I know it has been a while...

But I am always searching.

In the meantime, I have added a page at Find a Grave for Albert:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=46935019&GRid=36376860&

Also, I have had a chance to correspond with Ross McSwain a author from San Angelo who wrote a book on mob violence in post-Civil War central Texas. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but he included a chapter on the Lackey lynching.

A ghost story...

Like every good murder mystery, there appears to be a ghost story that sprang from this event. The facts are way off, but it makes for an interesting story nonetheless:

1880 Census of Blanco County

The 1880 census offers a good snapshot of Blanco County just prior to the murders. The proximity of all involved is illustrated in that (almost) every person involved can be found on pages 345 and 346 of the Blanco County Census from 1880. There is Al Lackey and his family, Greenberry and his, as well as John Nicholson and Charles Bundick. What is interesting, is that the Stokes' are not in this area, they were substantially further south on Sandy Creek. Which means Al must have had some particular complaint (in his mind) with the Stokes'.

Read this doc on Scribd: BlancoCountyTexas1880

Follow up on some of the children

As part of my research, I have been attempting to find out the whereabouts of the children of Albert and Aley in the wake of the tragedy.

Harriet married a James M. Franklin in 1892. The census shows her brothers Nathanial, Greenberry and Sampson (Samp) Living with her in Ellis County (SE of Dallas).

Read this doc on Scribd: Lackeychildren1900

Info on Aley Jane Pruitt Lackey

This week I was finally able to track down information on the widow of Al Lackey. It appears that sometime in the mid to late 1890's she moved to Kansas with her daughter Annie and her husband James M. Houser.

Read this doc on Scribd: Lawrence KS, 1900 Census

What is interesting about this census is aparently she did not even acknowledge her other children. In the columns marked "Number of Children born to this woman" and "Number of Children still living", she answered "one" in both columns, only acknowledging her daughter Annie (1877-1910), this is interesting for a woman who gave birth to at least 12-15 children. She does give her marital status as widowed, however.

More interesting Data

These are the records from the US Army Signal Corps for the month of August 1885, it records the temperatures for that month:

Read this doc on Scribd: austin weather August 1885

These records indicate above average temperatures that week (98 degrees on the day of the killing at 5pm), could that have something to do with Albert snapping?

Interesting data for the day of the lynching:

U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department

Sun and Moon Data for One Day

The following information is provided for Blanco, Blanco County, Texas (longitude W98.4, latitude N30.1):

        Wednesday
       26 August 1885        Central Standard Time        

                        SUN
       Begin civil twilight       5:43 a.m.               
       Sunrise                    6:07 a.m.               
       Sun transit               12:35 p.m.               
       Sunset                     7:03 p.m.               
       End civil twilight         7:27 p.m.               

                        MOON
       Moonrise                   7:04 p.m. on preceding day
       Moon transit              12:57 a.m.               
       Moonset                    6:54 a.m.               
       Moonrise                   7:40 p.m.               
       Moonset                    7:49 a.m. on following day

Phase of the Moon on 26 August: waning gibbous with 99% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.

Full Moon on 25 August 1885 at 11:25 a.m. Central Standard Time.