Pearlie 
Evans was hanged.
L. C. Little was killed in 1903, and Mack Ingram was charged with the crime.
Little Bill McAlpin, killed by the citizens of Mize on the road going 
north out of town in 1903 or 1904.
Wash Patton, killed by Francis “Jack” Owens, son of Celia (Sullivan) and 
Henry Norris Owens. Jack Owens fled to AR and the Ozark Mountains.
Jasper Thornton, killed by Little Bill McAlpin and a gang called the 
Clingers, north of Mize, in 1899.
George E. Smith, who is said to have come from Ita Bena, MS, to work in 
a sawmill, was killed by Dewey Jack Sullivan for $250. Dewey, son of 
Orlando Jack, was born in 1900, so the murder was probably in the 1920 
decade. Dewey was in prison at Parchman in 1930.
Harvey Stringer, killed by Will Ainsworth in 1903 near the old artesian 
well at Taylorsville, after a sixty mile automobile chase. (The date may 
well be wrong, or the kind of chase may be wrong. Who in 1903 in Smith 
County had an automobile? And what roads were available for an 
automobile chase?)
Albert “Abb” Sullivan, was killed 2 Feb 1914 by someone who had a grudge 
against him. The candidate was John Beavers, a man whom Abb frequently 
ridiculed and tormented. Abb had been involved and tried in the murder 
of Victor Sullivan.
Alfred Sullivan was killed in Mize by pistol shot wounds in an affray at 
Windham’s Service Station on 21 Dec 1944.
Andrew Jackson “Black Jack” Sullivan, killed accidentally by his own 
shotgun at Abel while he was on the run for the killing of his uncle, 
Wilse Sullivan.
Andrew Jackson Sullivan, son of “Black Jack” killed by Hillard Spell in 
the early spring of 1936 after a night of drinking and shooting craps.
Andrew Tullos Sullivan. In Dec 1930, Tullos Sullivan, who lived a few 
miles north of Mize, was shot and almost instantly killed while sitting 
by his fireside with his family.
Bee Sullivan, son of John Wiley, killed by his own son, Neulon Sullivan, 
in Feb 1933 in Kansas City or Saint Louis, after Bee made a prostitute 
of his daughter, Cecil.
Bobbie Sullivan, son of Wild Bill, killed by Gus Adams in a fight over a 
young woman, Beulah King, at Bunker Hill, on 20 June 1903.
Cooper M. Sullivan, son of John Wiley, said killed and burned in his own 
house 1 Dec 1914, but no details are known. He lived in Covington County.
George N. Sullivan, son of Neese, was killed in 1899 by a Sullivan gang 
at Bunker Hill Mill Pond, who thought they were killing Robert Dean, the 
mill owner. One Sam Sullivan was believed by some to be the one who 
fired the shot, but Mack Howell and Vernon Howell were also charged.
Levi Sullivan, son of Henry Sullivan, killed 17 June 1917 by Leon Bryant 
in a fight over a girl at St. Ely Church, north of Mize.
Neulon Sullivan, son of Bee Sullivan, killed in 1938 near Laurel in 
either a train accident or a murder, four years after he had killed his 
own father.
Paintney Volus Sullivan, only brother of Andrew Jackson Sullivan, killed 
by a stray bullet in the gunfire at the infamous Feb 1922 basketball 
game between Mize and Magee. It was said he had climbed the nearest tree 
to get out of the line of fire. No one knows who fired the shot. (This 
was before techniques were developed for analyzing bullets to match them 
with the rifling of the firearm.)
Robert T. Sullivan, son of John Wiley Sullivan, killed 12 June 1906, 
details not known.
Robert Joshua Sullivan, son of Neese, said killed in Mount Olive 9 Dec 
1940. (This killing was recalled by Mitchell Sullivan, who was sitting 
in a car on the Mount Olive street, when he observed someone walking 
back and forth on the street waving a gun and yelling curses at a man in 
a house along the street. The man came out with his own or a borrowed 
gun and shot Josh dead on the spot.)
Stant Sullivan, son of Rufus, was killed in a fight on the road from his 
home near Oak Grove to Mount Olive, 16 Dec 1939. (Mitchell Sullivan also 
recalled this killing as his family stopped at the scene after a 
shopping trip to Mount Olive. They observed the people along the road 
and thought there had been an accident. Then they learned that Stant 
Sullivan had been killed there earlier. No one was ever tried for this 
killing, though the community soon learned the name of every person who 
had been involved. No one could say which person fired the shot.)
Taylor Sullivan, Spanish American War Vet, and son of Louisa Jane "Old 
Puss" Sullivan, killed at Saratoga in Nov 1902, perhaps by J. T. 
Robinson and T. J. Walters. He was almost decapitated, apparently with 
an axe.
Thomas Wilson “Wilse” Sullivan, son of Loughton, killed at Old/New Zion 
Church 20 Sep 1895 as an innocent bystander when a feud erupted. Killer 
was said to be one “Bud” Sullivan.
Tommie Sullivan, killer of his brother-in-law Bud Hall, was himself 
killed in 1927 by either his own son, or by the son of Bud Hall.
Victor “Bud Joe” Sullivan, son of Joseph, Jr, was killed in Sep 1899 by 
unknown assailants, believed by his family to be Abb and Bee Sullivan. 
Both Victor and Bee had made statements at the inquest into the killing 
of George Sullivan at Bunker Hill Mill Pond.
Wilson W. “Wilse” Sullivan, brother of Wild Bill Sullivan, knifed to 
death by Wild Bill Sullivan and his son, Andrew Jackson “Black Jack” 
Sullivan, 31 Jan 1903. Wild Bill’s mule, left at the scene, was also 
killed, no explanation recalled.
Undocumented killing of the “nigger baby” by Wild Bill Sullivan at Leaf 
River Camp Site. This was a horrifying story, not repeated by Sullivans; 
and it could have been invented by someone who hated Wild Bill.
Undocumented killing of “uppity nigger” at Ware Cut while the railroad 
was being built from Mize to Saratoga, before 1900. The place was said 
to be “hanted,” where he was forced to dig his own grave, then was shot 
and buried under the piles of dirt on the south side of the cut. (During 
my high school days, when I, Granville Hough, caught the Dixie School 
Bus into Simpson County, I did so within sight of the cut. I often 
thought of the story, and I assumed it was true.)
In Mar 1903, after Wild Bill Sullivan was apprehended for killing his 
brother Wilse, the Daily Clarion Ledger editorialized: “The transfer to 
convict gallows brings an effective close on one of the deadliest and 
most picturesque feuds in the history of the state. During the last 
twenty years, Sullivan’s Hollow feuds have been responsible for the 
death of no less than forty people, all of the killings occurring in a 
little neighborhood in Smith County, not over ten miles square. In its 
number of victims, the feud has far exceeded the celebrated 
Hatfield-McCoy affair of Kentucky.” (GWH: Recall this was 1903, and the 
Clarion Ledger was wrong. The killings continued for 50 more years.) .