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Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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Russell County, KY, history: the election day murder of Taylor Sullivan, 1909 A chilling story involving not only Russell County, but Adair, Wayne and Pulaski, as well, of a murder of a young Rowe's Xroads father, which didn't end there. A father & son, Walter & WIlliam Pierce, were arrested, and taken to the 'Jamestown Bastille' and here was great fear of a vigilante justice. It had not been one year since the a mob had forcibly removed Elmer Hill from the jail in Monticello and lynched him. In the course of he excitement, the Pierces were moved to the jail in Columbia, when Jailer J.K.P. "Uncle Polk" Conover was jailer. The younger Pierce was tried in Russell County. His father's trial was in Columbia, where he was defended by Rollin Hurt and James Garnett. The outcomes and aftermath are in the complete story below, skillfully research and written by Jim By Jim Garner On election day, 1909, and for several days thereafter, great excitement prevailed in Russell County. At the Rowe's X-Roads voting house, young Walter Sullivan, who had not yet seen a score of years, shot and killed Taylor Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan, 27, was married to the former Miss Betty Miller and was the father of two small children, a daughter and a son. Rev. Thomas Hadley, the Rowe's X-Roads correspondent, a kindly but blunt-spoken man, told the tale in a few short lines: Russell County history: the election day murder of Taylor Sullivan, 1909. "Well, whisky, the deamon of all deamons, got in its awful work here on election day...Walter Pierce shot to death Taylor Sullivan. He shot him three times through the body, killing him instantly. Whisky was the cause. Pierce got away..." Walter Pierce and his father, William, fled to Clinton County where they were arrested a few days later. Russell County authorities were notified "and the prisoners were brought back to the Jamestown bastille" near the end of the week. Shortly afterward, rumors of a mob began flying thick and fast, so the Pierces were spirited to Pulaski County. A few days later, the Interior Journal of Stanford reported "State Troopers" (probably members of the state militia) were in Somerset to guard the jail. This was less than a year after a mob of Russell Countians forcibly removed Elmer Hill from the jail in Monticello and lynched him. The trial was supposed to take place in early March, 1910 but was continued to the June term of court. The Pierces, who had been returned to Russell County for the trial, "were removed to the jail of Adair County for safe keeping," a move fully supported by Russell County Jailor Clay Sullivan, an uncle of the murdered man. While they were incarcerated in Columbia, Adair County Jailor J.K.P. "Uncle Polk" Conover discovered "three pieces of small saws" in a nearby cell. The Pierces were indirectly quoted in the News as saying they wouldn't leave even if the opportunity presented itself, and, in a what perhaps was a case of hindsight braggadocio, that "they could have escaped from the Somerset jail, but had no desire to do so." Come June, 1910, Walter Pierce went to trial, was found guilty, and was sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. In a separate trial in November, a jury composed of Wayne County citizens acquitted the elder Pierce of all charges. He was defended by Columbia attorneys Rollin Hurt and James Garnett. At the same term of court at which Walter Pierce was tried, the Russell County grand jury indicted Logan Blair on the spurious charge of accessory to murder. It took a full year, but Logan finally was exonerated of wrongdoing. The Owensby (Russell County) correspondent wrote in early July, 1911, "Mr. Logan Blair, who was falsely accused of conspiracy in the death of Taylor Sullivan, was cleared last week, at the court of Jamestown. Mr. Blair is 43 years old and has never had a case in court before." Rev. Hadley got the final word in, reporting in the Rowe's X-Roads letter in the fall of 1911, "Walter Pierce has got back home after a stay of two years in the pen [and] he says he wants no more of that. Kind boys, obey the law and then you can stay at home with your mother." (The elder Pierce died in the fall 1955, a month short of his 88th birthday. Walter, just past 53, met a violent death in the summer of 1943. Betty Sullivan, widowed at 23, passed in 1957, four days before her 71st birthday.) - JIM This story was posted on 2014-04-20 05:19:52
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. (AD) - Many Reunion organizing efforts are also advertised in our REUNIONS category in our CM Classifeds. These are posted at a very low cost. See RATES & TERMS More articles from topic Local History:
ACHS Class of 1979 planning 35th Reunion Remembering Uncle Willie, the Shoe Cobbler of Russell Springs Comment on Monuments to Memories on KY 768 9-year old used to ride bus alone, Columbia-Louisville and back Her grandfather owned barn where James Gang spent the night Photograph of Oil Portrait of a founder of Columbia at ACPL Forest Harvey's memory is now, itself, a cherished memory 100 years ago: the wind was high and penetrating Query: Wants more information about Winfrey family High compliments for Kyle Mann Art View even more articles in topic Local History |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
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