
Several
of the articles state the man as Bixby, his name
was Bigbee
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth, Texas
Tuesday, August 27, 1889
pg. 2
DENISON KILLING
Charley Bixby [sic] and Two Others Come to the
City for Whiskey.
They Get Into a Row with the Officers and Deputy
Marshal Hackney Kills Bixby [sic] at the First
Fire.
Special to the Gazette
Denison, Tex. Aug. 26 - At 10:20 to-night
Charley Bixby [sic}, alias Bob Turnbull, was
shot through the head and
instantly killed by Deputy Marshal Henry
Hackney. Turnbull, in company with Will Blagg,
Will Shakleford and Will Bryant, came to Denison
to buy some whiskey. They came galloping down
Main street and three of the boys dismounted at
Hirche's barrel house. The Gazette man spoke to Bixby
and passed out and went down the street. Hearing
a noise behind him he turned and saw three men
down in the street. One of the men jumped on his
horse and tried to pull his pistol from his
belt, spurring his horse forward at the same
time. Hackney had his pistol out in
a flash, and seeing Bixby trying to get out his
gun fired at him, the ball striking Bixby in the
left side of his head
and coming out the top of the cranium,
scattering blood and brains all around. Bixby
fell from the horse a corpse. Officers James and
Lawrence were tussling with Shackleford and
finally arrested the fellows and put them in
jail. But for Hackney's quickness one or two of
the officers might possibly have been killed.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth, Texas
Wednesday, August 28, 1889
pg. 6
Held To Answer
Special to the Gazette
Denison, Tex. Aug. 27 - Deputy Marshal Henry
Hackney had a preliminary examination to-day
before Judge Cooke for the shooting and killing
of Charles Bigbee on Main street last night.
Hackney was bound over in the sum of $500 to
await the action of the grand jury. Two of the
important witnesses were out of town and their
testimony could
not be heard.
Fort Worth Daily Gazette
Fort Worth, Texas
Friday, August 30, 1889
pg.5
Sherman, Tex. Aug. 29 -
County Attorney Smith was in Denison yesterday
looking into the Hackney-Bigbee killing. He
reports that public opinion is divided on the
subject of the killing.

Sunday Gazetteer
September 1, 1889
The Fatal Six-Shooter
Deputy Marshal Hackney Shoots and Instantly
Kills Charles Bigbee While in the Discharge of
his Duty
A tragedy unusually sad in its results and
attendant circumstances occurred in this city
Monday night about 10:30 o'clock. About
this hour four young men named George
Shackleford, William Bryant, William Blagg, and
Charley Bigbee, residing east of the city, rode
into town at an unusual and unlawful rate of
speed and thus attracted the attention of the
police. They entered the city through the
Crawford street tunnel and making their way to
Main street by Austin avenue drove up as far as
Dollarhide's gun store and one of them, George
Shackleford, dismounted, went inside and asked
for some cartridges. It seems he could not
get the kind he wanted, and remounting he rode
rapidly, accompanied by the others, down to the
Texas Barrel House. Here, Shackleford,
Bigbee and Bryant dismounted, leaving Bigbee in
charge of the horses, and entering the saloon,
asked for a quart of whiskey. While they
were trading with the clerk in the saloon
Marshal James and officers Hackney and Lawrence
appeared outside and put Blagg under
arrest. Then James and Lawrence went
inside leaving Hackney in the street with
the prisoner and the horses. "Boys,
consider yourselves under arrest," said the
marshal, addressing the three men at the
counter. They turned and one of them threw
his hand back as if to pull a pistol.
Lawrence threw his gun down on him as he put up
his hands. The other two made a break for
the door and ran
into the arms of the marshal. One of them
(Bigbee) broke loose and ran for his horse but
the marshal clung to the other and went
rolling and scuffling across the sidewalk into
the street. Bigbee sprang upon his horse
(which Hackney was holding along with two more
by the bridle) and tried to spur it to break
loose. At this juncture Hackney states, he
(Bigbee) drew a large pistol and threw it down
on James, who was struggling with Bryant a few
feet distance, and to save the life of a brother
officer he raised his own pistol and
fired. Bigbee instantly fell from his
horse and died in a few minutes, the ball from
Hackney's pistol having entered his brain.
James' assailant was overpowered and the three
prisoners were marched off to jail. While
the corpse of the unfortunate young Bigbee was
taken to the undertaker to be prepared for
burial.
At the coroner's inquest, which took place
before Coroner J.N. Cook Tuesday, the evidence,
in so far as it bore upon the justification of
the officer in shooting as he did, was
contradictory. Haney and James testified
positively to the young man drawing and pointing
a pistol at the latter, while Blagg, who sat
upon horse in full view of the men, swore quite
as positively that he never had a pistol in his
hand at any time. In apparent confirmation
of his statement is the fact that no pistol was
found upon the ground near the scene of the
tragedy, though the official claim that one was
picked up by a man named Henry Bowie but who at
this writing has not been found. A small
pistol was found in the hip pocket of the
deceased but it was not loaded and no one claims
that he could have put
it back there after being shot. The
tragedy has provoked a great deal of conflicting
comments. No one seems to think that
Hackney knew Bigbee had no gun in his
hand. Most people agree that the officer
thought he had a pistol in his hand but that in
the excitement and uncertain light he was
mistaken. A few declare that, acting as he
did upon a mere impression, it was an
unwarrantable rashness; others urged that
inasmuch as he could have nothing but his senses
to guide him, and the moment was a critical one
he was perfectly justifiable, while still
another few believe that the man actually had a
pistol as stated by the officers, and that it
was a mere question of which life should be
sacrificed, that of James or the unfortunate
young man. Concerning the latter, the Gazetteer
has failed to hear anything but favorable
reports. He was 19 years of age and though
occasionally given to having a little fun, as it
is the nature of boys of any spirit to be,
he is generally commended for his excellent
qualities of mind and heart. His tragic
death is a sad blow to his parents and friends
who have the sincere sympathy of the entire
community. His remains were interred
Wednesday in the country church yard east of the
city near his parents' residence. Mr.
Hackney was put under a bond of 500 dollars to
await an investigation by the grand jury.
Later, Mr. C.H. Scholl, editor of the Evening Dispatch,
states that in company with Charlie Dickenson he
was coming down Main street, when at the Austin
avenue corner a quick word of command given by
an officer drew
his attention to what was going on in front of
the Barrel House. He saw a man run out
of the saloon and jump upon a horse, heard
Hackney cry, "Look out, Ed," and distinctly
heard two pistol shots, the one following the
other so closely as to almost be covered up by
the first. He ran to the scene of the
difficulty and found a man lying upon
the ground, and, wishing to see how badly he was
hurt he bent over him. As he did so he saw
distinctly in the light of the electric lamp a
pistol lying upon the ground several feet from
the body. Later he visited the dead man's
friends in jail and one of them admitted to him
that Bigbee had been armed with two
pistols. The next morning he went to
Dallas which accounts for his evidence not being
taken at the coroner's inquest. This is
the substance of Mr. Scholl's statement
and should put a very different aspect upon the
case. If Bigbee actually had a pistol in
his hand at the time Hackney's shot was fired
there can be no blame whatever attaching to the
action of that officer.
(Ted's note: Shackleford, Blagg and Bigbee
are cousins. George Shackleford is the son
of Phoebe Bigbee who married William
Shackleford; William Blagg is the son of Susan
Bigbee who married Joseph Blagg; and Charles
Bigbee is the son of Henry Clay
Bigbee and Mary O'Dell. They are also my
cousins since my gr-gr-grandparents were Susan
Bigbee and Joseph Blagg.)

The
Fort Worth Gazette
Fort Worth, Texas
Thursday, September 26, 1889
pg. 8
Sherman,
Tex. Sept 24 - The grand jury is in
session this week and is creating great
commotion among the evil doers. They
have been investigating the case of
Henry Hackney, deputy marshal of the
city of Denison, who is charged with the
killing of Charles Bigbee, a few
weeks since but have so far failed to
find a true bill against him.

Dallas Morning News
September 27, 1889
pg.6
Sherman
Siftings,
The
Judge After the Jury....
Sherman,
Tex, Sept 26 - It having appeared in
Denison papers that the grand jury had
indicted Henry Hackney for the murder of
young Bigbee, the district judge called
the grand jury in this morning, and after
reading what the Denison Herald said,
turned to the grand jury and in substance
said: "Gentlemen, this item may be based
upon reliable information or it may be
just based upon rumor and given as facts.
You as members of the jury, know whether
the statement of the paper is correct or
not. I do not. If it is true it
would be well to see who it is that is
divulging secrets which you alone or
possibly me or two officers have a right
to know, and I hereby instruct you
to investigate this matter closely and
locate the man who has divulged a matter
which should be held in secrecy until
the proper time for publicity, that is if
the statement of the paper is correct."
The grand jury retired to their
room. Further than that the
reporter does not have "reliable
information".
The matter has created some comment, and
especially in newspaper circles in both
the cities of Sherman and Denison.

The
Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday October 6, 1889
pg.4
In
the list of bills returned by the grand
jury, Tuesday, was one against Henry
Hackney, deputy marshal of Denison, for the
murder
of Charles Bigbee, in August. Mr. Hackney
states that he is quite satisfied with the
action of the grand jury, as it will give
him a fuller opportunity to clear himself in
the eyes of the public. Of the ultimate
outcome of the trial he entertains no fears.

Dallas Morning
News
November 21, 1889
pg. 1
Sherman,
Tex., Nov 20 - The case of the state
vs Henry Hockney, charged with the murder
of Charles Bigbee, is on trial in the
district court at this hour. The theory of
the prosecution is that the defendant
unwarrantedly shot the deceased, and that
he was not forced to do so in the
discharge of his duty as a peace officer.
The witnesses for the defense state that
the deceased had a pistol drawn at the
time he, Hockney, fired the shot.

Dallas Morning
News
November
23, 1889
pg. 2
Sherman,
Shavings
The Hackney-Bigbee Killing
Case Near to Close
Sherman, Tex., Nov 22. - Argument
pro and con in the case of the state of Texas
vs. Henry Hackney, charged with the murder of
Charles Bigbee in Denison in August last, was
finished about noon to-day. The state summed
its case up in about this light - A crowd of
county boys rode into Denison and in doing so
rode by some officers who formed an idea that
they should be arrested on the charge of fast
riding, of which the state alleges they were
not guilty. The officers followed, and in
endeavoring to make an arrest met with some
resistance, which put the officers in a bad
humor, and when (Charles) Bigbee mounted his
horse to get away (Henry) Hackney shot him for
no other ground than that Bigbee's animal
moved upon him. In substantiation of this they
quote the words of a witness who testified
that after the killing Hackney said he had
killed Bigbee because he had tried to ride
over him. The state denies on that the
deceased had a pistol drawn on Marshal James
at the time he, Hackney fired the fatal shot.
The defense takes the
position that the crowd who came to Denison
started out to a dance and on the way became
intoxicated, or at least under the influence
of wine, and they armed themselves with
pistols. Subsequently they came to Denison to
have a whiz, and one of the first things they
did was try to buy cartridges. it is further
claimed by the defense they rode into town at
a very rapid rate that being against a city
law of Denison. The officers followed them to
a saloon and attempted to put them under
arrest when they resisted. Officer Hackney was
on the outside holding the horses when he saw
the struggle going on on the sidewalk, and
that when he saw Bigbee dashing out of the
saloon he called for help.
Bigbee mounted his horse
and proceeded to present a pistol, as if to
shoot Marshal James, who was struggling with
Bryant on the sidewalk. Hackney called on him
to hold but he still seemed determined to
shoot James, and Hackney, to save James' life,
fired the fatal shot. The charge consumed
fully a half hour in being read to the jury.
The charge dwelt upon the right of one officer
to protect the life of another in making an
arrest and said the jury must look at it as it
reasonably appeared to the defendant. The
charge also called attention to the penalty
for the failure of an officer to make an
arrest of a person for carrying a deadly
weapon.
At 5 pm the jury reported
they could not agree, but were sent back.

The Sunday
Gazetteer
Sunday, April 27, 1890
pg. 3
The case of Deputy Marshal Henry Hackney for the
killing of Charles Bigbee in this city 8 months
ago, was called in the district court at Sherman
Monday, but at the instance of the state
was continued till the September term.
The
Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, November 16, 1890
pg.
4
LOCAL CONDENSATIONS
Thursday
Officer Hackney is on the sick list . . .

The
Fort Worth Gazette
Fort
Worth, Texas
Tuesday, November 25, 1890
pg.
1
Sherman, Tex., Nov. 24 - The murder case of
Henry Hackney, which was set for to-day, was
postponed on account of the serious illness of
the defendant.

The
Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, December 7, 1890
pg.
4
LOCAL CONDENSATIONS
Tuesday - Officer
Hackney is so far recovered as to be on duty
again.

The Sunday
Gazetteer
Sunday, November 13, 1892
pg. 4
Henry Hackney Discharged
In the case of the state against Henry
Hackney, charged with killing the young man
O'Dell in Denison 2 years ago, was thrown out
of
court at Sherman Wednesday.
Messrs. Standifer & Person represented the
defense, and Mr. Hackney's vindication by law
is due to their tireless efforts in his
behalf.