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Sherman, Tex. Aug. 12.—A man 70 Jyears of age, giving the name of Charles Coe, accompanied ly District fClerk Sam K. Rudolph of Gainesville, ^and a son, Ben Coe, appeared at the Sheriff's office here yesterday and J 1 asked if there were any charges on 1 the court dockets against one Charles j Coe. Sheriff Dee Simmons and Dist-rict Clerk Howe Taylor went to look- Jj ing up the records and found that on lt;March If,, 1 884. the Grayson County «•Grand Jury had returned three in- adictments, two charging assault to lt;I murder and one arson, against a man ^ by that name. ^It developed that the aged man was ]* Charles Coe, and thirty years ago, in ♦• connection with several others, he ^. had been indicted on a charge oft beating up some negroes and burning ♦ 1 i negro schoolhouse near Preston 4 f Rend, in this county. Mr. Coe was- not arrested at the time, and shortly * f afterward he read an account where 4- one of the men indicted with him was . sent to the penitentiary for life, but1 did not stop to read that it was for a 4 1 killing which had nothing to do with ^ I the incidents with which he was alii leg* d to be connected. As soon as he i got to the place where it said the ^ 1. man had received a life sentence he walked out of his yard and was seen lt;- no more in this country. He left a t wife and five children on a farm of their own. The wife reared the children, and a few years ago the family , 1 moved to Oklahoma.Mr. Coe stated today that hlt;* had ** been in the Klondyke most of the V■ time since leaving the county and had V made good. Recently he took a notion that he would come back and face the charges against him. He wasid made very happy to learn that his e st wife and children, now grown men w and women, were alive and they were I e- not only glad to see him, but had ^ grown into such citizens that any.I t* man might be proud of them. cTliis afternoon Sam K. Rudolph, ^ il*s acting us attorney, made a motion in et the Fifty-ninth District Court that the ^ rn I indictments be quashed and the cases lis dismissed, producing affidavits show-al ing .that all the witnesses are dead. d Judge M. H. Garnett sustained thlt;M r' motion and Charles Coe walked out a I rs I free man. He said: L,s- For thirty years I have been a ce fugitive, and have always been afraid rt* lest the heavy hand of the law be r‘ laid 011 me. Today the air seems 8- purer than it has ever been, tbe ! nt- heavens brighter and people better. ^ ral The rest of my days shall be spent nd with my family. I am grateful to ‘ ive again be a free man. While I have n* \M been behind prison bars, I ‘ hate never been free for thirty yearsnt: until today.” ,r- The companion cases in which* others were indicted at the same time 1)8 • Mr. Coe was were tried in the courtshere and the defendants were acquit-,hn ted. „ .er* Although 70 years old. Mr. Coe is *er a fine specimen of physical manhood. c and looks thq typical Klondyke miner,* ,tnd. judging from appearances, has many years before him.stm He left this afternoon to join his 08 • wile near Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Newspaper Details
Mckinney Daily Courier Gazette
Mckinney, Texas, US
Thu, Aug 13, 1914
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Natalie B.
TX, USA 01 Dec 2017
Other Publications Near Mckinney, Texas
Mckinney Daily Courier
Mckinney Democrat
Mckinney Weekly Democrat Gazette
Mckinney Courier Gazette
Mckinney Daily Courier Gazette
