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 others 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, served as county tax-assessor for many years 6 7 and his son Andrew "A.J." Cloud served briefly as coroner. 8

Prior to Hempstead's organization in 1856, 9 10 the sparsely populated area of farms and ranches had only 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.  In 1870, when he was 21, his father killed his mother and then himself in a terrible murder-suicide,11 so Steve went to Texas, bought a farm and started a dray business in Hempstead, Texas which became quite successful. 12 A congenial but tough man, he had numerous friends and business associates in Hempstead.

Tom McDade, one of the early residents of Hempstead was troubled by the rampant crime, so he ran for sheriff and was elected 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 had appealed to the majority black voters for his election and that aroused resentment in some 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

Hempstead was a small railroad town of about 1,500 people, but a bustling commercial hub for the area.  In the years following the War, it seemed most everyone carried a gun, even young boys, 15 the six-shooter being the most popular, 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 Winchester carbine was the first to use a center-fire cartridge16 (cartridges prior to that were rim-fire) 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). 17

T. S. McDade had been sheriff 12 years when someone published an anonymous article in the Hempstead Advance Guard criticizing the sheriff and his deputies.  The article angered Sheriff McDade and especially his son-in-law, Deputy Richard Chambers.  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, so, on Thursday afternoon, April 5th, 1888 Chambers confronted him on the main street of Hempstead, demanding to know if he was responsible for the article. 18 Steve said no, but he would be happy to take credit for it, whereupon Chambers drew his revolver and shot Allchin, striking him in the thigh.  Steve fell and, pointing the Winchester he always carried, he fired, killing deputy Chambers instantly. 19 Dick Chambers was 2420 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. 21

This unmistakable act of self-defense was the ignition point for 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.

After Chambers' death. Sheriff McDade appointed Richard T. "Dick" Springfield as a deputy.  Twenty years before, in 1868, Springfield's father or uncle shot and killed Dewitt C. Fort, a well-known Confederate veteran and member of the Texas House of Representatives at the time. 22 Fort was 37 years old and left a wife and children. 23

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.  Saturday morning, May 19, 1888, Stephen Allchin was sitting astride his horse on the main street outside Fritz Zeisner's saloon with his trusty Winchester across his saddle horn while talking to some people on the platform in front of the saloon.  Deputies Springfield and Jack McDade later alleged, in their defense, that they were seeking a stranger for whom they had an arrest warrant, and they happened upon Allchin by accident. 24 But they approached him from behind and, while he was unaware of their presence, they shot him in the back with buckshot from their shotguns.  Steve's horse reared in panic and he fell from the saddle onto the street mortally wounded.  Witnesses say he tried to rise to defend himself when Springfield and McDade walked up to him and emptied their six-shooters into his face and head. 25 When the gunsmoke cleared, Steve Allchin lay dead in the street.  It was a truly horrible, brutal and cold-blooded murder.  Steve was 38 years old 26 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.

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 Guard to help maintain order and prevent a lynching. 27 28 29 Texas Rangers and state military forces arrived in Hempstead to keep the peace and to ensure that the prisoners McDade and Springfield were not harmed and did not escape. 30

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. 31 32 Justice R. M. Thornton ruled the prisoners be held without bail and taken to a jail in Washington county for safekeeping. 33 They were denied bail again two weeks later by Judge McFarland34 and again in June by the Texas Court of Appeals. 35  On that day, they were moved to the jail in Austin, Travis county to prevent their escape or harm from 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" 36

This wasn't the end of the feud.

The town of Hempstead had been known as "Six-Shooter Junction" almost from its founding. 37 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. 38 They were unhappy with law enforcement, or the lack of it, at all levels.

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 office39 and later flyers were handed out and posted around town. 40 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 this person? What did the circulars say? Nothing has been found, only reports about them.  Junius remains anonymous to this day.

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 and allegedly 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 couldn't continue due to his nephew and deputy being on trial for the murder of Steve Allchin and, a month before the election, he withdrew his name from the ballot and resigned as sheriff. 41

The terrible violence and political unrest surrounding the Allchin-McDade feud42 saw yet another victim.  A respected black Republican 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. 43 In 1880 he was living with his parents next door to J.W.J. Cloud.  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.  Deputy sheriff Thornton 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. 44 45 46

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. 47 His oldest son, Alex, lost his battle with consumption three months later. 48

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. 49 However, Justice of the Peace Robinson felt the strong circumstantial evidence compelled him to hold Blasingame over for further investigation and he was jailed. 50 The district attorney stated: "There never was stronger circumstantial evidence of the guilt of any individual that has been developed up to date."51

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. 52 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. 53

In February, 1889, Jack McDade was given 8 years in the penitentiary for his role in killing Steve Allchin. 54 It was thought that Dick Springfield would be sentenced to hang,55 but the light sentence given Jack McDade influenced the verdict against Dick Springfield and he was only given 25 years in the penitentiary. 56

Jack McDade appealed his conviction and the transcripts from the trial are very thorough and revealing and recommended reading. 57 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.  It's not hard to get a jury of 12 to have at least one person have some doubt about circumstantial evidence, so it was easy for the defense to argue 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. 58 He was a free man and he lived another 38 years, having two children and being buried in the Hempstead City Cemetery. 59

Jack McDade was 28 years old when he killed Steve Allchin and was a married man with two daughters.  He died 14 years later in Buckhorn and is buried in the Hempstead Cemetery. 60 He was pardoned Dec. 22, 1894. 61 Richard Springfield received a full pardon July 17, 1897 from Governor Culberson. 62 He was 30 years old when he killed Steve Allchin.

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 their victims lay in their graves.

Past & Current Maps of Hempstead.

These two maps illustrate the same area 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. 1-3:63

See also McDade vs. State of Texas64 65, 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.