'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