Grayson County TXGenWeb

The Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, June 8, 1890
pg. 3

OVER A WOMAN
Dan Gover and Will Cassell Quarrel Over a Girl With Disastrous Consequences
Burnett avenue near Gandy Street was Monday night the scene of a serious shooting affray between two youmg men of this city.
It seems that Dan Gover, drover of B.N. Carter's beer wagon, and Will Cassell, a machinist at the M.K. & T. shops, had both been paying attentions to Miss Ollie Ferguson residing on Barrett avenue, and the young lady manifesting no decided preference for the society of either the young men, a spirit of rivalry has for some time existed between them. Monday evening Gover took the lady out driving and while out encountered Cassell, who also had a rig. It is claimed by Gover, and pretty well substantiated by parties who were passing in the street, that Cassell drove several times up alongsde if Gover's rig swearing and abusing both Gover and the girl and even tried to bring about an accident by running into them.
About 10 o'clock at the corner of Gandy street and Burnett avenue, he drove abreast of Gover and called out to know if he was fixed. Gover said he was and immediately jumped from the buggy. Cassell sprang into the street and as he did so Gover drew a pistol and fired at him. Cassell turned and ran for his rig and as he was climbing into it Gover fired again. With a cry of "My God, I am shot," he fell over on the dashboard, and a third shot from Gover's pistol passed over him. Cassell's horse continued down Burnett avenue and near Main street its driver fell from the rig and was picked up by parties from the Thompson House who were called to the scene by his outcries. He was carried to the drug store of Bailey & Culpepper where the flow of blood from the wound was staunched and at a later hour he was removed to his home on Morgan street. The wound is from a .38 calibre pistol ball and is located near the middle of the back to the left of the spinal column. The ball did not pass entirely through its victim and still remains in his body. Cassell's chances of recovery are considerably precarious.
After the shooting the young lady over whom it occurred started for home on foot and Gover drove his rig back to Nolan's livery stable. A short time later he was arrested at the Carter beer barn, where he usually slept and was lodged in jail. He states that when Cassell got out of his rig he thought he saw the gleam of a pistol in his hand, but no pistol or other weapon was found upon him. Both parties to the unpleasant affair are about 20 years of age.

LATER - Cassell died of his injuries at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery Thursday at 3 p.m. The funeral was under the auspices of the fire department and the Locomotive Firemen, the deceased being a member of both organizations. The hook and ladder truck and other fire apparatus were draped in mourning and were driven in the procession. The attendance at the residence on Morgan street and at the grave was very large.
At the inquest held Thursday morning by Judge LaBaume, a verdict was rendered to the effect that the deceased came to his death by a gunshot wound inflicted by Daniel Gover. Gover will have his examining trial before Judge LaBaume Monday.

The Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, June 15, 1890
Dan Cover, charged with the killing of Will Cassell, had a hearing before Justice LaBaume Monday. I.M. Standifer, the defendant's counsel, produced an immense amount of evidence to show that the defendant had been provoked to the shooting and had reason to believe that the deceased was armed at the time it occurred, and also made a powerful argument upon the justifiableness of the act under law. But the judge couldn't see it that way and fixed the defendant's bond at $4000.