Waller county Killings.

The residents of Waller county and Hempstead abhored the title of "Six-Shooter Junction" the town had been given. The number of murders might seem small, but the population was small and the percentage of people killed was very high.

Austin county was split by the Brazos river and residents of the east side wanted to have their own government, so Waller county was formed in April, 1873 from that part of Austin county and part of Grimes county. The murder list below begins before Waller county was formed, but the events occurred in the area which would become Waller, and they are part of the pattern of feuds and unrest in Waller.

Waller county was sparsely populated, with many of the rural homes distant from one another. The county-wide population on the 1880 census, was 9,024 people, of whom 5,830 were blacks. Scattered over its 514 square miles were 596 farms encompassing 103,369 acres. Hempstead was the largest town, with a population of 1,612. It was the county seat, and the terminus of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, making it also the economic center of the county.

There were 10 people murdered in 1868; 12 in 1878; 6 in 1879; 1 in 1880; 2 in 1881; 1 in 1882, 1883 and 1886; 6 in 1888; 2 in 1895 and 2 in 1905. Considering its limited population, these are very high murder rates. Crime statistics are reported as number of events per 100,000 people. Assuming the county had 10,000 people, the murder rate in 1878, for example, was 120 per 100,000. If one considers only the population of Hempstead at 1,200, the murder rate would be 1,000 per 100,000, an astronomically high murder rate. (Current day Baltimore, has a homocide rate of 57 / 100,000, one of the highest in the nation.)

  1. 1868-04-03 Wm. Sapp kills Mr. Saunders / Sanders at Reed's Prairie.
  2. 1868-04-04 Wm. Loggins killed at Reed's Prairie.
  3. 1868-04-04 Mr. Stewart killed at Reed's Prairie.
  4. 1868-04-04 Mr. Bell killed at Reed's Prairie.
  5. 1868-04-11 - One of three killed in retaliation of killing of Sanders.
  6. 1868-04-11 - Second of three killed in retaliation of killing of Sanders.
  7. 1868-04-11 - Third of three killed in retaliation of killing of Sanders.
  8. 1868-05-02 - Burwell B. "B.B." Lee killed by Jos. Farr.
  9. 1868-05-31 - Dewitt C. Fort killed by Springfield.
  10. 1868-12-25 - Alfred Kirby killed by Elijah Bell.
  11. 1878-01-__ - Tom Bell murdered.
  12. 1878-03-26 - unknown man murdered and thrown in pond.
  13. 1878-09-13 - Caroline "Carrie" Lynch, 17 killed.
  14. 1878-09-13 - Loraine Lynch, 13, killed.
  15. 1878-09-13 - Lodie Lynch, 12, killed.
  16. 1878-09-13 - Abigail Lynch killed.
  17. 1878-09-13 - Jerome Lynch, 11, killed.
  18. 1878-09-13 - China Lynch killed.
  19. 1878-09-13 - Phoebe Lynch killed.
  20. 1878-09-13 - Hayes Lynch, 0, killed.
  21. 1878-09-27 - Robert W. Finklea murdered by Robert Crawford and E. W. Young.
  22. 1878-12-03 - Ed Greer killed by nephew Johnnie Greer at Pattison.
  23. 1878-12-03 - Lewis Cooper killed by Johnnie Greer at Pattison.
  24. 1879-05-04 - John Steele killed by Col. Jared Kirby.
  25. 1879-06-01 - Thomas Loggins killed by Daniel Morris.
  26. 1879-07-09 - Reuben Morris killed by Reuben Loggins.
  27. 1879-08-__ - David Greer killed by Frank Wade.
  28. 1879-08-03 - Richard Booth, ex-county attorney and judge killed by deputy Richard T. Springfield at Hempstead.
  29. 1879-10-13 - Musco Boulware (Eeuben's brother) killed by Frank Hargraves at Field's store.
  30. 1880-11-06 - Town marshall John H. Adams killed by Peter Moore resisting arrest at Hempstead.
  31. 1881-01-01 - Thomas Ray killed by George Laurence / Lawrence at Field's store.
  32. 1881-09-17 - Hiram McGar killed by Willis Johnson at Hempstead.
  33. 1882-11-18 - Tom Taylor killed by George Lawrence at Hempstead.
  34. 1883-02-24 - A.C. Tomey (or Toomey) Killed by Lum Campbell at Hempstead.
  35. 1886-05-05 - Jos. H. Farr killed by brother-in-law and j.p. James W. J. Cloud.
  36. 1888-04-06 - Deputy Richard Chambers killed by Stephen Allchin in self-defense.
  37. 1888-05-04 - Napoleon Bonaparte "Nap" Farr killed by James Carroll.
  38. 1888-05-12 - Stephen W. Allchin ambushed and killed by deputies Jack McDade and Dick Springfield.
  39. 1888-07-09 - James Carroll killed by Joe Driscoll.
  40. 1888-10-13 - Lewis McDade, a black republican politician, murdered before the November election in downtown Hempstead.
  41. 1888-11-26 - Ex-Sheriff Thomas Sewell McDade murdered by Joseph Blassingame, Jr.
  42. 1892-11-08 - Charles Quinn killed in shootout with Joseph Wood, Ruben Boulware and Tom Wallingford.
  43. 1895-08-05 - Harry Kelly murdered by John Pinchback.
  44. 1905-03-24 - John M. Pinckney shot and killed at prohibition protest in front of Hempstead courthouse.
  45. 1905-03-24 - Tom Pinckney shot and killed at prohibition protest in front of Hempstead courthouse.

Newspaper articles may be read at Timeline of News Reports.