George W. Lynch was born in Grimes county shortly after Texas had won its independence from Mexico.  At that time, Texas was sparsely inhabited and the people were struggling to build homes and communities.  Wild animals roamed the forests and prairies and it was not uncommon for Indians to attack the settlers.  Grimes county, located in east Texas, just to the north of what would become Waller county was where George's parents and siblings lived, but he moved southeast across Waller county to Harris county where he married Selinda (or Cyllanae) Hargrave.  They moved back to Grimes county and by 1870 they had moved again to the southern border of Waller county where he had a farm on the bank of Spring Creek and there he built a home for his family. (Waller county map.)

This period in early Texas history saw the early settlers struggling to survive.  The majority of the people were restrained and respectful, but there were those who had little respect for each other or the law and its enforcement was virtually non-existent in the rural areas.  Violence was not uncommon and even small disagreements could result in fights, stabbings and shootings.  (See "Deaths & Disturbances" in the area.)  Thirty years after George was born saw the division caused by the Civil War and the emotional turmoil that followed, and the area where he lived had earned the name "Six Shooter Junction" because of the shootings there.  The political division of the community often focused on Sheriff Tom McDade and likely played a role in the investigation of the Lynch Family Murders, for McDade was accused of showing partiality and of not properly pursuing and prosecuting criminals, to which topic at least one report of the Lynch murders alluded. [1] [2]  (See "The Allchin-McDade Feud" for insight into the milieu in which the Lynch family lived.)

George is not found on the 1850 census, but John Lynch, apparently a minor – for someone else filed for him – was on the 1850 tax roll in Grimes county, with 125 acres of headright land in the Navasota district.  A 13-year-old John Lynch is recorded in the household of his grandfather Ephraim Fuqua, Grimes county, born in Texas.  If this is George's brother, why is he not also recorded on the tax roll or the census?  George is found on the 1860 census in Lynchburg, Harris county, 20 years old and married to Celena who was 17 years old.

Was John Lynch related to George Lynch?  John was b. ca 1837, he married Mary Herberson July 27, 1858 Grimes cty.  Allegedly his mother died when he was 3 and his father shortly after.  His parents are reported to have been Patrick Lynch (1803 Rapides parish-1847) and Letitia Jane Fuqua ( - 1837) d/o Ephraim Fuqua and Martha Hewitt, with whom he was living on 1850 census.

In 1860, while a resident of Hockley, George Lynch signed a resolution of abolitionism in alignment with what was done in Occoquan, Virginia. [3]  (See the Houston, Texas Weekly Telegraph of August 21, 1860.  For details of the events at Occoquan, Virginia, see the Richmond, Virginia Richmond Times-Dispatch of July 30, 1860. [4])

In the early morning hours of September 13, 1878, at his home at Spring Creek, George Lynch was shot twice in the chest with a .22 caiber ball, his home set ablaze and all eight of his children were killed.

George apparently did not know who killed his children.  If he had known, he surely would have not hesitated to take retribution – for he didn't hesitate to shoot John Binford a few weeks later over an old disagreement.  He swore to find the murderers, but apparently never did.  Perhaps the perpetrator(s) were too well protected and too dangerous for him to name them or to confront them.  Newspapers of the period reported often about the failure of law enforcement – and juries – to pursue or convict people with wealth or influence.  Sheriff Tom McDade and his deputies were primary subjects of such criticism.

Reuben Boulware, or one of his brothers, would appear to be the most obvious suspects. There is no report of any Boulware visiting the scene at any time – why, it was only a couple of hundred yards away from their home?  Four days later, The Waco Daily Examiner reported "His nearest neighbor, Mr. Boulware, lives within 500 yards, but the families were on hostile terms, and no one else lives nearer than a mile". [5]

THE HOCKLEY HORROR.

—

Statement of the Coroner.

—

Giving the Testimony Taken at the Inquest, but Sheds no Light and Furnishes no Clue to the Guilty Party - - A Black Business.

—

Field's Store,
Waller Co.

To the Editor of the Telegram:

Sir — I am called upon by the citizens of this community to answer an article in your paper of date September 15th:

I write by the request of many to refute the idea that suspicion has ever been pointed to any person whomsoever, I will satisfy you that the whole affair is clothed in the deepest mystery.

I have made a statement of this awful tragedy, which will be published in the Hempstead Courier of the 21st and now, at the request of the citizens and for the sake of the young man Mr. Boulware so that a false statement or report may not censure an innocent person, or go forth to the world unanswered, I now give you a short report of the whole transaction and all that could be learned by the jury of inquest.

On the 13th day of September, at about 12 o'clock, I was informed by Mr. James Hargrave, a brother of the deceased wife of Mr. Lynch, that Mr. Lynch's house had been burnt down the night previous, and that all of his children had been burnt up, and he (Lynch) shot or wounded twice.

Mr. Hargrave told me to go down as soon as possible.  I live about five miles from the late residence of G. W. Lynch.  As soon as I could saddle my horse I started for the scene of the dreadful disaster.  Upon arriving there I found that a good many citizens of both this and Harris county had collected at the burnt house of Mr. Lynch.  On going into the yard one's eyes became fixed on what had once been the house and home of G. W. Lynch and his eight motherless children.  I summoned six good citizens, all men of age and experience, to act as a jury of inquest.  We took the evidence of Mr. Lado, who was one of the first persons on the ground, and one of the men who helped to carry Mr. Lynch to Mr. Weaver's.  We will give you his evidence

EVIDENCE OF HARRY LADO.

About 12 o'clock on night of the 12th of September, 1878, I was aroused by the report of a gun.  I thought it at Mr. Lynch's.  I looked out.  I saw a light reflected on the smoke house at Mr. Boulware's, which stands east of the dwelling.  I thought it too bright for moonlight, and saw that Mr. Lynch's house was on fire.  About this time Miss Mattie Boulware called out that "Mr. Lynch's house was on fire," and aroused the household.  I went with James Hargrave (as soon as I could get my clothes on) over to Mr. Lynch's.  The north side of the house fell in about the time we got there.  We found Lynch in the lane, walking up and down in front of the yard gait.  The first thing he said was, "Jim, I am shot twice, and my children are all burnt up."  Jim Hargrave says, "Brother George is that so?"  He (Lynch) says, "I reckon so; I don't know.  Look for and call them."  Jim called, and we looked, but we could find no one.  Lynch did not say who shot him or how he was shot.  He showed us the wounds in his breast and neck.  We then carried him to Weaver's.  This is all I know about it.

(Signed)      H. Lado

Mr. Lynch stated that he had been driving or hunting an ox that was in his field, that his two eldest daughters Miss Carrie Lynch and her younger sister Luranie came out to the lot gate and called out to him that the ox had gone around by the pond, which stands north of the house; then (the daughters) went back into the house.  He unsaddled his horse and also went into the house; that his young infant was asleep and he thought before going to bed he would feed it, and so he laid down across the foot of the bed by the fire-place occupied by his eldest daughter and the baby.  He layed down not to sleep, but to rest until the babe awoke, when he would feed it and then go to bed.  That he had fallen asleep, and was aroused by being shot in the breast, then in the neck.  He saw, after being shot, a dark object, something like a negro.  When last shot he fell back and became unconcious (sic).  The next thing that he remembered was that he went out on the gallery.  As he passed through the gallery door a sheet of flame filled the doorway, and he never could get back any more.  He stated in reply to a question that he had a shot gun and a five shooter pistol.  That after he got in the yard he heard the pistol fire four times.  He said it only had four loads in it, and after he got in the lane he heard the shot gun go off.  This is all he knew.

I (in the presence of the jury) asked him to tell us every thing, that we wished to come to some conclusion as to how all this thing happened.  He said, "I was shot, but I will cast no insinuations as to who did it, because some innocent person might suffer.  If I live I may know some day who did it, if I die it is at an end."  This is all the evidence we could get."  Mr. James Hargrave made the same statement as Mr. Lado.  We gathered the remains as soon as we could, and I positively state that the assertion made, that Miss Carrie Lynch was cloven by a hatchet is false, and there were no grounds for it to have been made.  The house was a log house, ceiled overhead, and to joists six inches wide and boxed outside.  The chimney was on the north side, not brick, but a mud and stick chimney.  A shed room on each side and no L.  A gallery on west side with a small shed room at north end.  According to what Mr. Lynch said in conversation to me, he slept on the bedstead in the southwest corner of the room; his eldest daughter and infant in bed to right of fire place, north side of the room; that two children slept with him; the rest must have been on beds on the floor.  From all that we could see the whole family must have burnt up without a struggle.  We found where the bed stood by the fire place, the remains supposed to be Miss Carrie Lynch, and close to her as it seemed the bones of the baby; where the bedstead stood, in the southwest corner, we found the remains of two side by side; on the east side of the room, where we supposed the bed on the floor was made, we found what we supposed were remains of the other four children.

From my own observations, I would say that not one of those eight children ever moved.  Don't think any one of them ever turned over in bed.  There was not a skull that a person could tell anything about.  What we supposed were skull bones were burnt to ashes and in flakes, and would crumble at a touch.  The heads, arms and lower limbs were burnt up so that no one could tell aught about them.  There was only the upper part of the bodies, the ribs and lungs, and this was burnt to coals.  Have given you all I know about this sad affair.

"THE HOCKLEY HORROR - Statement of the Coroner." The Waco Daily Examiner, (Waco, TX), Sunday, September 22, 1878, p. 3, col. 1-2.

University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History

Boulware – Ruben Boulware was the next-door neighbor who had threatened George Lynch with a gun on several occasions and was a suspect in the murders.  One article indicates the Boulwares lived 250 yards from the Lynch residence.[6]  He is on the 1880 census with his parents at household 316, precinct 2 & 3, Waller county.

Newspapers reported that George was found unconscious lying in the lane in front of his house by "Lado and his brother-in-law, Hargrave".[7]  He was taken to Weaver's house, which was a mile distant.

The 1880 census for Waller county, precincts 2 & 3 was used in an attempt to identify the rescuers since no records have been found to locate people in 1878 near Spring Creek.  George Lynch's neighbor, Musco Boulware, is on page 36, dwelling 316,[8].

Harry Lado is the first person mentioned in the Coroner's Report.  He is William Harrison "Harry" Lado and he is recorded on the 1880 census at dwelling 40, 35 years old.[9]  The second person mentioned is Mattie Boulware.  She was Musco Boulware's daughter and 19 at the time.  The next person mentioned in the Coroner's Report is James "Jim" Hargrave.  He was a brother to George's wife, his brother-in-law, and was born 1857, so he was 21 at the time of the murders.  In 1880 he is living in Leon county, so it's unclear where he was at the time of the murders, but he was close enough to hear the gunshots and see the fire.  James got married in Grimes county June 17, 1880.

George was taken to "Weaver's house", a mile distant.  There are two Weaver households on that 1880 census.  The first is Lewis G. Weaver, 66 years old, at dwelling 77.[10]  The second is Thomas J. Weaver, 25, at dwelling 97.[11]

The families of Musco Boulware, Harry Lado & Jim Hargrave all lived within eyesight and hearing of the Lynch residence.  The Boulwares were at dwelling 316, Lado was at dwelling 40, yet he was able to see the Boulware residence and hear the gunshots and see the fire at the Lynch residence.  Obviously the dwelling numbers do not indicate proximity to other dwellings.  John Pinckney, the justice of the peace who held the inquest, lived, according to his statement, five miles distant.  He is on the 1880 census at dwelling 50.  So Lado (40) is within eyesight of Buulware (316) and five miles distant from Pinckney (50).  Obviously, the dwelling numbers give no clue as to their proximity to one another.

All of the information about this crime comes from newspaper articles, for no court records have been found.  Unfortunately, almost all of them have contradictory and even provably wrong information.  Knowledge of what actually happened is seriously hampered by poor research on the part of the reporters and editors and the fact that most articles were simply copied from other papers – repeating the same story multiple times does not make it true.  Further, numerous editors chose to embellish the story to make it more sensational without any proof, confusing the historical record.

Examples of the (most obvious) errors and misinformation in the newspaper accounts:

• Misreporting where the crime occurred – it did not occur in Hockley, [12] but some seven miles NNE on a farm located on the north bank of Spring Creek just inside rural Waller county, not far from Fields Store.  [13] [14]  Waller county map
• Accounts of a masked intruder, the presence of a hatchet, and other creative reporting led John Pinckney, the Waller County Justice of the Peace who performed the inquest, to write "I never heard of a masked person being seen until I found it in your paper.  Have seen no one who has.  Who could have made such statements to your reporter at Hockley I know not.  Lynch did not have the child in his arms.  There was no hatchet found near Miss Carrie.  There were no fractured skulls found.  How that idea got out I can't imagine, for the skulls were ashes." [15]
• A recurring item was that all the children died where they had gone to sleep.  It defies credulity that the children were not awakened had George been shot inside or even near the house, unless they had already been killed, but surely George would have awakened for this.  The only explanation this researcher can proffer is that George heard a noise outside and exited the house when, some distance from it, he was accosted by one or more assailants and shot twice and that they then torched the house.  The question remains "why didn't any of the children wake up?"  Perhaps the story about none of them moving is also erroneous, for how could one determine that from the burned-out ruins of a house and the cremated remains of the children?
• The report of two children missing from the ashes, [16] that they were chloroformed, the insinuation that authorities were not trying to find the murder or murderers and other embellishments.  For an example of "over-the-top" creativity in reporting, see the Waco Daily Examiner of September 20, 1878. [17]
• The understandable suspicion that George Lynch himself killed his family and faked his attack is belied by differing newspaper accounts. [18] [19]
• The report that George Lynch had powerful allies – who were never named – that prevented him being charged with the crime.
• A report that his sister was the wife of J. Eberly.  Research of both the Eberly and Hargrave families shows no such union.  His wife's sister was married to J. Eberly (last name Everly also used) – perhaps it was his sister-in-law who was married to J. Eberly?
• It was reported that Lynch was unpopular with his neighbors while other reports indicate he was an upstanding citizen and a Master Mason.  [20] [21] [22] The Galveston Daily News reported that he "knew too much about stock thieving" and was "secretary of a band to regulate cattle-thieving" and that may have been the reason for the attack and murders. [23]

Musco Boulware Family:

See: Musco Boulware family research notes.

Musco Boulware III was born circa 1820 in South Carolina.  He was a wealthy cotton plantation owner with 10 slaves on the 1850 slave schedule.  He moved to Alachua county, Florida sometime before 1860, where he is recorded as having 11 slaves on the 1860 slave schedule.  He enlisted in the Confederate 2nd Cavalry in Camp Wall, Aug. 20, 1863, residence: Waldo, Florida.  Sometime before 1870, he moved across the northern boundary of Harris county to southern Waller county on Spring Creek, where he was a close neighbor of George Lynch.

Musco Boulware III was b. June 13, 1820 SC, d. after 1880, Waller county, TX.
+ Serena Lewis 1825

Children:

• M - Thomas L. Boulware 1847-1932
• M - William Boulware 1849-1905; he attacked and beat George Lynch.
• M - James L. Boulware 1850-1923 married Mariah Hargrave (1854-1939), younger sister of George Lynch's wife.
• M - Reuben Boulware 1852- ; he shot at George Lynch and, in 1892, was charged with murder for killing Charles Quinn.
• M - Francis P. "Frank" Boulware 1854-1945
• M - Musco Boulware IV. 1856 - Oct. 1879 - was shot and killed by Frank Hargrave, the younger brother of George Lynch's wife. [24] [25] [26]
• M - John Boulware 1857-1860
• F - Martha Elizabeth Boulware 1859-1941
• F - Mary H. Boulware 1860-1947
• M - Charles Boulware 1863-
• M - Robert Boulware 1865-
• F - Sarah Ann Boulware 1869-1958

The relations between the Boulware family and George Lynch must have been very strained, even though one of their sons married a sister to George's wife.  Records of Reuben Boulware shooting at George and of his older brother William attacking and savagely beating him don't speak to a peaceful neigbor.  One year after George's family was murdered, Musco's son, Musco IV, was shot and killed by a brother to George's sister, Frank Hargrave, allegedly in a dispute over a horse race, but he was an uncle to the murdered Lynch children and suspicion rested on the Boulware family.

The Tri-Weekly Herald, (Marshall, TX), Saturday, October 05, 1878

(Mr. Lynch) — " ....  Not a great while ago he had a difficulty with the Boulwares, growing out of stock trespassing upon each others' farms.  Mr. Reuben Boulware made two assaults upon him — once with a pistol, again with a shotgun — for both of which he (Mr. Boulware) was fined.  Mr. William Boulware, who is a very stout man, also met him in the road when (Lynch) was coming home with his wagon, and badly beat him." [27]

Oct. 1879 Reuben Boulware's brother, Musco Boulware IV, was shot and killed by Frank Hargrave at Field's Store in a dispute over a horse race. [28]  Frank Hargrave was a brother-in-law to Musco Boulware IV and to George Lynch, being a brother of both J.L. Boulware's wife and Lynch's wife.

Nov. 1892 Reuben Boulware charged with murdering Charles Quinn over an election.  [29]

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The Eberly family:

One newspaper article indicated an Eberly was married to George Lynch's sister. [30]

See: Eberly family research notes.

John Elgin Eberly (born KY 1827) was the son of Capt. Jacob Eberly (1793-1840) and Angelina B. Peyton (1798-1860)
Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas.

John Elgin Eberly was b. June 13, 1827 KY, d. 1896, Hockley, Harris county, TX.
+ Margaret Henry 1827-1873

Children:

• M - James H. Eberly 1846-1866
• M - Jerome M. Eberly 1849-1879 m. 1872 Virginia Ann Hargrave, Grimes cty TX
• M - William Henry Eberly 1852-1936 m. 1893 Francis "Fanny" Hargrave, Waller cty, TX
• M - John Eberly 1855-
• F - Eliza Jane Eberly 1857-1939
• M - Mortimer Eberly 1859-
• M - Minor Eberly 1861-1882
• F - Virginia Eberly 1869-1892

Jerome M. "Bud" Eberly (1849 LA-ABT 1879 TX) was the son of John Elgin Eberly.  He married Virginia Ann Hargrave (1852 LA - 1905), the daughter of Joseph & Missouri Hargrave.  They married April 25, 1872 in Grimes cty.  Jerome died before 1880 probably in Hockley and Virginia died 35 years later, 1905 in Fields Store.  Virginia was a younger sister to Cyllanae Hargrave who married George W. Lynch.

Newspapers reported that "Mr. Lynch's only sister was the wife of our highly esteemed citizen J. Eberly", [31].  George Lynch's parents and siblings have not been found, so references to his sister can't be verified, but the present evidence indicates it was Lynch's wife's sister who was married to Jerome M. "Bud" Eberly.  (Actually, two of his wife's sisters married Eberly brothers, but Fanny would not marry until 1893, so she wouldn't be the person referenced in the newspaper articles.)

Another sister, Francis "Fanny" Hargrave, married William Henry Eberly, a brother of Jerome Eberly.

---

The Hargrave family:

See: Hargrave family research notes.

Children of Joseph & Missouri Hargrave:

• F - Cyllanae HARGRAVE (1841 LA-1978 TX) married George Lynch.
• F - Joanna HARGRAVE - (1843-).
• F - Sarah HARGRAVE (1847-).
• F - Mary Elizabeth HARGRAVE (1849-1909).
• F - Virginia Ann HARGRAVE (1852-1905) - married Jerome M. Eberly.
• F - Maria L. HARGRAVE (1854-1939) - married James Lewis Boulware.
• M - James Andrew HARGRAVE (1857-1923).
• M - Joseph Franklin HARGRAVE (1859-1908).
• F - Adella HARGRAVE (1866-1935).
• F - Francis Catherine "Fanny" HARGRAVE (1871-1920) - married William Henry Eberly.

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The Lynch family:

See: George Lynch family research notes.

George W. Lynch (ca 1836 - ) was born and raised near Navasota, Grimes county which borders Waller county to the north.

July 4, 1860 he married Celinda Hargrave (b. LA) in Harris county, TX.  (probably Hockley). (Her name recorded variously, including Cyllanae, Selina/ Plomonia, etc.)

Aug 21, 1860 at Hockley, he signed resolutions of vigilance, cooperation, minute men, anti-abolitionism, 24 hour watch, vigilance of suspicious characters and endorsing the proceedings at the town of Occaquan, VA.  The Weekly Telegraph, Tuesday, August 21, 1860  (For details of the events at Occoquan, see the Richmond Times-Dispatch of July 30, 1860. [32])

He and Celana are on the September 10, 1860 census, living in Lynchburg, Harris county.  He is 20 and working as a clerk and she is 17.

April 12, 1861 saw the bombardment of Fort Sumpter and the beginning of the Civil War.

May 8, 1869.George W. Lynch purchased an unspecified amount of land on Miles survey in southern Grimes county for $350. [33]

1869 - Cyllanae Lynch purchased 116 acres on Miles survey in Grimes county for $500. [34]

About August 1878 his wife died, probably due to complications from childbirth, and he is left with eight children, including an infant only weeks old.

September, 1878, He is shot twice and his eight children are killed when their home is set on fire.

The children of George Lynch & Cyllanae Hargrave from the known sources:

1870 census, Courtney, Grimes county, TX [35]LYNCH, George, 34, M, W, farmer, TX
LYNCH, Plomonia, 27, F, W, LA
LYNCH, Caroline, 9, F, W, TX
LYNCH, Lusenia, 4, F, W, TX
LYNCH, Marion, 3, M, W, TX
LYNCH, Joseph, 1, M, W, TX this must be Jerome

The Waco Daily Examiner, Friday, September 20, 1878  [36]
Miss Carrie Lynch, 17
Lorena, about 12
Jerome, 9.

The Michigan Argus: [37]
Carrie, 17
Loraine, 13
Lodie
Abigail
Jerome, 11
China
Phoebe
Hayes, 0

There were only 8 children.  The 9 listed below are a best guess using the conflicting reports of the sources listed above.

1. F - Caroline "Carrie" LYNCH (1861-1878).
2. F - Loraine LYNCH (1866-1878).
3. M - Lodie LYNCH (1866-1878).
4. F - Abigail LYNCH (-1878).
5. M - Marion LYNCH (1867-1878).
6. M - Joseph or Jerome LYNCH (1869-1878).
7. F - China LYNCH (-1878).
8. F - Phoebe LYNCH (-1878).
9. M - Hayes LYNCH (1878-1878).

The Tri-Weekly Herald, (Marshall, Harrison cty, TX), Saturday, October 05, 1878 Mr. Lynch's only sister was the wife of our highly esteemed citizen J. Eberly.  No evidence has been found of a sister, but his wife's sister, Virginia Ann Hargrave, was married to Jerome Eberly, a son of the prominent James Elgin Eberly.  (Another sister, Fannie Hargrave, married Wm. H. Eberly 15 years later.)

His brother-in-law, Frank Hargrave, shot and killed Musco Boulware IV Oct. 13, 1879 in a dispute over a horse race. [38] [39]

George Lynch is on the 1880 census a boarder in the household of Jno W Sailes in Lake county Colorado, single and a miner. [40]

July 3, 1881 – Sheriff Noble inquired about Geo. W. Lynch as he had been convicted of murder of Beuford in Leadville, CO.  The Galveston Daily News, Sunday, July 3, 1881. [41]

July 10, 1881 – George Lynch given life sentence for murder of Charles Lyles at Leadville, CO.  The Galveston Daily News, Sunday, July 10, 1881 [42] | Brenham Weekly Banner, (Brenham, TX) Thursday, August 11, 1881 [43].  He was incarcerated in Colorado penitentiary June 19, 1881. [44]

He was pardoned by Governor Davis Waite April 25, 1893. [45]

Nothing further has been found about George Lynch but, after 1900, a George Lynch was found in New Mexico and in south Texas listed as mining consultants.  No evidence to the identity of this person or persons has been found.