James B. "Killer" Miller, (October 25, 1861 - April 19, 1909) was also known as Deacon Jim because he regularly attended the Methodist Church and because he did not smoke or drink. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting He was an outlaw and assassin of the American Old West who was lynched by a mob of angry citizens over his assassination of former Deputy U. An outlaw or bandit is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry; the word literally means "outside the Law " by folk-etymology from the original AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some S. Marshall Allen Augustus Bobbitt of Ada, Oklahoma.
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Early life
Miller was born in 1861 in Van Buren, Arkansas. Van Buren (væn ˈbjʊərən is the second largest city in the Fort Smith Arkansas-Oklahoma Statistical Area and the County seat of Crawford County, Miller's father, Jacob Miller, was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, was a stone mason, and helped build the first capitol building in Austin, Texas. Miller's mother, Cynthia Basham, was born in Tennessee in 1827. Frequently circulated stories that both of Miller's parents died when he was very young, and that he killed both his grandparents when he was eight years old are untrue. The 1880 census finds him at age nineteen, living in Coryell County, Texas with his siblings and widowed mother. In 1884, at age twenty-three, Miller was arrested for the murder of his sister's husband John Coop, who had been killed by a shotgun blast while he was sleeping. Miller was convicted and sentenced to life in prison; however, the conviction was appealed, and he was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Criminal career
After his release, Miller traveled to San Saba County and embarked on a career as a hired gun, loudly proclaiming that he would murder anyone for money (accounts of his price vary between $150 and $2,000). San Saba County is a County located in the US state of Texas. Between the late-1880s and early-1890s until his death Miller was alleged to have been involved in at least eight murders for hire, and another six killings as a result of saloon altercations or gambling disputes. A bar (also called a Pub or Tavern) is a business that serves drinks especially Alcoholic beverages such as beer liquor and mixed drinks for consumption Legend spread that he killed more than fifty men in his lifetime, though this number is likely exaggerated. He had a reputation for getting the job done quickly and efficiently, usually by means of a shotgun ambush at night, and for always wearing a large, black frock coat. A frock coat is a man's coat characterised by knee-length skirts all around the base popular during the Victorian and Edwardian period
On April 12, 1894, in Pecos, Texas, Miller was confronted by Sheriff Bud Frazer about his involvement in the murder of cattleman Con Gibson. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Pecos is the largest city and county seat of Reeves County, Texas, United States. SHERIFF is a telecom fraud detection and management system originally developed by BT and MCI. Frazer did not wait for Miller to go for his shotgun, and he shot the assassin five times. Miller sustained only a small injury to his right arm. While Miller was attempting to fire his gun with his left hand, Frazer fired again, hitting Miller in the side, which finally put him down. After Miller's friends had rushed him to a doctor, his frock coat was removed to reveal the large steel plate that Miller wore under his clothes, which resisted most of the bullets from Frazer's gun, saving the assassin's life.
In 1896, Miller killed Frazer, who was no longer a sheriff and was working as a stablehand in Toyah, Texas, with a shotgun blast to the face. Toyah is a town in Reeves County, Texas, United States. The population was 100 at the 2000 census
On August 1, 1906, Miller killed the Bureau of Indian Affairs Lawman Ben C. Collins in Oklahoma as retribution from the friends of an outlaw shot and killed by Collins that same year. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting History Although the bureau which was called the Office of Indian Affairs was formed in 1824 similar agencies had existed in the U Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Miller was reportedly paid $2,000 to do so by unknown persons for that murder, which he carried out in front of Collins's home in front of Collins's wife. Miller was arrested for the murder, but he was never convicted and was eventually released.
On February 28, 1908, ex-lawman and killer of Billy The Kid, Pat Garrett, was killed near Las Cruces, New Mexico, ostensibly because of a land dispute. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Henry McCarty (November 23 1859—July 14 1881 better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William H Patrick "Pat" Floyd Garrett ( June 5, 1850 &ndash February 29, 1908) was an American Old West lawman Bartender Las Cruces is the second most populous city in New Mexico, the County seat of Doña Ana County, and a United States Metropolitan Statistical Area Miller was alleged to have committed the murder and had been paid to do so, but this is unlikely since Jesse Wayne Brazel later confessed to the crime. Jesse Wayne Brazel, or Wayne Brazel (1877-1915? was a Ranch hand in the closing years of the Old West, best known for killing former lawman Pat Garrett Brazel was tried and released on the grounds of self defense. Self-defense (or self-defence &mdash see spelling differences) is the act of defending oneself one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm Carl Adamson, who was married to a cousin of Miller's wife, was also with Garrett when he was killed, which most likely led to the rumors that Miller was involved. Historians still disagree over the ultimate facts of Garrett's murder, but the consensus is that it happened without Miller's involvement. Despite this, Carl Adamson reportedly told a family member that it was Jim Miller who murdered Pat Garrett. Carl's widow confirmed this again years later.
Lynching
Miller was contracted by local ranchers Jesse West and Joe Allen through middleman Berry B. A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle Burell (though there is controversy over the spelling of the man's name) for the murder of Oklahoma cattle rancher and ex-sheriff A. A. "Gus" Bobbitt, either to acquire his land after his death or because of a personal grudge against the man (accounts vary). The fee was $1,700. On February 27, 1909, Miller shot Bobbitt with his shotgun, though the man reportedly survived long enough to return home to identify his killer to his wife. A shotgun (also known as a scattergun) is a Firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number The murder was also witnessed by Oscar Peeler, the 19-year-old cowhand who accepted $50 to lead Miller to Bobbitt. Miller was arrested in Texas by a Texas Ranger and extradited to Oklahoma to stand trial alongside Jesse West, Joe Allen and Berry Burrell. The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide Jurisdiction based in Austin, the Extradition is the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal
The evidence against the four suspects, however, was not considered strong, leaving open the chance for an acquittal. Only weeks earlier a man named Stephenson, a suspect in the November 3, 1907, murder of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, town Marshal Rudolph Cathey, had been acquitted on murder charges, which possibly led citizens to carry out the events that followed. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Pauls Valley is a city in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States.
A mob--reported by The Daily Ardmoreite as 200, and by Associated Press as "estimated from 30 to 40 in number"-- broke into the jail "between two and three o'clock" on the morning of April 19, 1909. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The mob dragged the four men outside to an abandoned livery stable behind the jail. A livery stable has come to mean a place where horse owners keep their Horses in return for a fee Miller remained stoic while the other three reportedly begged for their lives. Miller made two final requests: that his diamond ring be given to his wife, and that he be permitted to wear his black hat while being hanged. Both requests were granted. Miller is reported to have shouted "Let 'er rip!" and stepped voluntarily off his box. Ironically two prisoners who had killed an Allen, Oklahoma Town Marshall were not lynched. Allen is a town in Hughes and Pontotoc counties in the US state of Oklahoma.
The bodies of all four men were left hanging for several hours while a photographer could be brought in to immortalize the moment. These photos were sold to tourists in Ada for many years. Ada is a city in and the County seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States.
Trivia
- Miller was married to the cousin of another famous old west outlaw, John Wesley Hardin. John Wesley Hardin ( May 26, 1853 — August 19, 1895) was an Outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West.
- The iron plate that Miller frequently wore under his frock coat was very likely the inspiration for Clint Eastwood to do the same in the 1964 spaghetti western A Fistful of Dollars. Spaghetti Western, also known in some countries in mainland Europe as the Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western A Fistful of Dollars ( Per un Pugno di Dollari in Italy and officially on-screen in the U
References
James, Bill (1989). Jim Miller, The Untold Story of a Texas Badman. Henington Publishing Company.
Nash, Robert (1994). Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen & Outlaws. Da Capo Press. Da Capo Press, a Publishing company with offices in New York City, Cambridge Massachusetts, Philadelphia and Emeryville California ISBN 0-306-80591-X.
External links
- "Four Men Pay the Price of Bobbitt's Death: Miller, Allen, West and Burrell are Lynched by Mob at Ada this Morning". The Daily Ardmoreite, April 19, 1909. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting
- Longhorn Creek
- Oklahoma history
- Roswell web magazine about Pat Garrett
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