Coleman Chronicle & DV (Coleman, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Page: 9 of 20
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CHOICES - GOOD or BAD
END OF RAY STOCKARDS STORY
Building
SANTA ANNA ISD
BREAKFAST: BREAKFAST PIZZA
APPLES,
CALENDAR OF
EVENTS
Pep Rally at 2:45 in Perry Gym
FRUIT,
Lometa
SCHOOL
BREAKFAST AND
LUNCH MENUS
OCTOBER 15
THURSDAY
The Savta Avva Xahoxal Bask
of SANTA ANNA, TEXAS
EQUAL HOUSING
LENDER
IB
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 • Coleman Chronicle & DV • Page 9
II
dolman,
Pre-K Field Trip - Fall Produce at
Cullen's Market in Early
Junior Varsity Mountaineer Football vs.
Ranger at Mountaineer Stadium at 7:00
Ray Stockard Account: (After, some 47 years after the fact,
this is Ray's account, unknown how much of this came out at
his trial, if any.)
“ Dave Rutherford was well known and liked here in Santa
Anna and had a reputation of being a fair man, but not putting
up with a lot of guff from anyone. He came here about 1920,
I recall and bought a little place outside of town and built a
house there.
The whole thing came to a head one night in February of 1924.
Dave had come to town to deliver some whisky, which he put,
under a sort of dock in the alley behind the store. I owned a
restaurant at the end of the alley where it all took place and I
went outside when I heard someone arguing out there.
Dave had come to town in his wagon and had tied up in the
alley. Joe and the local constable, a fellow named Conneley,
were talking to Dave who was standing in his wagon in front of
the seat. Joe told Dave he was under arrest for bootlegging and
Dave asked if he had a warrant. Joe said, “I don't need a war-
rant to take the likes of you to jail. Dave said, “you are going
to need one real bad before you get me there.
The Constable, Conneley, was standing in front of the wagon
holding the horses so Dave couldn't go anywhere. Joe reached
for his gun and Dave opened his coat and pulled his and the
shooting started. I didn't see who fired first but Dave shot two
shots that hit the sheriff in the stomach. Conneley tool off run-
ning down the alley and Dave gave him one in each hip pocket
to hurry him along.
Joe come down the alley and asked if he could use the phone
to get a doctor and call his wife. He said he didn't think he
would survive and he didn't. Joe had a big potbelly and Dave
put two bullets in it. When the doctor got there they took Joe
and Conneley into the store to treat them. The doctor told Joe
he was in bad shape and was not going to live. Conneley wasn't
hurt much but I never heard a person take on so in all my life.
You'd of thought it was him was killed. During all this time no
one paid any attention to Dave who was still laying outside by
the wagon. Finally some one decided togo see if he was alive.
Turned out he was. He had been shot through the jaws just in
front of his ears but he was conscious. The doctor pulled a silk
handkerchief completely through the wounds and said that was
all could do there and that Dave might just make it to the hos-
pital but probably would not live.
They got Dave to the Hospital and he did live and recovered
completely. The doctors at the hospital told Dave he was not
going to make it. Dave couldn't talk so he reached up and
pulled a pen from the doctor's pocket and wrote on the sheet not
worry about him because he would be all right.
Comments by Steven Rutherford. “Constable Conneley also
recovered and lived to testify at the trial. The trial was held in
another county because of the publicity surrounding the killing
of Sheriff Joe Griffith. Dave was found guilty of murder and
sentenced to twenty years in prison. He was killed in prison in
1929 by a cook, who had stolen a butcher knife from the
kitchen. More on this in Paralee's Account”.
“Paralee was a very private and it was vary hard for her to talk
about David but she bravely tried to give me all the detail she
could. She broke down in tears several times. Out of respect
for her I have waited to record her account until after her death.
After Dave was killed she moved to Tucson A. and worked as
a cook at the county jail until her retirement. She never remar-
ried and lived alone all the rest of her life”. (On the 1940
Census Pima, AZ. She living with her brother Henry Close.
She was back in Santa Anna by 1971).
“PARALEE'S ACCOUNT: David was a very respected man
around Santa Anna and didn't have a lot of trouble with anyone.
He didn't put up with a lot from people be he was not the kind
to start trouble unless they started it first. He was an aviator in
the war (WW I) and was pretty good hand at whatever he tried.
(I don't believe him to be Aviator during this time. He was
around age 35, draft card shows school to 7th grade) and
according to some WW I records only those with a collage
degree were accepted to train as pilots. He may have been in a
support group).
“Steven Rutherford noted: I am going to put down here some
things I got from Paralee in a later conversation. When I asked
her why Dave got stabbed, she told me that it was a revenge
killing instigated by the Masons because, “Uncle Joe Griffith”
was a Mason. This was Paralee's personal opinion and I have
not been able to prove or disprove it”.
Exactly how Dave escaped from the jail in Brownwood is still
a mystery. Legend has it that he got a gun which was hidden in
the false bottom of a suitcase that he received at the jail. I
asked Paralee about this and she would only say “Well he got
out”. (Newspaper articles state he sawed his way out of cell
and use sheets and blankets to scale down the outside in the
night.
“In February of 1924, Dave went to town to do some business
and the marshall tried to arrest him. There was a fight and the
Marshall got killed. The Constable was also hurt but he recov-
ered. Dave was shot and went to the hospital. He recovered
and was taken to Brady to be tried for shooting the Marshall”.
At some point he was moved to the State Sanitarium in
Angleton, Texas where on the 28 of August 1928 he got into a
knife fight with another convict named J. E. Edwards at the
kitchen on the Ramsey State Farm where they worked. He
"recovered" from his wounds to the point of dying one month
later on 25/26 September 1928. None of this was initially
known. It seems the prison wanted to cover up their lack of
medical care because in their books cause of death was listed as
'heart block' and when they sent his body back home to Santa
Anna slashed all over with stab wounds and gashes they includ-
ed a death certificate with a cause of death listed as 'heart fail-
ure'.
This complete story, with all newspaper clippings, and family
photo with Paralee can be found on internet a long with this
Rutherford's Family Tree. Also at Fag# 46705353.
He had some trouble with the City Marshall (Stockard said
Sheriff but he was mistaken) and the Marshall vowed to kill
Dave if he ever got a chance.
mi
in
610 Wallis Ave. Santa Anna, Tx 76878
325-348-3108
Junior Varsity Mountaineer Football vs.
Panther Creek at Mountaineer Stadium at
7:00
I
II
Member
FDIC
LUNCH: LASAGNA w/MEAT SAUCE,
ROLL, GARDEN SALAD, FRESH
VEGGIE CUP, FRESH FRUIT, CHOICE
OF MILK
Steven D. Rutherford being the keeper of the family tree, with
family stories and Civil War events. In one of the articles, he
was curious about events leading to death of David W.
Rutherford. In July 1971, he journeyed to Santa Anna to
inquiry about these events and was directed to a person Ray
Stockard, who agreed to tell the story of the events (having
been there). Steven was amazed at the eye for details by this
man well into his '80's. (Upon checking Census records, unable
to find Ray Stockard, but a Leroy Stockard Jr. matches the
timeline above, in one census he is call “Ray”).
LUNCH: HAMBURGER, HAMBURG-
ER GARNISH, SLICED CHEESE,
OVEN FRIES, WESTERN BEANS,
DICED PEARS,
CHOICE OF MILK
by Carl Langford
David W. Rutherford, son of Thomas Franklin Rutherford &
Martha A. Close, bom Apr 1880 Tx. In 1900 Cenus, David W.
(20) married to Rachel Paralee Close (19), bom May 1881.
They had an infant son William Frank who died in 1900. In
1910 Census, living in Pct 7, Coleman Co., Tx. David (30),
Paralee (29). In 1920 Census, David (39), Paralee (38) with
his mother in household Martha A. The census shows them
living in the Buffalo school District. Earlier he had received
his 1917 WW I draft notice for Coleman County. It appears he
served in US Army in WW I per wife, and had a old German
Luger.
In 1924, David W. was convicted of killing, Marshall Joe
Griffith of Santa Anna, Tx. There have been several newspa-
per articles about the killing and the death of David W.
Rutherford. While researching his father Civil War Vet. ,
Thomas Franklin Rutherford going by “Franklin”. Upon find-
ing a Rutherford Family Tree, showing Franklin's son to be to
be David W.
LUNCH: BEEF AND BEAN BURRI-
TO, SEASONED CORN, FRESH VEG-
GIE CUP, SALSA, MANDARIN
ORANGE, CHOICE OF MILK
It was his bootlegging that got him in trouble and it happened
this way: The local sheriff was a man name of Joe Griffin
(Griffith) I don't recollect which. Ever one called him “Uncle
Joe”. This sheriff used to try and get a portion of all the boot-
legging and other illegal activities in the town. He and Dave
didn't see eye to eye on somethings and had trouble in the past.
Once Joe tried to bully Dave into paying him a part of his boot-
legging money and they got in a fist fight over it. Dave
knocked Joe out cold and went home. When Joe came to, he
vowed to kill Dave the first time he got a chance. Folks here
figured if Joe had just asked nicely Dave would have given him
some money. Dave was like that. He just didn't like to be bul-
lied and wouldn't put up with it.
OCTOBER 19 MONDAY
School Board Meeting at 5:30 in Library
“The trial was later moved to Brownwood, after the trial at
Brady was declared a mistrial. While awaiting trial at
Brownwood Dave escaped and was free for about a year before
being recaptured. They finally got him while he was asleep.
He had been working on a pipeline gang somewhere in Texas.
Dave was tried and found guilty and sentenced to 99 years.
(This is also different from Stockard's account and is probably
more accurate). David was in prison until 1929 when he was
killed by cook who had stolen an ice pick form the kitchen”.
End Of Paralee's Account
OCTOBER 22 THURSDAY
Junior High Mountaineer Football vs.
* Lometa at Mountaineer Stadium at 6:00
OCTOBER 16 FRIDAY
MOUNTAINEER FOOTBALL OPEN
(no game)
MOUNTAINEER Football at *
at 7:30
OCTOBER 16 FRIDAY
BREAKFAST: BREAKFAST POCKET
Dave had an old German Luger (probably a war trophy from
WW I). He turned back partly toward Joe just as Joe fired and
Dave fell off the wagon. The whole thing took maybe a
minute.
OCTOBER 17 SATURDAY
MIGHTY MOUNTAINEER MARCH-
ING MACHINE to Early for marching
contest TBA
OCTOBER 24 SATURDAY
Powder Puff Football Game at 10:00 a.m.
OCTOBER 22 THURSDAY
BREAKFAST: SCRAMBLED EGGS,
TEXAS TOAST, SAUSAGE
LUNCH: BBQ RIB on WGR, STEAK
BUN, MULTI-GRAIN CHIPS,
COLESLAW, PETITE TOMATO CUP,
II
nJ - 1 ’
I
.'X
i
Is
OCTOBER 23 FRIDAY
THREE WEEK REPORTS
LUNCH: CHICKEN PARMESAN,
SAVORY GREEN BEANS, GARDEN
SALAD, FRESH APPLE SLICES,
BREADSTICKS, CHOICE OF MILK
OCTOBER 20 TUESDAY
BREAKFAST: BREAKFAST CLUB
OCTOBER 21 WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST: SAUSAGE ROLL &
CHEESE STICKS
OCTOBER 15 THURSDAY
Junior High Mountaineer Football vs.
Water Valley at Mountaineer Stadium at
6:00
OCTOBER 23 FRIDAY
BREAKFAST: CINNAMON ROLL &
BACON
* denotes district games
HOT CINNAMON
CHOICE OF MILK
OCTOBER 19 MONDAY
BREAKFAST: BREAKFAST PIZZA
LUNCH: PESTO CHICKEN, FLAT-
BREAD, BABY CARROTS W/RANCH,
STEAMED BROCCOLI, CHILLED
PINEAPPLE, SUGAR
COOKIE, CHOICE OF MILK
LUNCH: PIZZA, BABY CARROTS
WITH RANCH, CRUNCHY BROC-
COLI, SALAD, FRESH
CHOICE OF MILK
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Smiley, John. Coleman Chronicle & DV (Coleman, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 21, 2015, newspaper, October 21, 2015; Coleman, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1187296/m1/9/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Coleman Public Library.