An image of the William Oakford house in Salem County New Jersey that was built in 1736
Image from April 3rd, 1936 via Library of Congress, no known restrictions
That is a dirty floor! When grass and weeds are growing it is past time to sweep.
Monday, April 5, 1869, infamous Reconstruction-Era Native-Texan desperado Benjamin “Ben” Bickerstaff (1840-1869) met his earthly demise at around the age of 29 when he was shot to death by armed citizens at the town of Alvarado in Johnson County, Texas.
Born in near the town of Gray Rock in Titus County, Texas (present-day Grayrock in Franklin County) Bickerstaff served in the Gray Rock Dragoons during the War Between the States. After the war, he spent some time in Louisiana where he was accused of murdering a local black man -- a crime for which he was wanted by the law. He was able to escape across the state line into Texas, where he surrounded himself with other outlaws & set up a camp in the bottoms of White Oak Creek, about four miles northwest of Sulphur Springs.
After an altercation with U.S. troops who were stationed at Sulphur Springs, Bickerstaff & his followers departed that area & next set up camp near Alvarado, Texas, the home town of one of his associates in crime, Josiah Thompson. From their camp, the outlaws occasionally made forays into Alvarado to shoot up the town & absquatulate back to their camp with whatever goods & provisions they desire. After several months of putting up with Bickerstaff’s gang hurrahing the town & robbing whomever they pleased, the townspeople decided that that they had had enough & decided to put an end to the reign of terror.
Around sundown on April 5, 1869, Bickerstaff & Thompson were seen riding into town. As they approached a hitching post they saw the local residents running into the stores & places of business & shutting the doors. The two desperadoes attributed this to fear on the part of the people, & with their pistols in hand they advanced. Bickerstaff was heard to exclaim in a loud voice, “Rats to your holes, Damn you!” As the two outlaws rode up to the hitching post & tied their horses, & had just turned from their horses a fusillade of gunfire was rained upon them from men concealed in the nearby stores.
Thompson fell dead at the first volley, his body having been pierced by 42 bullets & buckshot pellets. Only three hit Bickerstaff, one striking him in the right eye. Despite his wounds, he raised himself up on his elbow & fired several shots. Later the town folk crowded around him & he conversed with him for some time. He cursed Thompson for dying so easily, talked very freely to the crowd, & then exclaimed, “You have killed as brave a man as there is in the South.”
The undated photograph depicts the visage of infamous Texan desperado Ben Bickerstaff.
