By
Sherlene Hall Bartholomew
In my
last column
I promised to share a wild, wonderful story I heard from
Shiron Wordsworth, my newly-found Internet cousin in Texas,
who is doing research on one of my family lines--the Langfords.
This eerie family tale, for which Shi actually found documentation
in old Kentucky newspapers hissed over the web just in time
to levitate more family legends. You never can tell what
you’ll find when you probe your family history.
Flesh
on Those Bones
Family
researchers have long known that obituaries are a great
source of family information, though few bother to search
out rich stores of local history found in other parts of
early newspapers or to find sketches published by local
historians at the time our ancestors lived there.
Reluctant
as we might be to take on the task of uncovering family
skeletons, in our search to learn more about an ancestor’s
identity, it can be rich, indeed, to learn that a local
reporter wrote a story, putting flesh and even clothes on
those cold bones. Better yet are court records, often referred
to in newspapers, that can be searched for even more detail.
Sometimes
we can find minimal information about an ancestor’s physical
appearance in military records, which is always good to
have. But the best description I’ve ever found about a
relative came from a tally of his effects, as found in the
possession of those who murdered him!
We think
the victim, Thomas Langford, was perhaps a brother of my
Walker and Shiron’s Stephen Langford--all sons of Joseph,
because a court record substituted Stephen’s name when it
clearly was speaking of Thomas. Of course this all needs
documentation, but for now, haunting similaries in family
photos of descendants of both Walker and Stephen, leave
little doubt that these Langfords are connected.
I had
found an early newspaper abstract about Thomas’ murder,
but not knowing he might be linked to our family, simply
filed it, hoping to find more information at a later date.
Then
I met Shiron on the web, and she referred me to a book by
Otto A. Rothert, The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock (Southern
Illinois University Press, 1996). Wouldn’t you know, our
folks are in the chapter titled “A Terrible Frontier Story.”
As the
story goes, Thomas met up with the ragged, obviously hungry
Harpes family, not guessing that they were some of America’s
first serial killers of record. Taking pity on their sorry
state, he brought them in with him to the local inn and
paid for their meal. Having lost his discretion to too
much brew, Thomas pulled out all his gold when he paid the
bill and even named the sum he brought along to last him
for the trip. For this, the ungrateful Harpes brothers
later took his life.
Witnesses
of Langford’s kindness at the inn described the Harpes family,
sending locals in their direction. Court records, as described
in Rothert’s book, tell what happened next with marvelous
detail:
Joseph
Ballenger of lawful age, and sworn, deposeth and saith that
at about the 19th or 20th day of December
1798 he heard that a murder had been committed in the Wilderness
on the body of a certain Thomas Langord, as supposed;
that
he, at the request of James Blain the Attorney General of
this Commonwealth with others (including Thomas Welsh) went
in pursuit of some persons suspected of being the murderers
who passed through Lincoln County;
that
they went to the house of John Blain in Lincoln County where
they heard that persons similar to those they were in pursuit
of had left Brush Creek, a branch of the Green River, and
passed over to the Rolling Fork of Salt River;
that
they pursued them and overtook five persons, the same who
this day on their examinations were called Micajah Roberts,
Wiley Roberts, Susanna Roberts, Sally Roberts, and Elizabeth
Walker [names the infamous Harpes Brothers went by—shb];
that
after taking them into custody they proceeded to search
them and found in their possession a pocket book with the
name of Thomas Langford, a great coat, a grey coating cloth,
a short coat – in the pocket of it were broken pieces of
glass – a mixed colored long coat, a pair of breeches, a
shaving glass, a whip, a pair of wrappers, and a horse,
this day proved to be the property of Thomas Langford, said
to be the person murdered in the Wilderness, and that they
found also a Free Mason’s apron and many other things in
their possession said to be the property of Thomas Langford.
Further
saith not.
This
is circumstantial, but when I later show you a family photo
of my ancestor, James Harvey Langford, Sr. (who we hope
to prove is related to the murdered Thomas), you will see
that J. H. is sporting a Masonic pin! Such court record
detail, indicating that Thomas carried with him a Free Mason’s
apron, on that awful day, not only provides colorful detail,
but clues that can be important to the continuing search.
I found
lots of copies of Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock on Internet
new and used book outlets, if any of the rest of you want
to read more about early frontier crime and justice. My
copy came in two days, and I got to read about how one local
judge described our Thomas Langford as “of a respectable
family in Mecklenburgh County, Virginia, set out from this
state for Kentucky, with the intention of passing through
the Wilderness, as it was then called, by the route generally
known as Boone’s Trace.” Did you get the part about his
being “of a respectable family”? (I had to
get that in, especially before you read what’s next.)
In this
book you can also read about how they dug up Thomas’ body
to get a positive identification and how the Harpes brothers
managed to escape prison, only to wreak some of the most
horrifying crimes to ever hit frontier America.
Yet,
the awful truth about Thomas is no stranger than what I
am about to tell you about Elza’s brains.
Elza’s
Brains
This
story comes from another Langford cousin Allen Leigh, who
started an Internet conversation with Shiron, comparing
family stories. The goal was to see if there was, indeed,
a link between our Langfords and hers.
My mother
always said that you don’t believe or discount a family
legend until you’ve garnered the facts. Even the wildest
tale almost always has a grain of truth, so is worth pursuing.
As regards
our line, Allen told Shi about rumors on our side of the
family that our Langfords were notorious robbers. He told
her, in fact, about a family legend that one of our Langfords
got in a gunfight, after which “one brother’s brains were
coming out, so were put in ice water.”
Allen
also checked mapquest.com and told Shiron that her Langfords
in Mt. Vernon lived only fifteen miles from ours, known
to be from Crab Orchard, Kentucky.
Here
are excerpts from Shiron’s responses to Allen’s accounts
about our Langfords:
Wow!
I’ve never heard that the Langfords were notoriouis robbers
. . . Nothing in what I’ve discovered so far has suggested
that’s the case, but I’m not discounting it. One thing
for sure: If you dig up ancestors, you better be ready
for some ‘fragrant’ moments!
The
Mt. Vernon Signal from 1887 to 1911 records maybe one
or two thefts, but they were almost the petty theft sort.
Mt. Vernon didn’t even have a bank until 1900. But maybe
Elza, son of Stephen, and his brothers Dock and Peyton didn’t
mess in their own back yards. Maybe they roamed farther
in their expeditions.
Justice
in Rockcastle County failed miserably at this time. There
were more than a few deaths from guns fired in the heat
of the moment, or as a result of long-standing, festering
resentments. I can’t find more than one case that brought
a conviction. If your father, your uncle, and your best
friend were all murdered, as Elza’s were, the law was not
there to enforce justice.
I
don’t excuse Elza’s decisions to take the law into his own
hands. I only know that he was not alone in the choices
he made. Many other Rockcastle men did the same—you exacted
your own justice or you got none. Right or wrong, Elza
Langford was not one to allow his family to be threatened
or harmed, without consequence.
About
the time Elza married Carrie, he had a falling out with
another local man by the name of Dave Clark. Who knows
what the dispute was about--maybe Elza called Dave a coward,
or Dave called Elza a dirty liar. The fact is, they were
on the “outs.” Shots were fired, and Elza was wounded in
the arm. Then the two sides agreed to disagree and promised
to lay down their arms.
On
the morning of April 25, 1908, about six weeks after marrying
Carrie, Elza was in Mt. Vernon. According to family tradition,
he had a bad headache that day and went into the law office
of his friend, Judge L. W. Bethurum, for some quiet. He
sat down and placed his hand in his hands. Dave Clark must
have been watching, because he entered the office and fired
at Elza. There were at least three shots. Elza sustained
a wound in his arm and his shoulder. But it was the direct
hit in the head that brought him to the ground.
Elza
was carried to the jail residence and laid out on a table.
A Doctor Pennington, of London, Kentucky, rode into town
just as the fracas occurred. Dock Langford, Elza’s brother,
asked for his assistance. Doc. Pennington, along with a
couple of Mt. Vernon’s own physicians, examined the wounded
man. All three agreed that Elza was as good as dead. Convinced
that the operation would hasten Elza’s demise, the doctors
opted for surgery anyway—after all, there wasn’t much to
lose and maybe something to gain. According to The
Signal, the surgery began at 8 a.m.
My
grandmother told me the story of the shooting when I was
a child. There was one part of the tale that I found morbidly
fascinating. She said that the doctor took the extruded
brain material, put it on a dinner plate, covered it with
another, and had one of the bystanders run the plate down
to the nearby spring to keep it cool until he finished cleaning
the wound and could replace the brain matter. As I grew
into an adult, I became skeptical of that part of the saga.
I figured it was only a tall tale that grew out of a sad
family story.
Then,
in the early 1980s, John Lair, Rockcastle County’s self-appointed
historian and founder of the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, did
a series of articles on events that shaped Rockcastle County.
His articles ran in The Mount Vernon Signal. In
one article Lair said that he was in town the day of Elza’s
shooting. One of his friends called several curious youngsters
to the spring, including Lair, saying he had something exciting
to show them. Once at the spring, the young “newsman” showed
them the plates and lifted the top one. Lair recalled seeing
a grayish-pink mass on the bottom plate that was identified
by eye-witnesses of their placement, as Elza Langford’s
brains.
So
much for doubting family legends! Skeptical descendants,
take note! Sometimes, sometimes, mind you, a family’s tall
tale can be gospel truth!
Family
legend goes on to say that Doctor Pennington used a hammer
and chisel from the local hardware store during the surgery
and that he eventually called for the plates, replacing
the part of Elza’s mind that had been lost so unceremoniously
that day. He then stitched Elza back together and pulled
the skin over a small opening in the skull that had been
shattered by the headshot.
At
noon, to everyone’s surprise, Elza awoke. He knew everyone
around him. He could speak and seemed rational, although
“restless.” And of course his headache was much, much worse.
Elza
spent about six weeks in London, Kentucky, at Doctor Pennington’s
Institute, so that the surgeon could give constant attention
to his recovery. We know from the The Signal that Grandma
Carrie visited Elza at least once during his rehabilitation.
Elza
lived until 1918. The photo of him that has been handed
down in the family shows how he parted his hair so that
a saucy auburn lock fell over the scar left by ex-sheriff
Dave Clark’s slug. Four years after the shooting, my grandmother
was born. —shb
|
R.
Elza Langford 1876-1918, son of James, who was killed
by the KKK (Shiron’s ancestors) |
 |
| James
Harvey Langford, Sr., 1831-1908, son of Fielding, first
LDS convert in the Langford line--note James’ Masonic
pin (Sherlene’s ancestors) |
Shiron,
still:
Allen,
the story you were told in Crab Orchard and the story about
my grandfather sound too near the same. It’s hard to believe
that two different men had their gray matter served up on
a dinner plate!
[And
what about the above photos of descendants of Stephen and
Walker—do pictures lie? Do you readers think these two
men share common Langford genes?] Here’s what Shiron had
to say when she first saw
James
Harvey’s photo:
Now
as regards the two photos I did get to see, when it comes
to that of James Harvey Langford, Sr., I KNOW I’m not imagining
a family resemblance. Genes don’t lie—those high cheekbones,
the clear eyes—yep, we’re kin!
Getting
back to her chat with Allen about her notorious Elza, Shi
confides:
If
Elza really were a bandit, he sure didn’t leave Carrie and
his two little girls well situated when he died at age forty-two.
I do know that after he was shot by Dave Clark, his role
as a hot-headed avenger came to a screeching halt. Maybe
losing part of his mind helped him rethink a few issues.
Then, too, he had two baby girls to think of, as he began
a five year battle with tuberculosis, the disease that finally
took his life.
There
is, of course, more—these family legends have a way of going
on and on. I think you’ve heard enough, this round, to
satisfy your taste for frontier tales that are wild enough
for the season.
Next
time we’ll share some ideas about how to find your Internet
cousins and probe your own family lines.
_________________________
Submitted
to Meridianmagazine.com, 30 Oct 2003
Sherlene
Hall Bartholomew, copyright 2003
