The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-03-30
BISHOP and bob LAMAR.
TWO MURDERERS TO BE HANGED
NEXT THURSDAY.
The Story Of Their Grimes ard How
hey Came TO Be Surrendered
to the Law.
loORREsPoxDExcx OF rHE APPEAL

PITIsBORO, CALHOUN County, Miss
March 2.-0ne of the most sensa.
tional trials ever held in this part OF
the State was concluded few days
ago, and, as the defendants in the
case will suffer the death penalty on
the LIST OF next month, / presume your
readers will be interested in the de-
tails Doc" Bishop, his brother Jim
and Bob Lamar hail from the terra
incognita" around Sarepta. II is a
wilderness, indeed, nearly encircled
| by the Loosaskoona river and heavily
overgrown with timber and brush. In
the branch bottoms and wild rayines
OF this country the desperate and the
moonshiner find perfect haven of
rest. The smoke of the illicit still
gracefully curls, and the distiller pur-
sues his ayocatiOn unmolested. Bold.
indeed, would the revenue officer be
who would seek to thread that wild
labyrinth with a whole community
leagued against him.
Early in 1884 the persons have
named took a jaunt to Da las Lafay-
cite county, in quest of fun and
whisky. They became intoxicated,
and their fun" resulted in the killing
OF two men named Harmon and the
serious wounding OF two others named
Harrison and Kelly, who eventually
recovered. For this double murder
Lamar was arrested and Jailed, but
escaped. One of the Bishop boys fled
to Alabama but the other surrendered
and went through the form of giving
bond. Eventually the murderous trio
after a reasonable time, returned to
their home in the wilds of Calhoun
county believing that the Dallas affair
was forgotten.
Not long after their return, how
ever, there came to Serapta de-
tective, one w. 7. Wise, from Fort
Worth, Tex, armed with requisition
for Swoflord and Marksbury, two refu-
gees from the Lone Star State. He
failed to find his men out but Incl
dentally learned the whereabouts of
the Bishops and Lamar, on whose
heads were rewards amounting to
about $1,000. This Wise decided to
try and secure. Hewas stopping with
Matthews, relativ; of the Bishops,
and claimed to be a dealer in cattle. |
his real occupation was. no |
doubt, guessed at by the people he
lived with. His idea was to induce
Jim Bishop to betray the other two.
and that worthy pretended to fall in
with his scheme. The detective
planned that Jim waste get his brother
and Lamar into drinking bout, and
as soon as they were well filled with
liquor, to give them drugged whisky
until they were stupetied, when
he could easily capture them.
The night of Thursday, October 5,
1880, Doc and Bob arranged to meet
Jim at a haunt of theirs at Lucknuck
creek bridge, in the most inaccessible
part of the wilderness. The latter in
formed Wise, and arranged to 90
ahead, carrying the two packages of
whisky with him. As clew for the
detective, he was to drop Ii tie shreds
1t paper on the trail leading from
place to Lucknuck creek
)rldge. The detective started on his
Journey in the afternoon, but never
'eturned. Jim Bishop did, however,
next day. He told the neighbors a
very plausible story of having been
lalf mile ahead when he heard
hooting. On returning to the place
Whence he had heard the firing, he
ould discover no trace of the detec
i've. Thereupon the neighbors formed
posse and went out to the scene of
he meeting. Here they found, after
long search, the corpse of the un-
ortunate Texan literally riddled with
Ifie bullets. At the coroner's in
uest Amt, a relative of the
Bishops who was subp@naed. de-
Jared he knew nothing of the
lurder, and the other witnesses, ter
'rized by the criminals, gave similar
violence. In the meantime indict-
tents for murder were found by the
alhoun county grand jury, and Jim
lshop surrendered himself. The
her two still defied arrest, and well
med and in the Businesses of their
ONE were tolerably safe. When the
ews reached Fort Worth ten of the (
lends of the murdered detective :
rmed themselves into a COMMITTEES
vengeance and visited the home r.
the desperadoes. Well armed and
uipped, they announced to the
yellers in this modern Alsatia that
Hess the murderers were surrender
they would hold each man living
thin ten miles of the murder indi- -
1ually responsible for Wise's death. II
lis settled Doc and Bob. They were I
zen up. At the May term, 1885, of
Calhoun county court Bob
mar received the death sentence n
: the murder of the Harmons =
rear previous. At the September
m Jim Bishop was tried and, by a a
lnder on the part of the jury, was
Quilted, though he was probably the
attest criminal of the three. At the
lrch term Doc Bishop was found
lily of the murder OF Wise and SEN I"
iced to be hanged on the 18th prox.
Q case was most intricate one and
It so satisfactory result was
ched was largely due to the skill of n
D. Oglesby, Esq, the District Pros. =
ting Attorney. He discovered sew y
| important clews, the principal H.
} being the fact that Amt, a rela- -
a by marriage, had been asked to y
l the trio Of murderers, but had re- .
ed. Judge Roane heard all the .
es, the prisoners being ably de- ll
ded, but unsuccessfully, by Messrs.
Ivan & Sullivan Of Oxford and W.
p n ii