The Allchin-McDade Feud

"We got him, uncle Tom," Jack crowed.[1]  Sheriff Thomas Sewell McDade's nephew Jack McDade and another of his deputies had just killed Stephen Allchin in cold blood in broad daylight on the main street of the town and so began the bloodiest feud the little town of Hempstead, Texas has ever seen.[2] [3]

The family of Alexander McDade came to Austin's Colony around 1836-1837.[4]   He and his son James Wilkins McDade obtained first-class land grants for arriving before March 2, 1836 and other family members came later.[5]  They came from Mount Meigs, Alabama with their friends, the family of Jeremiah Cloud.  Jeremiah settled on the west bank of the Brazos river and the McDades settled on the east side.  James Wilkins McDade was one of the founders of Hempstead and it was his younger brother who was sheriff.  Jeremiah Cloud's son, Henry George Washington "H.G.W." Cloud came later and settled near the McDades on the east side of the Brazos.  He served as county tax-assessor for many years, [6] [7] his son Andrew "A.J." Cloud served briefly as coroner [8] and another son, James J. W. Cloud, also served in the county government, being a justice of the peace.

Prior to Hempstead's organization in 1856, [9] [10] the sparsely populated area of farms and ranches had one small village named Rock Island.  There was a great need for a better method of transporting the cotton and other products to and from the area, so a railroad was planned.  James Wilkins McDade and a partner co-founded the town in anticipation of the arrival of the railroad.  The sudden increase in population brought with it the title "Six Shooter Junction" due to the many shootings committed there. The violence was probably influenced by the people that came with the railroad, but tensions in the town increased greatly following the Civil War from a small number of people who took perceived slights very seriously.

Among the many new arrivals to Hempstead was Stephen W. Allchin.  His father, Henry P. Allchin (1809-1870) first married Rebecca and they had at least 6 children.  He 2nd married Eliza (Buckelew) Nims, the widow of Rufus Lyman Nims (1815-1865), on Feb. 7, 1869, in Florida.  Steve was 20 when they married.

In the spring of 1870, when Steve was 21, his father stabbed his step-mother to death and then cut his own throat in a terrible murder-suicide at the home of his wife's previous in-laws (incorrectly reported the "Mimms" place) in Escambia county, Florida.[11]  Steve left Florida for Texas after his parents' deaths, bought a farm there and started a dray business in Hempstead, Texas which became quite successful.[12]  A congenial but tough man, he made numerous friends and business associates in Hempstead.

Thomas Sewell "T.S." McDade, one of the early residents of Hempstead was troubled by the rampant crime, so he ran for sheriff and was elected Waller county's second sheriff in 1876.[13]  He was an old Confederate captain, and was well-liked and respected in the county.  He won re-election 12 years in a row, but he had his detractors.  He appealed to the majority black voters for his election and that aroused resentment in many of the citizens of Waller county.  Some of his detractors began to circulate complaints about his deputies, and alleged that he showed partiality in enforcing the law, that he selectively failed to arrest or jail some offenders, and that he sometimes manipulated the grand jury to protect his friends and let them avoid prosecution.[14]

There were numerous secret societies in Waller county, most of them aligned against the Unionists and the effects of Reconstruction and particularly against the participation of the freed slaves in the political process.  The Galveston Evening Tribune reported on "The Pinckney Faction": "the opposing faction, composed of the Pinckney's and a few other worthless people, were determined that such odium should be cast upon his administration that he could be defeated at the next election.  The opposing faction had killed five negroes, three of them in one day." [15]  They sought to discredit sheriff McDade, who had been elected to office by appealing to the black vote.  It's not known if this group was associated with one of the Ku Klux Klan groups that had come to Texas after the War, but their actions were the same.) [16] [17] [18]

Hempstead was a small railroad town of about 1,500 people, but it was a new town that had experienced explosive growth and had become a bustling commercial hub for the area.  In the years following the War, it seemed most everyone carried a gun, even young boys,[19] the six-shooter being the most popular[20], but the double-barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot was another favorite.  Sheriff McDade was known to go unarmed even while enforcing the law, whereas his deputies carried shotguns and revolvers and Stephen Allchin always carried a .44-40 Winchester lever-action carbine.  His 1873 model Winchester carbine was the first to use a center-fire cartridge[21] and firearms of that period used black powder, which generated copious amounts of noxious black smoke.  The reader is referred to The Galveston Daily News, Saturday, October 25, 1879, page 2, columns 2-3, "Waller County — Feuds & Criminalities" to read of the troubles in Waller county (transcription).[22]

T. S. McDade had been sheriff 12 years when someone published an anonymous article in the Hempstead Advance Guard [23] [24] criticizing the sheriff and his deputies.  (The Advance Guard was owned by Capt. Edward Plummer "E.P." Alsbury, C.S.A. and he was outspoken in expounding his beliefs.  Was he the anonymous "Junius"?)

The article angered Sheriff McDade and his deputies.  Apparently his son-in-law, Deputy Richard Chambers decided to do something about it.  It's not known exactly what transpired, but it appears Allchin had previously expressed disapproval of the way the sheriff's office performed its duties.

On Thursday afternoon, April 5th, 1888, Dick Chambers confronted Steve Allchin on the main street of Hempstead, demanding to know if he was responsible for the article.[25]  Steve said he did not write it, but he would be happy to take credit for it.  Incensed, Chambers drew his revolver and shot Allchin, striking him in the thigh.  Steve fell to the ground, pointed the Winchester he always carried, and fired, killing deputy Chambers instantly.[26]  Dick Chambers was 24[27] and married to sheriff McDade's daughter Margaret.  They had an infant child and his older brother Willis was married to Margaret's first cousin Annie McDade, the daughter of James Wilkins McDade and Tom McDade's niece.  Stephen Allchin was arrested after the shooting, though he wasn't jailed because he was being treated for a serious gunshot wound.  He was charged with murder and posted bail.[28]

This unmistakable act of self-defense was the spark that ignited the terrible feud which was to follow.

For the days following the killing of deputy Richard Chambers, the town was on edge with animated discussions about the killing and about what might happen next.  Some prominent citizens tried to intervene and obtained promises from both parties to let the legal system take its course and all seemed quiet for awhile.  The friends and family of Sheriff McDade were burning for revenge on one side while Stephen Allchin's friends went on the defensive, Stephen believing the McDade clan wanted him dead.  He even had some of his employees act as guards at his home.

Richard T. "Dick" Springfield had been a deputy for McDade for some time.  Twenty years before, in 1868, Springfield's father or uncle had shot and killed Dewitt C. Fort, a well-known Confederate veteran and member of the Texas House of Representatives at the time.[29]  Fort was 37 years old and left a wife and children.[30]  Dick Springfield had himself killed a man – District Attorney Booth – in a drunken dispute some nine years previous,[31] [32] and it is curious that McDade had him as a deputy.

Almost two months went by after the killing of Dick Chambers.  Hempstead was not a place where a slight was easily ignored, and several other killings took place during that time.  Stephen Allchin had recovered from his wound and, Saturday morning, May 19, 1888, he was sitting astride his horse on the main street outside Fritz Zeisner's beer saloon and grocery store with his trusty lever-action Winchester across his saddle horn while talking to some people on the platform in front of the saloon.  Several people were going in and out of the saloon and Gus Miller, George Burton and Bill Cameron had just shaken hands with Steve and were talking to him.

Deputies Dick Springfield and Jack McDade later alleged, in their defense, that they were seeking an unidentified stranger for whom they had an arrest warrant, and they happened upon Allchin by accident.[33]  But witnesses overheard Springfield say something on the order of "There he is, the damned murdering son-of-a-bitch! I will show him how to murder men on the streets!"  They approached Steve Allchin from behind while he was unaware of their presence.  They were each carrying breech loading double-barreled shotguns loaded with buckshot.  They emptied both barrels, four shots in all, into the back of Steve Allchin.  Steve's horse reared in panic and he fell from the saddle onto the street mortally wounded.  Some witnesses say he tried to rise to defend himself, but McDade and Springfield calmly reloaded their shotguns and walked up to him and emptied their six-shooters into his face and head.[34]

When the gunsmoke cleared, Steve Allchin lay dead in the street.  It was a truly horrible, brutal and cold-blooded murder.  Dr. L. W. Groce later said there were 27 bullet wounds in Steve's body, several of which were mortal in nature and that his face was horribly mutilated and almost entirely shot away.  Steve was 38 years old [35] and married to the widow Amanda Duck.  He had no children of his own, but her 20-year old daughter, Savanah Duck, lived with them.  She was, at the time, romantically involved with one Joseph Blasingame, Jr., son of Joe Blasingame Sr. who was himself a respected citizen of Hempstead and who had held numerous political offices and had previously been sheriff of Austin county before Waller county was split off of it.

After the killing, Jack McDade and Dick Springfield nonchalantly walked to the sidewalk where Jack was reported to have pointed to some people standing in front of Pointer's store and said: "all those sons of bitches ought to be killed" and Springfield challenged anyone having a problem with them to step out into the street.[36]

They were then joined by several people, including Tommy and Eck McDade and sheriff McDade, along with Phil Duer and they walked over to Wheeler's saloon for a drink.

After the killing of Allchin, the hall above Fritz Zeisner's beer saloon and grocery store was let out to a political club of the Democratic or People's party, in opposition to the Republican party.

The citizens of Hempstead were justifiably outraged.  This was another of the many killings they had endured and they were determined to stop the lawlessness.  This killing was particularly outrageous because two deputy sheriffs, sworn to uphold the law, had ambushed and brutally murdered Stephen W. Allchin, a well-known and respected Hempstead businessman, in broad daylight on the main street in town.  Sheriff McDade telegraphed Governor Ross to send troops or the Johnston Guards to help maintain order and prevent a lynching.[37] [38] [39]  Texas Rangers and state military forces arrived in Hempstead [40] to keep the peace and to ensure that the prisoners McDade and Springfield were not harmed and did not escape.[41]

Ten days after the arrest of McDade and Springfield for the murder of Steve Allchin, the preliminary examination of the defendants was begun.  Rangers guarded the courthouse in Hempstead, including all entrances and the stairway, and searched all visitors for weapons.[42] [43]  Justice R. M. Thornton ruled the prisoners be held without bail and taken to a jail in Washington county for safekeeping.[44]  They were denied bail again two weeks later by Judge McFarland[45] and again in June by the Texas Court of Appeals, and it was speculated they would be hung unless they could get a negro jury.[46]  On that day, they were moved to the jail in Austin, Travis county to prevent their escape or being lynched by Allchin's friends.  The charges and details of the evidence against the defendants were outlined in The Galveston Daily News of June 30, 1888, titled "The Hempstead Homocide".[47]

This wasn't the end of the feud.

The town of Hempstead had been known as "Six-Shooter Junction" almost from its founding.[48]  The influx of newcomers arriving with the coming of the railroad and it being a center of commerce contributed to the violence, but it was a small, close-knit community and the citizens wanted to have that epithet no longer refer to their community.[49]  They were unhappy with law enforcement, or the lack of it, at all levels and the failure of juries to convict anyone on the occasion they were ever tried.

In July, almost two months after the murder of Steve Allchin, the anonymous notices detailing the crimes and alleged corruption in Waller county began again, this time signed with the nom de plume "Junius".  First, stamped and addressed envelopes with the notices inside were left at the post office[50] and later flyers were handed out and posted around town.[51]  Many of the citizens were determined to see a stop to the crime in Hempstead and Waller county, and some person or persons had taken to having flyers printed and distributed trying to pressure local and state officials to take action.  Who was Junius?  What did the circulars say?

The citizens of Hempstead had felt apprehension, even fear, before but now it was like a blanket that smothered the city.  It had long been known that you didn't offend certain people, depending on who you were and on what side of the issues you stood, but now the fear was felt even more keenly.  An anonymous person sent the governor a copy of the Junius circular along with a letter.  In the letter he (or she) quoted a Waller county sheriffs deputy as saying, the day after Allchin was killed: "we got the man we were after, and we ain't after anybody else now, and if the rangers are removed we will name the men who can't walk the streets of Hempstead." [52]

In the meantime, Joe Blasingame, Jr. was romantically involved with Savanah "Vannie" Duck, the daughter of Steve Allchin's wife Amanda Carrie Duck.  He was living with them — the story being that he was helping Amanda with maintenance of her residence, which was only a short distance from that of Sheriff Thomas S. McDade, reported to be three-quarters of a mile away.

Sheriff McDade was running for his eighth term as sheriff, but he felt he could no longer continue due to his nephew and deputy being on trial for the murder of Steve Allchin and in September 1888, a month before the election, he withdrew his name from the ballot and resigned as sheriff.[53]  The county commissioners appointed R. M. Thornton, justice of the peace of precinct 2, to complete the remaining months of his unexpired term.[54]

The terrible violence and political unrest surrounding the Allchin-McDade feud[55] saw yet another victim of the racial prejudice which haunted Waller county.  A respected black Republican who had held offices in the county for over 10 years and who was currently running for the position of cotton weigher – Lewis McDade – was shot in the back by an unknown assassin in Hempstead on the night of October 13, 1888, a month before the November election.[56] [57]  (In 1880 he was on the census living with his parents next door to J.W.J. Cloud.)[58]  He was 28 years old.

Five weeks later, ex-sheriff Thomas McDade was at home caring for his son, Alex, who was dying of consumption.  Under cover of darkness, on the night of November 26, 1888, an assassin stealthily rode his horse to the McDade residence, sneaked into the yard and hid near the well.  When McDade stepped out to get a drink of water for his son, the assassin shot him at close range with a shotgun loaded with buckshot and quickly rode away.  Tom McDade fell mortally wounded.  Neighbors, hearing the shot, rushed to his home and discovered his body.  Thornton, now a deputy for Sheriff Faulkner, formed a posse and called for bloodhounds to track the perpetrator of the crime.  The clear tracks of the horse led back to the home of Amanda Carrie Duck-Allchin, less than a mile distant from McDade's home.  Joe Blasingame was living there and it was his horse whose tracks led to the home and his boots matched the imprints left at the scene of the murder and they had fresh mud on them.  His shotgun was examined and one barrel had been fired and the shot from the other barrel matched that taken from the body of McDade.[59] [60] [61]

Thomas Sewell McDade, veteran Confederate captain and past sheriff of Waller county was 59 years old.  He left a wife and six children and they buried him in the Hempstead Cemetery.[62]  His widow moved her family to Brenham, Texas the next month, following Christmas day 1888.  His oldest son, Alex, lost his battle with consumption three months later.[63]

The talk about the killing of ex-sheriff McDade eventually came around to some people doubting the circumstantial evidence against Joe Blasingame, some even circulating the rumor that an unknown stranger who passed through Hempstead was responsible.[64]  However, Justice of the Peace Robinson felt the strong circumstantial evidence compelled him to hold Blasingame over for further investigation and he was jailed.[65]  The district attorney stated: "There never was stronger circumstantial evidence of the guilt of any individual that has been developed up to date."[66]

The trials of Jack McDade and Dick Springfield for the murder of Steve Allchin and that of Joe Blasingame, accused of murdering T. S. McDade, dragged on while the citizens of Hempstead continued to deplore the violence that plagued their little town.[67]  Blasingame's defense was to be that he had an alibi and to shift suspicion to a mysterious, unknown person who had allegedly been seen in Hempstead.[68]

In February, 1889, Jack McDade was given 8 years in the penitentiary for his role in killing Steve Allchin.[69]  It was thought that Dick Springfield would be sentenced to hang,[70] but the light sentence given Jack McDade influenced the verdict against Dick Springfield and he was only given 25 years in the penitentiary.[71]

Jack McDade appealed his conviction and the transcripts from the trial are very thorough and revealing and recommended reading. [72]  The transcript of the trial is online.

While the evidence was strong against Blasingame, there were no witnesses to the crime, unlike the killing of Allchin which had numerous horrified witnesses.  The criminal trial required a unanimous verdict and it's not hard to get a jury of 12 to have at least one person have some doubt about circumstantial evidence.  The defense argued that many horses traveled that road and the tracks could have been made by any of them, that numerous people wore the same size boots and that everyone in town bought the same buckshot as killed T. S. McDade and then there was the story of the "mystery man".  The alibi provided by Carrie and Vannie Duck-Allchin was devastating to the prosecution, and why wouldn't they provide an alibi?  After all, it was Sheriff McDade's son-in-law Chambers who had seriously wounded Carrie's husband S. W. Allchin in an unprovoked shooting and then McDade's nephew Jack McDade and his deputy Dick Springfield who had killed him in a most gruesome, public manner.  Their testimony doomed the prosecution and Joe Blasingame, Jr. was acquitted of the murder of Thomas S. McDade.[73]  He was a free man and he lived another 38 years, having two children and being buried in the Hempstead City Cemetery.[74]

Jack McDade was 23 years old when he killed Steve Allchin and was married with two daughters.  He was pardoned Dec. 22, 1894, [75] when he was 29 and he died 14 years later in Buckhorn and is buried in the Hempstead Cemetery.[76]  Richard T. Springfield received a full pardon July 17, 1897 from Governor Culberson.[77]  He was 30 years old when he killed Steve Allchin, 31 when he went to prison and 39 when he was pardoned and released from prison.  Nothing further has been found about him or where or when he died.

Once again, Lady Justice was not served in Hempstead.  Joe Blasingame, Jack McDade and Dick Springfield all managed to escape punishment for their actions while Stephen Allchin and Thomas S. McDade were dead and in their graves.

Past & Current Maps of Hempstead.

These two maps illustrate the area where Stephen Allchin was murdered – both past and current – and are both oriented with North at the top.  (Apparently, the Main Street of 1888 is now 12th Street.)

Below The Galveston Daily News, Saturday, June 30, 1888, p. 6, col. 1-3:[78]

See also McDade vs. State of Texas[79] [80], 1889 court records:

On Saturday, the 29th of May, 1888, at about 11 o'clock a.m., in the town of Hempstead, Waller county, Stephen Allchin was shot and killed by the relators McDade and Springfield. The homicide occurred on Main street, one of the principal thoroughfares of the town, and was witnessed by a large number of persons, over fifty of whom were examined, and their testimony will be found in the record. Allchin was at the time sitting on his horse, in front of Zeismer's (sic: Zeisner's) saloon, which was one of a row of brick buildings facing east on Main street. The street is 100 feet wide, including a plank sidewalk or raised platform of about eight or nine feet in width. The horse was facing the buildings, his head being close to the sidewalk. Allchin was sitting on the horse with his right leg thrown over the animal's neck, or the pummel of the saddle. He had a winchester rifle resting on his lap between his body and the pummel. The muzzle of the gun was pointing in a southerly direction. The relators come (sic) from a southerly direction and fired on him from the sidewalk in front of Haveman's building.

Zeismer's saloon, in front of which the homicide occurred, is the second in the series of buildings known as the Haveman block. Haveman's is on the southeast corner; next to it, on the north, is Zeismer's and next Pointer's, each being about 25 feet wide, as nearly as can be gathered from the evidence.

Zeismer's saloon, in front of which the homicide occurred, is the second in the series of buildings known as the Haveman block. Haveman's is on the southeast corner; next to it, on the north, is Zeismer's and next Pointer's, each being about 25 feet wide, as nearly as can be gathered from the evidence.

The Haveman block is 250 feet long and 125 feet deep. It is bounded on the north by Austin street and on the south by Bremond street, each of which is 80 feet wide; on the east it is bounded by Main street, which is 100 feet wide, and on the west by a 90 foot alley, [R., p. 53] Allchin was within 40 or 50 feet of the south end of the block. It is in evidence that the relators had come from the rear of Wheeler's saloon, which is in the next block on the north, two or three minutes before the shooting; that they crossed Austin street with shotguns in their hands, and entered the alley in the rear of the Haveman block, through which they passed, south, 250 feet into Bremond street, and thence east to the southeast corner of Haveman's building, on Main street. At this point they turned north, mounting the platform or sidewalk, and walking up it some six or eight feet, or six or eight steps, to the point at which the shooting commenced. Allchin was about thirty or forty feet from them when the first shots were fired. At the first fire the horse, which had been struck in the neck, turned and ran up the street north, or northeast, some twenty or thirty feet, when two other shots were fired by defendants, and Allchin fell to the ground, his gun falling with and under him. After falling he raised himself and turned partly round when the defendants advanced upon him and shot him with their pistols. There were seven or eight shots fired, all of them by the defendants. The first four shots were fired from shot-guns loaded with buck-shot, the others from six-shooters. The first two shots took effect in Allchin's left side; the next two were fired from the rear, and took effect in his back.

It is to be noticed that the defendants did not fire from behind the corner of Haveman's building, as they could and certainly would have done had they gone there for purpose of killing Allchin, but that they turned the corner and walked up the platform, eight or ten feet, being themselves fully exposed and without protection, to within thirty or forty feet of the deceased, before they began to shoot.

Footnotes

Newspaper articles may be read at Timeline of News Reports.