THE SHEFFIELD CASE

A man named Andrew Sheffield killed a peddler down in Falls County under such brutal circumstances that the local people were aroused and posted a large reward for his apprehension. Two men, both tough, moved from Falls County to Hamilton County somewhere to the west of the Cow House, I think. One was named Pat ____ and the other Jim Beasley.

Pat told Judge John Pierson, Mr. Williams’ uncle, that he knew where Sheffield was. That he was working on a ranch down in Lee County. Probably their law practice wasn’t so great and neither of them was patient enough to books and papers and work at it anyway. The proffered reward looked like a pretty good fee to them as they hauled off on stage and train and went down there.

They ranchman for whom Sheffield worked was not favorable toward helping them catch him, but in those days strangers weren’t often turned from their doors and he told them they could stay all night, but that Sheffield was out at the time at his work. It was a two-story house with an upper gallery. Sheffield came in and went upstairs to his room. They went in after him, but he came out in a hurry and jumped off the top porch.

Rutherford, though a small man was very active and tough and he jumped and landed right on top of him on the round and held him until Judge Pierson could get down there. Then they tied him up. They brought the prisoner back to Marlin with some difficulty. And they "never got a sou for it."The emotion of the people had died down and the state hadn’t offered much. All of their trouble for nothing.

Rutherford was mixed up in some short of shooting scrape on the road east of town in which I believe in which Uncle Tom Pierson had some involvement, too, but it seems no one was hurt. Probably it ought not to be mentioned, but the records but the records of the local Masonic Lodge show some proceedings against him, however such things were not always too important. Otherwise Otherwise there seems to be nothing in particular against him here.except that he was a bit reckless and didn’t seem to care whether school kept or not.[?]

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