October 19
I always get a sad feeling on October 19. It was on this day in 1862, that our 2nd great-grandfather, David Miller Leffel, was hanged by a confederate mob.
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| The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas 1862 |
David was one of forty Union sympathizing citizens of North Texas who were charged with disloyalty and treason against the Confederacy by a "Citizens Court" in Gainesville, Texas in October 1862, and then hanged in the Great Hanging at Gainesville.
Four other extended members of our family were also killed by the Confederates as a result of the Great Hangings in Gainesville. They were Richard N Martin, Barnibus Burch, William Boyles, and John Mansil Crisp. To see how they are related to the family, click here.
It is not known exactly what happened to David's body after he was hanged. For 152 years there had been no known headstone or memorial marker for David Miller Leffel and most of the men who died in the Hangings. That changed in October 2014 when a memorial marker was placed in Gainesville for the men who lost their lives in the Great Hanging. To see photos of the memorial, click here.
To learn more about the Great Hanging, go to the Great Hanging Blog called:
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