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:

A picture of Aley Jane Pruitt Lackey

Thanks to Christie Ammirati for this, the only known picture of Aley Jane Pruitt Lackey(1844-1911), taken in about 1907 in Oklahoma or Kansas. Seated to her right is Annie Lackey Houser, the youngest daughter of her and Albert Lackey. Annie would only have been 8 years old at the time of the murders.
(BTW, if anyone knows the identities of the other children, Christie would greatly appreciate it.)

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.

Update

I know I have not posted in a while, but I am waiting for some information from the Texas State Library that I am requesting in Inter-Library loan. I will post some more as I receive it.

Tidbits about the Murders

Various sources from Blanco County offer small glimpses into the events around the killings, here are some:

We know from the diaries of James Redford Sr. (1821-1908) that his son Alex (1864-1953) was one of the men who helped to dig the graves for the victims of Albert:

8.

172

Aug 25 1885

Alex at digging graves for Six people shot by El Lackey yesterday

Greenbury Lackey and wife; Mrs. C. C. Lackey (Fanny Stokes, daughter of J. C. and Lucy) Mattie Lackey, J. C. and Lucy Stokes

Sandy Cemetery

from:http://www.rootsweb.com/~txblanco/recorded.html

Also, from the Blanco County Probate Records, we know what happened to some of the orphans.

Anna Mae Stokes (Daughter of Jim and Lucy Stokes) and Dora J. Lackey (Daughter of Charles Lackey and Fannie Stokes) were taken in by a C.M. Hornburg(Homburg?)

I am not sure why Fannie is listed as an heir of Jim and Lucy Stokes when her father was alive, perhaps someone could let me know?

Bennie and Jason Edward Stokes (Sons of J.C. and Lucy) went to live with the B.H. Watson family.

There is no record in the Probate Court that indicates what happened to Georgia, L.J., or Nettie Stokes.

Although the probate records only record Charles Edward Lackey (Son of Nathanial and Isabelle Lackey) being placed in the care of his older sister Minnie, we know from family history that all the children (Missouri, Nathanial, Joseph, Polly and Addie) were placed in her care and her Brothers (Sobe).