Newman-Prichard Feud

The Newman - Prichard

Feud and Shootout

From The Family and Descendents of Jonathan Newman by W. Leroy Moffett
compiled from the newspaper accounts originally published in 1909.

MEADVILLE FEUD CLAIMS TWO LIVES: FIVE WOUNDED
NEWMAN FACTION'S CHIEF ASSASSINATED

Dr. A. M. Newman, who killed C. B. Prichard April 26, slain and two sons shot, while Silas Reynolds, of Prichard Clan, is dead and three friends bear wounds--town under guard of the State troops.

Meadville, Miss., June 14. "Dr. A, B, Newman, Chancery Court clerk and former sheriff of Franklin County, was assassinated on the Main Street at 3 o'clock this afternoon, and in the general shooting which followed the attack upon Dr. Newman, Silas G. Reynolds was killed and Dr. Lenox Newman and Ernest W. Newman, sons of Dr. A. M. Newman, and R. L. Applewhite, W. L. Boyd and Virgil Farr were wounded.

On April 26 last, Dr. Newman killed Cornelius B. Prichard in a street battle, in which four others were wounded. He was acquitted after a three days' trial, which ended May 15. The shooting today was a sequel to the April affray.

A company of State Troops from Brookhaven, under command of Capt. E. L. Stein and under the personal direction of District Attorney J. B. Webb, is patrolling the town tonight and guarding the jail, while Sheriff R. L. Jones has a posse in the country after several alleged participants in the shooting who escaped.

Lenox Newman, a practicing physician, son of Dr. A. M. Newman, is in a critical condition and at last reports was not expected to survive the night. Ernest W. Newman, deputy Chancery Court Clerk and also a son of Dr. A. M. Newman, was wounded in the right leg, which was shattered. H. L. Applewhite, an attorney and a member of the Prichard faction, is seriously and perhaps fatally wounded. W. L. Boyd of the Prichard faction was wounded in the head, and Virgil Farr, also a Prichard follower, is reported to be wounded, but as he and Boyd made their escape this has not been verified.

Ernest Newman and Applewhite were sent to a hospital at Natchez for treatment, after having been placed under arrest by Sheriff Jones.

L. P. Prichard, an attorney and brother of C. B. Prichard, was placed under arrest by Mayor L. A. Whittington after the shooting. Sam and Eugene Newman were arrested by Sheriff Jones and are under guard in the jail.

The shooting occurred in and in front of the Butler Building, the lower floor of which is occupied by the store of Louis Hollinger. This store adjoins that of the Meadville Drug Company, in front of which Dr. Newman killed Cornelius Prichard last April.

DETAILS OF TRAGEDY

As Dr. A. M. Newman was driving to the courthouse this afternoon about 3 o'clock he was fired upon from a window of a room in the second story of the Butler building. Slightly wounded, Dr. Newman hastily turned his buggy and leaped from the vehicle with a shotgun in his hand, backing of to the corner rapidly in order to get a shot at his assailants.

As he came into view again from under an awning, several more shots, from revolvers and a shotgun, were fired from the upstairs room.

Dr. Newman returned the fire once or twice, then staggered toward the sidewalk and fell dead in front of the Hollinger store. His mortal wound was received as he come upon the sidewalk, fired from a door of the Butler building, it is believed. He also received a wound in the top of the skull from a bullet which had been fired through the tin roof of the awning. He received both buckshot and revolver bullets.

As the first report, members of the Prichard and Newman factions sprang into view from various points nearby with weapons drawn, as further trouble had been expected daily.

Silas G. Reynolds, a Prichard follower who lived three miles in the country, is alleged to have been in the upper room of the Butler building when the first shot was fired. He come from the exit from the upper floor and was shot dead as he entered the Hollinger store. It is said that Sam Newman, son of Dr. A. M. Newman, who had been shooting from the opposite side of the street with a repeating shotgun, killed Reynolds and also wounded H. L. Applewhite, who fell wounded across Reynold dead body a moment after the latter was killed. It is not known whether Applewhite had been shooting.

Ernest Newman ran from the courthouse, where he had been working, at the sound of the firing, with a revolver in his hand, and fell wounded at the foot of the steps, being fired upon as soon as he appeared.

Dr. Lenox Newman, it is said, was shooting from a vacant lot near the Butler Building and was wounded as he stood firing.

It is not known where L. R. Prichard and Eugene Newman were while the shooting was going on.

Over a hundred shots in all were fired, and it is believed that more persons than those named participated. There was a hasty scramble for points of safety by those not identified with either faction when the shooting began, and thus some details has not been learned, yet.

Sheriff Helpless

W. L. Boyd, who was the chief witness against Dr. Newman in May, and Virgil Farr are alleged to have been with Reynolds in the upper room of the Butler Building when Dr. A. M. Newman was assassinated. Both, each reported to be wounded, made their escape without being seen on the main street, as there are three exits from the Butler Building.

Sheriff Jones organized posses immediately after the smoke of battle had cleared away, but soon declared that he was powerless to cope with the situation. J. McMartin of Port Gibson, who was in the city, telephone Gov. E. F. Noel, at Jackson, and the Chief Executive, after a talk with the sheriff, ordered the Brookhaven and Natchez military companies here, afterwar countermanding the order regarding the latter troops.
The Brookhaven soldiers arrived on the evening train, accompanied by District Judge M. H. Wilkinson and District Attorney J. B. Webb. Placed at points of vantage about the city, the militiamen soon has the situation under control, and it is not believed that any more troops will be required.

THE TRAGEDY IN APRIL

On April 26, Cornelius B. Prichard was killed and four others were wounded in a pitched battle between the Newman and Prichard factions, growing out of the defeat of Prichard's father by Dr. A. M. Newman for the office of Chancery Court Clerk. Dr. Newman and two sons were slightly wounded in that affray, and he and four of his sons were arrested and charged with the murder of Prichard.

A few days after later Sheriff Jones was indicted of alleged neglect of duty in not arresting the Newmans more promptly. He was given a trial immediately, but the jury disagreed and the case has not come up since. A week afterward the grand jury made a sensational report to Judge Wilkinson, declaring that the Newmans had keys to the jail and had access to a room well stocked with arms and ammunition.

On May 12 the trial of Dr. Newman began. His pleas was of self-defense. The principal witness against him was W. A. Boyd, who is wanted in connection with the tragedy today. On May 15 the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in favor of Dr. Newman and immediately thereafter his four sons were released on bonds of $2000 and $1000.

There has been no trouble since until today, although both factions have been on the alert.

ANOTHER STORY OF CAUSE

Reynolds said to have accused Dr. Newman of writing letter.

Jackson, Miss., June 14. Gov. Noel this evening ordered a company of National Guards from Brookhaven to Meadville, Franklin County, to prevent any further trouble there likely to result from the killing of Dr. A. M. Newman and Silas Reynolds this afternoon. The military company is placed under the orders of District Attorney Wall, and the Natchez companies were ordered to be in readiness for a possible call.

Asked tonight in regard to the situation at Meadville and that vicinity, where a feud has existed for some time between rival factions, one of which was headed by Dr. Newman, Gov. Noel said that the trouble this afternoon did not result from the old feud directly, but grew out of a private family affair.

It is stated that Reynolds recently went to Franklin County from Greenville on account of an anonymous letter written him from Meadville, reflecting upon a lady relative of Reynolds. In endeavoring to place the responsibility for this letter, it is stated, Mr. Reynolds charged Dr. Newman with being its author or instigator, and the encounter this afternoon resulted in the death of both Newman and Reynolds, is charged to this letter, while it is understood that the factional feud, resulting in the recent trial of Dr. Newman, brought other men into the affair.

After Gov. Noel had ordered the Brookhaven company to Meadville he had an interview with Sheriff Jones in regard to the situation over the telephone, and was advised by the sheriff that he had organized a posse of fifty men to assist him in keeping the peace. On being asked if he could hold down the situation with this posse, Sheriff Jones told Gov. Noel that he "thought he could." Upon being pressed for a more positive statement, the sheriff, so the Governor says, only reiterated his opinion that he thought he would be able to
handle the situation with his posse and not say whether he thought the militia necessary. As the company was on its way to Meadville at the time. Gov. Noel decided to let the military order stand, only modifying it to place the company under orders of District Attorney Wall.

NEWMAN AND APPLEWHITE IN NATCHEZ

Natchez, Miss., June 14. Ernest Newman and Herbert Applewhite arrived here late tonight and were immediately taken to sanitariums. Mrs. Newman, mother of the wounded man, arrived over the Mississippi Central at 5:30 this afternoon to attend her son. Applewhite was taken to the Natchez Sanitarium, where his
condition is said to be serious. He was shot through both legs above the knee, and it is believed that the left leg is so badly shattered that it will be necessary to amputate it. Ernest Newman is in the Chamberlain Sanitarium suffering with a wound in the left leg below the knee. His condition is not considered serious, though both bones in the member were broken.

On June 18th 1909, the Fayette Chronicle, a well respected newspaper in Fayette, Jefferson County, Mississippi (Benjamin C. Knapp, Editor and Proprietor), published a four-columned article on the Newman-Prichard feud. The material of this article was compiled on June 15th in Meadville by staff members of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, and it was published in New Orleans on the 16th. It furnishes a synopsis of the versions afloat at that time. Selected paragraphs and passages are included in this writing to provide
additional details and dimensions relative to the tragedy which occurred on Monday, the 14th of June in 1909.

BATTLE FOUGHT TO DEADLY FINISH AT MEADVILLE

Streets of Franklin County's Capital Run With Blood

Meadville, Miss., June 15. "That the feud between the Newman and Prichard factions of Franklin County may not have been the immediate cause of Monday's tragedy here, when Dr. A. M. Newman and Silas Reynolds were killed and five others wounded, causing Gov. Noel to place troops in the town, was the new element injected into the investigations of the case today.

It is believed by some that issues later than the killing of Cornelius Prichard by Dr. Newman in a general fight here April 26, for which he was tried and acquitted last month, may have been responsible for the for the
attempt to kill Dr. Newman and that the old feud spirit was aroused and fractional lines drawn in the battle because of the general tension released at the sound of the first shot, fired at Dr. Newman from the upper floor of the Butler Building.

Two weeks ago it is said that during the absence of Town Marshall Aldridge, his wife opened a letter, which had come addressed to her husband, and which anonymously warned the husband to watch his wife and a certain man in town, whom the unsigned writer named. Mrs. Aldridge, it is alleged, openly accused Dr. Newman of writing or inspiring this letter. On the husband's return, it is said Dr. Newman sent a friend to deny any connection with the anonymous letter. A few days later, Silas Reynolds, a half brother of Mrs. Aldridge, who was killed Monday, returned to the city after an absence of several weeks. Virgil Farr, alleged to have been in the room from which the first shots were fired is a close friend of the Aldridges, who are sympathizers of the Prichard faction.

W. L. Boyd, a piano tuner, said to be from New Orleans, who was wounded with Farr in the upper room of the Butler Building, was the chief witness against Dr. Newman at his trial in May and a warrant charging him with perjury had been sworn out.

Developments tend to show that the first shots of the battle were fired at Dr. A. M. Newman by W. L. Boyd or Virgil Farr, from a window in the second story of the Butler Building. Farr is said also to have had trouble with the Newmans, and particularly with the father, who met his fate Monday afternoon. That either Boyd or Farr, both of whom have disappeared and warrants for their arrests have been issued, fired first is not yet certain by any means."

"Dr. Lenox Newman was taken to Natchez this morning, and it was said that if he was strong enough to stand the trip he might be taken to the Charity Hospital in New Orleans where an operation might be performed, with the hope of saving the young physician's life."

"Herbert Applewhite, an attorney, who was injured during the battle between the same two factions seven weeks ago, and who was even more severely hurt yesterday, is also in Natchez under treatment. Applewhite is a friend of the Prichards."

ALL OUT ON $500 BOND

"Until the preliminary hearing next Monday and so as to give the Newman boys an opportunity to attend the funeral of their father tomorrow, all ten persons supposed to have been connected with the double killing have been released under a bond of $500 each.

Applewhite has been charged with murder, and it seems that he too, had trouble with Dr. Newman. L. H. Prichard and Applewhite have been working together on certain law cases, and it is said that on one or more occasions Dr. Newman ordered Applewhite from the Chancery Clerk's Office, saying he didn't want any
of Prichards friends about. The first trouble was when Applewhite went to the office to look over several books which were kept in the vault. This Dr. Newman refused to allow. One report is that in this vault the Newmans kept guns of various kinds. This has never been confirmed, however.

There are those who believe that Reynolds was connected with the shooting, because of the letter concerning his half sister, Mrs. Manse Aldridge. And Farr, too, it is said, is related to the Aldridges."

"The office of Chancery Clerk is in charge of W. J. Crecink, a deputy, who has been in the office with the late Dr. Newman some time. Ernest Newman who was injured, was chief clerk to his father."

"The four Newman boys who have been charged with the killing of young Reynolds are: Sam Newman, Eugene Newman, Ernest Newman, and Monroe Newman, Dr. Newman's youngest son.

Those who are believed by the District Attorney to have been implicated in the killing of Dr. Newman on the other side, and for whom warrants for murder have been issued, are: Lev. H. Prichard, an attorney and brother of Cornelius Prichard; Jack Prichard, another brother, Dr, J. T. Webb, Virgil Farr, W. T. Boyd, a New Orleans piano tuner, who was one of the principal witnesses against Dr. Newman during the trial, and H. L. Applewhite, a lawyer."

"Boyd and Farr, it is claimed, were in Dr. Webb's sleeping room in the Butler Building, just above where the fatal shooting of Cornelius Prichard occurred two months ago. Dr. Webb was at the Butler House in bed at the time, having been ill recently.

When George Cain, County Treasurer, went to the room from where Boyd and Farr are said to have fired, he found Boyd wounded in the head and requesting that a surgeon be sent for. Farr also was on the floor and seemed to be suffering from wounds. Mr. Cain stepped outside to call the sheriff, and when he returned a second later the two men has gone. Neither has been seen since. Five shotguns were found in the room."

WHEN THE SHOOTING BEGAN

"At the time the first shot was fired, Dr. A. M. Newman was just in front of the Hollinger store and within a feet of where the shooting of seven weeks ago occurred.

It seem that Dr. Lenox Newman was at the home of his sister, Mrs. Ola Ducker, less than two blocks away.

Eugene and Monroe were in a billiard hall a block east of the store. Ernest was in the office of the Chancery Clerk.

As to just where Sam was at that time, witnesses differ. Soon after the first shots, however, he appeared on the west side of the Costly Building, directly across the street from the Butler Building. Witnesses say he fired shot after shot with a repeating shotgun at those in the Hollinger Store, and at Boyd and Farr in the second story of the Butler Building, both of whom are supposed to have been firing at the Newmans and both of whom were wounded. Herbert L. Applewhite, an attorney, a witness for the prosecution in the Newman trial,
was standing in the Hollinger Store, as was Reynolds. Applewhite was hurt in the first shooting between the Newmans and the Prichards and was injured again yesterday, standing practically in the identical spot that he had when struck during the first battle. When he fell to the floor he occupied the same position as when he fell seven weeks ago, with a bullet wound in the leg. It is said by some that Reynolds and Applewhite were struck by shots fired by Sam Newman, across the street, who seemed to be doing a great deal of firing. One of the Newman boys alleges that he saw Reynolds fire at his father after the doctor had fallen to the sidewalk mortally wounded.

SISTER HELPED LENOX NEWMAN

Leaving the home of his sister and riding north on horseback, Dr. Lenox was shot in the breast just as he reached a position east of the courthouse, or practically 200 feet south of where Boyd and Farr are supposed to have been able to see him. At any rate, it seems that Lenox was within easy range of the men in the room of the Butler Building. Jumping from his horse, Lenox leaned on the arm of his sister, Mrs. Ducker, and another woman, and was struck again while in this position. It is claimed by the Newman side that Dr. Lenox did not fire a single shot.

After shooting eight or a dozen time ore more, it seems that Sam hurried to the rear of the Costly Building, where he broke a window and entered the store and went to the front and again resumed the firing. Either from this position or from the other place at the northeast corner of the Costly Building, it is claimed by many that Sam got in the most deadly shots of all. However, much of this is surmise."

"Eugene and Monroe, having heard the first shots, hurried toward the scene from the billiard hall, firing as they went along. Eugene started to enter the courthouse yard, evidently changed his mind and went toward the shooting, not more than sixty yards away.

Ernest Newman, who was in the office, ran to the front door of the courthouse, gun in hand. As he stepped outside some one shot toward him. He retraced his steps, went through the courthouse, out the back way and fell while trying to get possibly to the place where Lenox had been shot."

BOYD CHARGED WITH PERJURY

"It is claimed that Farr is a relative of Mrs. Aldridge, and that he has worked and been associated with Millard Byrd, said to be friendly to the Prichard side. This is one explanation of Farr's part in the affair. And this version of it, no doubt, is brought out because of the letter which had been sent Manse Aldridge and which Mrs. Aldridge opened and discovered that it was something about herself."

"An affidavit charging Boyd with perjury in the Newman case was filed, sworn to by Charles Flowers, a friend of the Newmans. This was executed in another district and an effort was made to locate Boyd, but it seems that the authorities were never successful. At times, however, Boyd has gone about the streets of Meadville as calmly and apparently as much at home as if he were in Canal Street in New Orleans."

FUNERAL PARTIES PASS

"The body of Dr. Newman was removed from the home of his daughter, Mrs. Ducker, where it had been taken yesterday after the shooting, to the Newman home on the hill, less than a mile east of Meadville. The Casket was taken in a hearse, relatives of the dead man following in vehicles and on horseback.

Leaving the Ducker home, the funeral party moved north into the main street, passing directly over the spot where Dr. Newman left his rig and went to his death, only a few feet away. The body will be kept at the family home over night, and tomorrow morning the long drive to Union Church Cemetery, in Jefferson County, nearly twenty miles away, will begin.

While the body of Dr. Newman was passing along the main street late this afternoon the procession passed persons returning from the funeral of Silas Reynolds, killed at the same time, and who had been buried near his home two miles west of town. The hearse carrying the body of the late Chancery Clerk passed to the right of the other vehicles and continued slowly on up the hill toward the home which Dr. Newman had left in perfect health yesterday afternoon. The others, those friends of Silas Reynolds, came on into the little village without even more than glancing at the party they had just passed. No one spoke."

THE NEWMAN FAMILY

In addition to a family of two daughters and five sons, two of whom are in a hospital at Natchez suffering from wounds sustained in the street fight Monday, and a wife, Dr. Newman leaves five sisters and two brothers.

The sisters are Mrs. S. D. Osborn, Perth; Mr. F. S. McPherson, Bay Springs; Mrs. W. W. Scott, Meadville; Mrs. W. N. Meteer, Brookhaven, and Mrs. Henry Russum, Harrison. The brothers are Cammie (i.e., Daniel) and Lamar Newman, both of Perth."

DR. NEWMAN CLAIMED PERSECUTION

"During the Newman trial several weeks ago, and when the doctor and his four sons were in jail, all jointly charged with the killing of Cornelius Prichard, Dr. Newman made a statement to a Times-Democrat representative in which he said that he had been persecuted for years and that "they would get him in the
end. When this trial is over and I have been acquitted, I intend writing a history of my life from the beginning of all this trouble." Dr. Newman said, "and in this I intend showing up those who have been after me. Furthermore, I shall make public many facts that have never been known outside of certain circles on both sides.

Dr. Newman did not mention any names at that time and always referred to those on the other side as "they."

Dr. Newman also talked freely of the indictment which was returned against him and more than 300 others by a Federal grand jury, all being charged with connection with a society commonly called the "White Caps." Dr. Newman said that he was one of the few who had paid the fine.

From statements made that day, while he did not go into details, it might be gathered that Dr. Newman meant that certain enemies of his had been trying to ‘get him’ for years, even before the grand jury indictments charging violation of government laws. In fact, it seemed that he had certain enemies even before the "White Caps” were organized, or held meetings.

"But I believe they'll get me yet,: he said, and this statement he repeated several times.

But he did not talk in a dismal strain, in fact, it was anything but that. At that time, during the week of the trial, Dr. Newman seemed determined upon but one point — to be freed himself and then to assist his sons.

He was also much interested in the story of the trouble and asked about where he could have it published. He asked the reporter if the Times-Democrat would use the story.

Ever since his acquittal, the second one for Dr. Newman in the same courthouse, the first being many years ago, the doctor has gone armed, and much of the time carried a shotgun. Several of the Newman boys went about with weapons. It is said that Dr. Newman was so certain that he was to be shot the first opportunity that he has remained at home nearly every night since the trial ended in May.

DR. LENOX NEWMAN DIES

Natchez, Miss., June 17. Dr. Lenox Newman, who was shot and fatally wounded in the feud at Meadville Monday, died at Chamberlain's Sanitarium at six o'clock this morning. The remains were prepared for burial in Foster's undertaking parlors and shipped to Meadville over the Mississippi Central at 1:30 this
afternoon. Interment will take place at Union Church in the family burying ground, where he will be laid beside his father."

Cornelius Byrd Prichard, who was killed in the shoot-out at Meadville on April 26, 1909 was buried in the Porter Cemetery, located behind the McMillan house in Meadville on Main Street. The dates inscribed on his tombstone are: 13 September 1886 — 26 April 1909. He was a son of Charles A. Prichard and Cornelia H. Byrd.

Mr. Silas T. Reynolds, one of the victims of the shoot-out at Meadville on June 14, 1909, was buried in the Reynolds Family Cemetery, located about .3 mile west of Bude on the south side of highway 84 and on a hill at an intersection. The dates inscribed on his tombstone are 25 April 1885 – 14 June 1909.

Mr. Virgil P. Farr, also associated with the Newman-Prichard feud, is buried in the Stampley (Fulton) Family Cemetery, located in sec. 35, T7N, R1E of Franklin County, and 2.5 miles southwest of Hamburg Community. The dates on his tombstone are: 1 August 1885 — 16 November 1962.

An Additional Article

Franklin Advocate - June 17, 1909 -Article on the killing of Dr. Newman says - "As to the cause of the shooting, many theories have been advanced. Some claim that it is a continuation of the Newman-Prichard shooting; others, that the anti-Newman faction were so incensed over a letter received by M.L. Aldridge containing derogatory statements of Mrs. Aldridge which they claim that Dr. Newman wrote, while some say that Boyd had simply made up his mind to kill Dr. Newman and resorted to the
cowardly manner in which he accomplished the fearful deed. Of course, the shooting Monday was the direct outgrowth of the shooting in which Cornelius Prichard was killed, because it was then that all these enmities, or the most of them, were formed. The Newmans assert that politics were responsible for the first tragedy, while the Prichards strenuously deny the allegation, and besides, having assisted the Doctor for months in his office."

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