The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-08-12
SEVEN YEARS Of
FREEDOM ENDS
Man Who Broke Jail at Brown
wood Is Arrested in Ellis
County.
SERIOUS CR|MElCHARGED
The Prisoner Is Accused Of Commit
ting Criminal Assault Upon His
Own Daushter-He Escaped
Soon After Arrest.

Escaping from the Brown county
jail in a sensational manner and af-
ter evading the officers of that
county a little more than seven
years, r. W. Wood has been recap
tured in Ellis county and will be ia
ken back to Brownwood to answer
to serious charge which has been
pending against him there since the
spring of 1901.
Wood is now in the county jail
waiting for the arrival of the Brown
county sheriff to come for him. His
capture was effected Tuesday after
noon at wood camp on Chambers
creek, four miles from Avalon, by
Sheriff Forbes and Constable Mccall
that Wood would probably give them
trouble, but he was taken completely
by surprise and had no chance to
make any resistance. He was
brought here late Tuesday afternoon
and placed in jail. The sheriff of
Brown county was notified Wednes-
day morning of Woods arrest. He is
expected here in a few days to take
charge of the prisoner.
Wood was arrested in Brown
county in the spring of 1901 on a
! grand jury Indictment charging him
with crfminally assaulting his own
tdaaghter, young woman who had
been married only a short time. He
was placed in the Jail at Brown
wood and few weeks later made
| his escape with Bill Taylor, a noted
| West Texas criminal.
The two men gained their lib
erty by cutting the Jail bars with
saws which they had made of small
pieces of steel.
After his capture by Sheriff For
bes and Constable McCalpin Wood
admitted that he was the man want
ed. On the way to Waxahachie he
told the officers the story of his &C.
cape from Jail and of his wander
| ings after gaining his liberty. He
said he returned to his home sever
al miles from Brownwood and re-
| mained there twenty-one days, hid
i ing in the brush during the day time
and going to the house at night He
then went into Coryell county, where
! ho noI ho fol n
then proceeded to Bell county where
he found employment in the cotton
fields. He was joined in Bell county
by his family. The officers of the
county had been furnished with a
description of Wood and he was
/ son located there and an attempt
made to arrest him. Blood hounds
| were put on his trail but he succeed
| ed in outwitting them and got out
of the county. After spending year
or two wandering around over south
Texas Wood brought his family to
Ellis county, and has been residing
on farm near Bardwell the past
five years. This summer he and his
sons took contract to cut and haul
wood to the gins at Avalon. They
established camp on Chambers
creek and were engaged In this
work when the officers appeared on
the scene. The whereabouts OF Wood
was disclosed by letter he wrote
to his son-in-law in Brown county.
The letter was turned over to the
sheriff and he Immediately began
corresponding with Sheriff Forbes.
After the Brown county sheriff had
become satisfied that Wood was the
man wanted he wired Sheriff Forbes
Monday to make the arrest. It was
upon this instruction that Sheriff
Forbes acted.
Wood refused to give the officers
his exact age, but said he was more
than sixty years old.