I suppose everyone might have a black sheep or two in their family tree, but through online newspapers, I have discovered two murderers in mine! The first one I had heard rumors about, but the second was an unexpected and shocking find, not to mention very disturbing. I'll save him for later.
Daniel David Batson
Dan Batson is my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side. My mother told me a story about her Daddy's grandfather. Her father was N. D. Fleming. N. D., that's it, only initials. The initials were for his grandparents, Nan and Dan Batson. On some later occasion when only initials were not acceptable, he called himself Norman Dee Fleming, and most people just called him Dee.
Anyway, back to Dan Batson. The family story goes that he killed his son-in-law because he was beating his wife, Dan's daughter. He ran away and hid in the woods and never went to prison.
Daniel David Batson was born 4 February 1839, in Tennessee, probably Cannon Co., as his family was there in the 1840 census. His parents were Dennis Riley Batson and Mary "Polly" Stanfield. Siblings were Calvin B. (b. 1837), Thomas J. (1842), Clark A. (1846), Sarah Ann (1849), G. Washington (1852), and Bodecia (1854). By 1860, the family lived in Jefferson Co., Alabama. Dan married Nancy Delilah Patman (1844-1945), daughter of Upson Leggett Patman and Mary Gilley Gooding, on 31 October 1867, in Shelby Co., Alabama. They had the following children: Sarah Angeline (b. 1869), Alice S. (1871), George H. Lewis (1874), John Louis (1878), Ada Idella (1881), and Martha Jane (1885), my grandfather Dee's mother.
Batson Family (circa 1910)
From left to right, Clara Leona Hunnicutt Sawyer, Viola Hollis, Stephen Hollis holding baby Ran Hollis, Alice Batson Hollis, Nancy Delilah Patman Batson holding baby possibly Irene Sawyer, and Daniel David Batson
It was the husband of Dan's oldest daughter, Sarah Angeline, whom he killed. It took me the longest time to figure out who the husband was. It seemed Sarah was first married to Eli Wadsworth and then to James Hunnicutt. In 1900, Sarah Wadsworth was widowed and living with her parents, so I always assumed it was Eli Wadsworth whom Dan must have killed. She married James Hunnicutt in 1902 and lived with him until his death in 1933. But there were Hunnicutt kids and dates that just didn't match up. Then lo and behold, 1890 Birmingham, Alabama, newspapers held the answer! Sarah had been married to another unrelated Hunnicutt before she married Eli Wadsworth! And because he came and went during that awful 1890 missing census period, there was no record of David Hunnicutt being Sarah's husband except for these newspaper articles.
Sarah married David Hunnicutt about 1888. He was the son of James R. Hunnicutt and Sarah Phillips. Dave and Sarah, or Angeline, as she was called during that time, had a daughter Elzie who was born 25 November 1888. Sarah Angeline was pregnant with their second daughter, Clara Leona, when the tragic event happened on April 7, 1890:
Article in a Livingston newspaper dated April 11, 1890
At first, it seems no one knew who had killed Dave Hunnicutt:
Either this article made a mistake on the age of the child, or the child was not Dave and Sarah's daughter. Their daughter would have only been a year and a half. I did find many errors in all these articles, but I have no doubt that they do tell the story of my great-great-grandfather, Dan Batson.
Article in a Birmingham newspaper dated April 10, 1890
Obviously, this article misspelled Dan Batson's name. It also called his wife Mary instead of Nancy. Nancy Patman Batson did have a sister named Mary who was married to Berry Barksdale Nunnelly. Alice Batson was Sarah Angeline's sister who would have been about 19 and still single at that time. Martha Adeline Batson was Dan's sister-in-law married to his brother Calvin.
Article in a Birmingham newspaper dated April 11, 1890
Again, Alice Batson is Dan Batson's daughter, Sarah Angeline's sister. George Batson is Dan Batson's son. Dave Batson is Dan Batson; he was Daniel David Batson. Wash Batson was Dan Batson's brother who was married to Sarah Jane Isbell; Abel Isbell was her brother. Dan Batson's father's name was Dennis Batson, but I have no evidence he was still living in 1890. There was a younger Dennis Batson living in the area who would have been about 20 years old. I have been unable to connect him to Dan Batson at present. Lafayette McComb, Jesse Poe, Lolo Stone, Will Mickel, and J. M. Hardin appear to be friends and neighbors.
Article in a Vicksburg newspaper dated April 20, 1890
Daniel Batson wasn't really captured. He surrendered.
Article in a Montgomery newspaper dated April 19, 1890
He's Daniel D. Batson, not Daniel E. Bateson, but it's him, all right.
Article in a Birmingham newspaper dated April 18, 1890
Article in a Birmingham newspaper dated April 23, 1890
Daniel Batson murdered his son-in-law, David Hunnicutt.
Article in a Birmingham newspaper dated July 12, 1890
Dan Batson was still in the Jefferson County Jail as of July 12, 1890. The asterisk after his name indicated he was under indictment and would be called for trial.
Article in Birmingham newspaper dated November 8, 1891
A year and a half after the crime, Dan Batson was still waiting for his day in court which was supposed to take place the following week.
Article in Birmingham newspaper dated May 31, 1892
Over two years after the crime, Daniel Batson's murder case was continued.
That is the last article I could find on the case. I searched the Courts section of the Birmingham paper for the next three years and did not find any mention of Dan Batson's case. However, I did see a couple of general references to witnesses not showing up and cases having to be continued, so perhaps that happened in his case. My mother did say that nobody really cared, and he never went to prison. I feel certain that if there had been a trial, it would have been big news. I did a search of Alabama prison records and found that Daniel Batson never went to prison. Maybe after a couple or few years in county jail, they quietly dismissed his case with time served. I do know he was back home with his family in the 1900 census. By 1910, the family had moved to Marion County, Mississippi, where Dan Batson died of malaria on July 18, 1918, in Pinebur. He is buried in Caney Cemetery in Columbia, Mississippi.
Sarah Angeline Batson Hunnicutt married Eli Wadsworth on October 15, 1891. They had a daughter, Della, who died as a baby. They had a son, William Otis Wadsworth, born March 4, 1895. Sarah and Eli divorced on April 17, 1902, but they were evidently estranged long before that, as Sarah Wadsworth was living with her parents in the 1900 census with her children, Elzie, Clara Leona, and Willie. Sarah married James F. Hunnicutt, son of John Fletcher Hunnicutt and Mary Jane Head, in 1902. I have thus far found no relationship between James Hunnicutt and David Hunnicutt. James was a widower with many children. Sarah and James had a son, Jim, in 1903, and a daughter, Nannie Mae, in 1906. James Hunnicutt died in 1933 in Marion Co., Mississippi, and Sarah died there on July 31, 1953. Both are buried in the Caney Church Cemetery.
Sarah Batson Hunnicutt (right) with daughter, Nannie Mae Hunnicutt
Elzie Hunnicutt married first Union Gaddis and then Richmond Dennis Morgan after her first husband died. Elzie died 11 March 1981. Her obituary proved she was the daughter of Dave Hunnicutt.
Clara Hunnicutt first married Bud Sawyer and then J. Hulon Bell after her first husband died. She died 1 October 1960. Her obituary also proves that David Hunnicutt was her father.
I welcome any comments or additions to the story. I didn't post all my genealogy on this family, but I would be glad to share any of it. I would love to find someone who knows what became of Eli Wadsworth. Thank you!
