Last week I was looking at
State of Tennessee v Pleasant M. Riggs, a case from the Supreme Court of Tennessee and Grainger County Circuit Court. This week brings another case referencing members of the Jones and Thornhill family, the State vs Samuel and Thomas Larimore (1879). The Riggs case contained testimony by Roland Larimore, a neighbor of Richard Thornhill who may have been married to Richard's sister, Amanda Elizabeth Thornhill. The case of State vs Samuel and Thomas Larimore is a curious one, containing 50 pages and conflicting testimony by witnesses who were related or connected by marriage.
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| Source: TSLA, State v Samuel and Thomas Larimore, 1879. |
The action was brought by William A. Bowers in Hamblen County against two sons of Roland Larimore, Samuel and Thomas, for grand larceny, stealing 50 bushels of wheat from Bowers' property. Bowers was married to Margaret E. Thornhill, daughter of
Richard Thornhill and Margaret Cline.
Thomas W. Thornhill was a witness for Bowers. A grand jury found Samuel and Thomas Larimore guilty, fixing their punishment at 3 years and nine months confinement each in the State Penitentiary. The Larimores argued for a new trial and appealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Testimony
William Bowers asserted that 50 bushels of wheat was taken from his barn. On 4 September 1878, he found nine sacks of wheat hidden in his cornfield behind his barn. He got some of his neighbors to help watch to see who might come back to take the sacks of wheat. On the night of 5 September, Thomas Thornhill,
Joseph Jones (my 3rd-great-grandfather),
Tom Jones (Joseph's son, my 2nd-great-grandfather), George Bowers, George Lewis and George Newman were stationed with Bowers on various points to lookout for the wheat thieves. In Bowers' testimony, he noted how the moon was very bright that evening, proving enough light to be able to watch the sacks of wheat.
A wagon arrived at about 9pm from the direction of Roland Larimore's property. Bowers recognized Roland's sons Samuel and Thomas. Thomas Larimore started to lift up a sack of wheat, and Bowers yelled at him to surrender. Thomas dropped the sack and ran off, and Bowers fired a shot at him. Samuel took off with the wagon.
Thomas Thornhill also testified that he saw Thomas Larimore pick up the sack of wheat and that he heard Samuel Larimore driving the wagon.
Another witness named Mason Moore testified that Samuel and Thomas Larimore approached him on four occasions to help them steal the wheat from Bowers', in exchange for a portion of the proceeds. Moore was to be the Larimore's lookout to see if anyone came out of Bowers' house while they were stealing the wheat. Moore had been helping the Larimores steal wheat from other area farmers.
Roland Larimore offered his testimony that the boys Samuel and Thomas lived with him, that they had gone to bed before dark and that his daughter Adeline had fastened the back door to his home with a pin on the inside and the front door with a chain. Roland testified that he did hear a wagon pass by his house about 9pm. He said he did not hear any noise from where the boys were sleeping and that he did not think they could get out without him hearing.
Roland's other children Adeline, John and Richard provided testimony in support of their brothers.
The court ruled against the Larimore brothers, sentencing them to jail.
The witness list included Madison Line, who
sold land to Joseph Jones in 1878.
I thought this might be the end of the case, but the Tennessee Wills and Probate records on Ancestry had a large file on Roland Larimore, much of it on bonds and summons issued in the case against Samuel and Thomas Larimore.
The probate file also contained another case involving Roland Larimore,
the State v Roland Larimore and Martha Mansfield, for lewdness in December 1872.
