 West Hill Cemetery Sherman, Texas  Cora Jones Adamson 1860 - 1939  J. Q. Adamson 1862 - 1931  September 21, 1931 Judge Adamson Dies from Wound Assistant District Attorney Hit by Stray Bullet Late Saturday Afternoon Funeral services were to be held Monday afternoon for Judge J.Q. Adamson, 69, who died at 12:15 a.m. Sunday in a local sanitarium, the victim of a bullet fired at another man. Services were held at 4 p.m. from the Travis Street Methodist church, with Dr. O.T. Cooper, the pastor, officiating. Interment was in Memorial park. Judge Adamson was assistant district attorney and former county judge. When the fatal shot struck Judge Adamson, he was seated on a bench on the north side of the Sherman square, talking jovially with friends. It was 5:20 p.m., and a large Saturday afternoon crowd was on the streets. FIRED FROM DISTANCE The shot was fired from a distance of more than 250 feet, from a moving automobile on the west side of the square. Two charges have been filed against E.W. (Wiley) Green of near Dorchester; one charge being murder in connection with Judge Adamson's death and the other assault to murder Lorin Gooding of the Day community. Charges were filed Sunday afternoon in the justice court of Jap N. Phillips. Green drove directly to the county jail after shooting and surrendered to Jailer A.T. cook, handing him a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol in which were three empty shells. Green told Sheriff Frank Reece and Assistant District Attorney Cliff Huggins that he had shot at Gooding. He collapsed when told that one of his bullets had struck Judge Adamson, saying that he was one of his best friends. Gooding said that he was repairing an automobile tire at the time he saw Green approaching in an automobile and that he dropped flat to the pavement when the shots were fired, escaping injury. Remarks by Green made to the sheriff and Mr. Huggins indicated the cause alleged to have occurred more than one year ago. Gooding's car was parked on the east side of South Crockett Street, almost directly across the street from the Safeway store. The bench where Judge Adamson was seated was about fifty feet west of the center walk on the north side of the square. MANY NEAR SCENE Fred Hunter of Dorchester and several small children were in an automobile next the one at which Gooding was working. With Judge Adamson on or about the bench were Bill Rudasill, Bill and Paul Butler and J.J. Carter, all of Sherman. All of these escaped injury. Marks on the brick pavement near where Gooding was working indicated that bullets had struck there. Physicians who removed the bullet from Judge Adamson's body said that it had apparently struck no other object. The bullet entered the back between the ninth and tenth ribs on the left side and proceeded downward through the abdomen, going almost through the body. With the aid of the men near him, Judge Adamson walked across the street to a drug store, where an ambulance picked him up a few minutes later. BAR ASSOCIATION TAKES ACTION The Grayson county bar association, meeting in the county court room Monday morning, voted to attend funeral services in a body. A resolutions committee was appointed with the following members: Sam D. Wolfe, chairman, Cliff Huggins, J.F. Holt, George D. Hagans, O.R. Brame and Judge G.P. Webb. The committee is to report to the association next Monday. The court house was closed for the funeral services and remained closed for the day. Active pallbearers were Judge A.S. Noble, Frank M. Thompson, Roy M. Finley, Mr. Huggins, District Attorney Joe P. Cox, Dr. Wilbur Carter, Judge Rice Maxey and Ben Griffith. Honorary pallbearers included all county and district officers and members of the Grayson county bar association. Dannel-Scott Company had charge of funeral arrangements. Judge Adamson is survived by his wife, Mrs. Cora Adamson, and two sons and two daughters: J.Q. Adamson Jr. of Freeport, Charles Adamson of Elsa, Mrs. Gaylord Blue of Sherman and Miss Edith Adamson of Beaumont. Miss Adamson is teacher in the Beaumont high school. Also surviving are four brothers and two sisters: Representative J.W. Adamson, Denison; W.H. Adamson of Dallas, principal of the Oak Cliff high school; Major George Adamson of Washington, D.C., private secretary to Gen. John J. Pershing, and Tom Adamson of Houston; Mrs. Sid Armstrong of Ada, Okla., and Mrs. Mollie Robertson of California. Judge Adamson was a brother-in-law to Judge Ben L. Jones of Dallas, chief justice of the court of civil appeals, fifth supreme judicial district. Judge Adamson was a native of Collinsville. He served six years as county judge of Grayson county and more than twenty years as assistant county attorney. He became assistant county attorney 28 years ago under Charles A. Vowell, later served as count judge and was again assistant attorney under Hubert Bookout and Roy M. Finley during their terms of office. He was serving as assistant to District Attorney Joe P. Cox at the time of his death. He was a graduate of Sam Houston Normal at Huntsville. He had been an active member of the Methodist church for many years and a member of the Gideons. He was said to have tried more criminal cases than any other lawyer in Texas.  West Hill Cemetery Elaine Nall Bay ©2015 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |