Thomas Berry Howard (1851-1885) was my great-grandfather –
my mother’s mother’s father. He married Sarah Caroline Jenkins in 1871. They
had five children, three sons and two daughters, my grandmother, Florence
Alabama, being the youngest.
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| Thomas Berry Howard, 1851-1885 |
During the summer of 1885, a political race and
election was under way in the district between one Andy Landman and Francis Powell. Powell’s
brother-in-law, Bayless Howard (not sure if he was related) had assisted him in the campaign and “bad
blood” in regard to political activities had developed between Bayless and
Landman -- to the point that Landman had
threated to kill Bayless.
On Aug. 6, 1885, there was a picnic at the Winford Goodman
Spring (this location is less than ¼ mile from where I live today). Reportedly,
Andy Landman had been heard to say he was going there to kill Bayless. At the
picnic, a fight developed between George Landman, Andy’s brother, and my
great-grandfather (the two were brother-in-laws, as George was married to
Thomas’ sister). A crowd developed around the fight, and someone went for Andy
and told him about it. He pushed through the crowd, pulled his gun and shot and
killed Thomas B. Howard. He held the crowd off with his gun, got onto his horse
and rode away.
A note of explanation at this point: Part of the above information, with the exception of the political race and the fight, was known by my mother and her two living sisters, when I came upon this information about 15 years ago. The one additional thing they knew was that
Landman was reported to have said, “I’ve killed the best friend I ever had”
before he rode away.
But I came upon a manuscript, written by Morris Howard (a
distant relative; there are many, many Howards in this area) during the 1960s,
on the Howard family of Lauderdale County, Ala., that expanded my knowledge on the subject. This, when I was conducting genealogical research of my own. Within the
document is the story stated above and which I will continue below.
Morris Howard records a conversation he had with my
grandmother about the death of her father. It is brief: “I talked about the incident, at length, with
a daughter of Thomas B. Howard, Mrs. “Bama” Howell (no date indicated). She said
she had just started to school and the Landman children were real nice to her.” (Is this all she told him? Is this all she knew of the incident?)
My mother said the tragic incident was never mentioned as
she was growing up in the household that also included her grandmother,
Caroline Howard, the widow of Thomas B. Howard. I find this to be extremely
strange, don’t you? The only explanation I can think of is that, sometimes,
people in olden days did not discuss incidents of the past that were painful to
them. This was a family of storytellers, people who sat around in the evenings
talking because there was not much else to do. I only wonder why it was never
mentioned in any more details than the bare facts.
Be that as it may, the story, as recorded by Morris Howard,
continues below:
After Andy Landman disappeared, he apparently went into
hiding; a somewhat easy thing to do as most of the area at that time was
wooded. A five-hundred-dollar reward was placed for his capture. A man in the
community, reported to be the only person with enough “guts” to capture
Landman, was Frank Walker. Morris Howard relates several stories associated
with Walker, one of his going to Landman’s brother’s home and an altercation
developing.
Several days later, Walker
was ambushed and shot in the forehead by a group of men as he was riding his
horse into the village of Anderson. He survived after being rescued by a group
of friends and taken to a nearby house to recuperate. Men on horseback were
observed watching the house. It was speculated they were waiting for an
opportunity to “finish off” Frank Walker because of his stated goal of finding
Andy Landman. Frank Walker died in 1885 but no more information is provided in the manuscript on
what caused his death, but he was only 26 years old at the time.
Morris Howard reports that the Landman family contended that
Andy did not intend to shoot Thomas B. Howard; that his intended target was Bayless
Howard.
So what became of Andy? He apparently was in hiding for a
considerable length of time (some say for more than a year), during which time
he was hunted to some extent.
Quoting from Morris Howard: “At a later date, unknown to us,
Andy was slipped to the railroad and out of the state. James (Jim) Newton, born
in 1875, told this writer that he saw the wagon pass that carried Andy to the
railroad. He said that the wagon had a big box on it but he did not know at the
time that Andy was in it.
“A.J. “Zander” Belue said that a man (whom he names) ran
into Andy later in Texas. He said that they met face to face and both
recognized the other, but neither said a word. They both just turned away and
Andy was never seen again.
“At some later date, a strange man appeared at the Alabama
home of Andy, stayed a few days, then left, carrying the wife and children of
Andy with him. It was theorized that Andy sent the man for his family.”
Now here’s a final footnote to the story. About 14 years ago
I telephoned Mr. Neil Sewell of Anderson, whose farm is purported to be the
land George Landman owned in the 1880s, because I thought he might have some
small morsel of information about the Landman family. Mr. Sewell asked me if
I’d ever heard of the “Andy Patch.” Stating I had not, he related a story that
was passed down in his family – that Andy Landman had hidden out on a portion
of the land in a protected, low-lying area surrounded by trees, an area that wouldn't be seen unless someone knew it was there.
He invited me up to have a look and I took my mother along
as well. He loaded us into his pick-up truck and off we went, bounding over
fields where no roads existed. Finally, got out and walked a good
distance because of fences. We stood there and a vast expanse of land – how
many acres I know not – was visible. Mr. Sewell said Andy hid out in that low
land for a year and even raised a cotton crop there! There was an old log cabin-like
building and I stood for a long while gazing upon it, wondering if that
was where the man who killed my great-grandfather had hidden out. I lamented
the fact that my grandmother never knew her father, that my mother and her
siblings never knew their grandfather.
Apparently, Landman's family did not join him in the “Andy Patch,” as suspicion likely would have
been aroused if they, too, had disappeared from community life. Perhaps they
visited him from time to time? All this is pure speculation on my part.
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From left, Florence Alabama Howard, Sarah Caroline Howard, Lula Howard.
Back row, Felix, Will and John Howard.
Date of the picture is unknown, but probably before my grandmother, Florence, was married in 1900. |
My great-grandmother Caroline Howard raised her five children
on her own. At some later date, after her children were married, she was married to an elderly
gentleman who died shortly afterward. She then came to live with my
grandmother and her husband, who had married in 1900. She lived there during my mother’s entire
growing-up years, alternating her time with visiting her other children for
spans of several weeks. Grandma Caroline died in 1942, being past 90 years old.
Below are a couple of photographs of students at the now defunct Howard Elementary School, once located on County Road 76 in Lauderdale County. The school was demolished in the 1960s. I remember seeing the old white abandoned building from the bus window on my daily ride to school.
The Howard School was named after my grandmother's brother, Will Howard, an Anderson merchant, who donated the land. My mother and all her siblings attended grades 1-6 there. None of the students are identified in the pictures below. (Lesson here for us: ALWAYS record names on pictures!) We believe the pictures are from the 1920s or earlier.
I hope I have not bored you with this story and the legend
surrounding the death of my great-grandfather. I find it fascinating to explore
stories of the past, especially when they relate to one’s relatives.
I’d be interested in hearing stories about your ancestors.
Please feel free to offer them in the comment section below.
