'Courthouse was site of gunfight' by Jeanne Williams/Temple Daily Telegram

Courthouse was site of gunfight

by Jeanne Williams

Temple Daily Telegram - April 20, 2009

A single bullet hole in the county courtroom doorway attests

to the courthouse gunfight that killed one man and landed the

county sheriff behind bars.

(Shirley Williams/Telegram)

CAMERON - Murders, suicides, lynchings and other heinous events that snatched human

lives were all too common in 19th century Milam County.

Violence on two occasions traded sides between the rank-and-file populous and three

seemingly immune county notables, casting them in new roles - this time as either the

killer or the victim.

The most famous political rivalry in Milam County history came to a disastrous

conclusion June 20, 1905, when a gunfight erupted in the hallway of the current

courthouse. Ex-sheriff Giles C. Avriett was killed by Sheriff Robert Todd. Details are

sketchy, but newspapers reported that three shots were fired including two from Todd’s

Colt 45 that struck Avriett twice in the back. He later died and was buried in Oak Hill

Cemetery.

Todd surrendered to a constable, gave no statement and later claimed self-defense. The

sheriff remained behind bars in the three-story red brick county jail during a

coroner’s inquest and examining trial. He later was acquitted and finished his term of

office. Todd went on to serve as the county treasurer. He died in 1945 and is buried in

the Walker’s Creek Cemetery.

Today, a bullet hole can be found in the door facing of the county courtroom and is

identified with a plaque. An article compiled by former Milam County sheriff’s deputy

Greg Kouba, and posted on the sheriff’s Web site, reported that the two men had been

the closest of friends before they became political rivals in 1902 when both vied for

the job of sheriff. A heated battle between the two men ensued. Avriett, a former

constable from Maysfield, defeated Todd, who had held the office since 1896. In a

political turnabout in 1904, voters favored Todd over Avriett. Though the two men

became bitter enemies because of their political aspirations, accounts of the shooting

do not reveal what touched off the deadly gunfight that erupted in the courthouse

hallway at 9 a.m. on June 20.

A lesser-known tragedy occurred Nov. 28, 1873, on the courthouse steps when Milam

County deputy county clerk William M. Williams was stabbed to death by James W. Boyles

as he was leaving a dance at the courthouse.

Charles King, Milam County Historical Museum director, said the courthouse of 1873 was

a frame structure used as a gathering place for social events. This building was

destroyed in a fire in April 1874 just a few months after the murder. Martha Rogers of

Cameron, a long-time county resident, recalled in a newspaper interview the incident

that occurred 28 years before and its impact on courthouse social gatherings. After the

killing, the courthouse parties became unpopular, and years elapsed before another

dance was given in Cameron, Mrs. Rogers remembered.

Williams’ murder led to even another tragedy. The night following the murder, county

law officers searched Boyles’ residence and farm without finding a clue to his

whereabouts. While moving through the woods, one member of the posse shot another one,

not recognizing him in the darkness. Fortunately, the blast from the shotgun was not

fatal. A Milam County grand jury in its January 1874 term indicted Boyles for murder

and he became a fugitive.

Edmund Davis, Texas’ 14th governor and the last Republican to hold the office for 105

years, offered a $500 reward for Boyles’ “arrest and delivery to the sheriff of Milam

County inside the jail door” for Williams’ murder.

The handwritten wanted poster described Boyles as 22 or 23 years old, about 5-feet-8,

weighing 130 or 140 pounds, having a sallow complexion, rather receding light hair and

no beard. A later Texas governor, Richard Bennett “Dick” Hubbard Jr., authorized

another $500 reward for Boyles’ capture.

After leaving Milam County, Boyles successfully escaped pursuit by Sheriff William E.

Mitchusson and the Texas Rangers. About three years later, the killer turned up in the

Wyoming Territory, where he was brought back to Texas by Sheriff Middleton L.

Livingston.

The motive for Williams’ murder turned out to be love. Boyles had been engaged to marry

the daughter of a wealthy stockman who lived on the Brazos River. The romance did not

prosper as Boyles intended and he blamed Williams, who was related to and friendly with

the girl’s family.

On the night of the dance, Boyles cooly and deliberately stabbed Williams in the heart,

killing him almost instantly in the presence of his wife. Boyles jumped on a horse and

rode out of Cameron into the wilds of the Leon River. He eventually made his way to the

Rio Grande, and later to Colorado, where he herded sheep. From there he drifted to

Cheyenne, Wyo., and when “Black Hills Fever” broke out, he moved north.

Boyles wound up in a Wyoming penitentiary for horse theft, serving a five-year

sentence. Curiously haunted by guilt, Boyles wrote Sheriff Livingston advising him of

his whereabouts and surrendering for Williams’ murder.

Extradition papers were drawn up and the sheriff headed to Wyoming to pick up the

prisoner. When Sheriff Livingston arrived at the territorial prison, Boyles refused at

first to be recognized. He had changed his mind about giving himself up. But when he

found the sheriff was determined to take him back to Texas, he owned up and confessed.

In January 1877, he passed through Kansas City on the way back to Texas in the charge

of the sheriff. The victim, William M. Williams, was quite popular in Cameron and the

trial of Boyles promised to be exciting.

Though Boyles made it back to Cameron in chains, he was never tried for murder. Soon

after being placed in the Milam County jail he was apparently released on bail until

the next term of the district court. During this time, he had another change of heart

and left the county once again - this time for good. An arrest warrant was issued for

him and he was still a fugitive from justice in 1886.

The case against Boyles was finally dismissed in October 1898 because all the witnesses

for the prosecution were dead. Boyles literally got away with murder and was never seen

in Milam County again.

All articles from the Temple Daily Telegram are published with the permission of the
Temple Daily Telegram.
All credit for this article goes to
Jeanne Williams and the Temple Daily Telegram
Photos by Shirley Williams -
Temple Daily Telegram photographer