Submitted
by
Eugene
Harris
TEMPLE DAILY
TELEGRAM
Temple, Bell Co., Texas
Thursday, November 10, 1910
J. T. PRATT, WELL
KNOWN HERE, SHOT
INSTANTLY KILLED AT MADILL
OK., LAST SUNDAY
Was Sheriff of His County and Highly Esteemed – Two Brothers Live in Temple
The following special, taken from
the Dallas News of yesterday, is of local interest.
Madill, Ok., Nov. 6 – At about
noon, J. T. Pratt was shot and almost instantly killed. His slayer escaped and
is being hunted by a posse of officers and armed citizens. The shooting was
done from the door of a wagon yard house with a 22-caliber rifle. The bullet
passed through the body in the region of the heart. The deceased leaves a widow
and children, and was an efficient officer.
Before dying, he made
a statement to the county attorney, declaring that Jim Thompson did the
shooting.
The J. T. Pratt
referred to was Joe Pratt, son of W. T. Pratt of Blevins, and brother of Henry
and Will Pratt of this city.
Henry received a
telegram Sunday announcing the death of his brother and he and Will immediately
went to Madill. From them a message was received yesterday by Mrs. Henry Pratt
announcing that they were starting for home with the body and that the burial
would be at Eddy today.
Further particulars of the tragedy have not
been obtained. Deceased was sheriff of the county in which he was killed, and
it is supposed that in pursuance of his official duty he had incurred the
emnity of the man who murdered him.
He had never resided
in Temple, but for many years he was a resident of Rosebud and that vicinity.
He was as a boy and young man a very quiet, peaceable person, and a hard
worker. That he was a man trused in his new home is evidenced by his election
to the high office he held at the time of his death. His father is a frequent
visitor in Temple and practically all the business men are acquainted with him,
the old home being at Barclay in Falls county, where the family settled in an
early day and prospered, Mr. Pratt being now one of the largest land owners in
this section of country, and cultivating hundreds of acres of the finest land.
Henry, the brother who resides in Temple, has been a citizen here for a number
of years. At present, he is associated with Mr. Wilson in the real estate
business of Wilson & Pratt. He also has many friends who deeply sympathize
with the bereaved ones in the untimely death of the son and brother.
Note: J. T. Pratt was Joseph T. “Joe” Pratt – eh
Submitted
by
Robert L. Haddock
TEMPLE DAILY TELEGRAM
Temple, Bell Co., Texas
Friday, November 11, 1910
Oklahoma Murder of Former Bell
County Man Was Frame-Up Affair
Mr. Henry Pratt leaves today for
Madill, Okla., accompanied by his brother, Dr. Pratt, who resides in another
city in that state. They go to attend the examining trial of the men who were
arrested for the murder of their brother Joe last Sunday, an account of which
was published in The Telegram.
In an interview with
Mr. Pratt, the following particulars of the murder were secured: Joe Pratt, his
brother, had been sheriff of the Oklahoma county, and on retiring from office,
he was induced to take the place of city marshal. He had proven himself able to
cope with the rough element which had infested that section, and until he
secured the upper hand of them there had been no officer who could command
their respect and obedience.
As sheriff and as
marshal, Mr. Pratt had sent many a one over the road, and had caused others to
leave for other fields. The man who killed him had been in Mexico for some
time, returning to Madill but a few days before the tragedy. He and others of
his kind determined to get rid of the officer who had made their old home
untenable for them, and they made threats on numerous occasions, the slayer
especially giving it out that he was going to kill the marshal, and publicly
going armed with the threats in his mouth. Mr. Pratt, whose methods were of
quietly going about his duty, looked the man up and asked him about his
intentions, and there was some sort of an understanding arrived at, the man
professing to become friendly with the marshal, and withdrawing his threats.
This was taken at its face value by the one, but it proved to be only a
subterfuge of the other.
Last Sunday, the man who did the
killing and who kept a wagon yard, evidently conspired with friends to do the
work. A message was sent to the marshal that he was wanted at the wagon yard,
and unsuspecting, he started there. In a doorway was concealed the murderer and
others were concealed at advantageous places along the route. Mr. Pratt’s 14
year-old son was about a block from his father when the shots rang out from the
doorway and laid the officer low. The boy ran to the prostrate form and raised
the head of the dying man, when the murderer approached and threatened to kill
the son as he had the father.
The murderer escaped
with one companion, but posses quickly formed and chased the fugitives, the
whole country being aroused and the governor offering a reward. They were captured
and jailed, and several others of the gang suspected of complicity in the plot
were also put in jail. The good people of the community were very much wrought
up, and there is apt to be more trouble after the examining trial brings out
the testimony.
Mr. Pratt brought home
with him the oldest son of the murdered man, and he will remain with his
grandfather at Blevins for the present.
The examining trial is
set for Friday.