On July 28, 1900 the Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona posted notice of the last hanging in Tombstone.
The two young men being hanged were Texans. They had been convicted of cattle rustling, of course, but they were also thought to be cold-blooded killers of two local lawmen in April of 1899. All their Texas kin thought they had been judged unfairly on the murders. The governor of Texas even pleaded to have their sentences commuted, but to no avail. The Texas family even traveled to Washington, D.C. to petition President McKinley. Nonetheless, the brothers William and Tom Halderman "swung to eternity," as one witness said.
So, what's the backstory? Unrequited love, of course. Seems one of the lawmen was in love with one of the girls the Halderman brothers were sharing breakfast with when the sheriff and deputy came to arrest them for rustlin'. Seems the deputy shot first. The boys actually believed the sheriff was killed by a bullet from the deputy's gun! The Halderman brothers so strongly believed themselves innocent of the murders that they refused to participate in a jailbreak that took place before their trial.
It's said that the girl's daddy made the girls lie during their testimony, believing Tombstone neighbors would seek retribution if the Halderman's were set free. Seein' as how one of those girls later committed suicide and the other spent the rest of her life in an asylum for the insane, maybe they were forced to lie.
Regardless, the Texans went home without their sons, and to this day those boys have eternal residence in Tombstone's famous Boothill Cemetery.
Granpa's great uncle Henry was the sheriff of Palestine, Texas. He was there for the last hanging. Seems a railroad crew came to town, and there was a rape. Uncle Henry chased the guy all the way to Huntsville, brought him back to Palestine, a trial was held and justice duly followed. There's pictures of the actual hanging at the old high school museum in Palestine.
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