Stabbing Death of Paul Lincecum (1930)

Paul Lincecum was born 23 October 1907 in Washington County, Texas, son of Dinah Coleman (d. 1960) and Bowie Lisanders Lincecum. Paul died just eleven days before his 23rd birthday. According to his death certificate, Paul was "stabbed to death in an encounter with Burley Matson." And this finding was the conclusion of an inquest held 12 October 1930.

The informant on Paul's death certificate was his younger brother Charlie, who had to handle that blow at the age of just 20 years.

(Via Ancestry)

A local newspaper chronicled the broad strokes of what happened:

Brenham Banner-Press (Texas)

Tuesday, 14 October 1930

FOUR NEGROES ARE CHARGED MURDER IN DEATH BY STABBING

Sheriff H. L. Reese and County Attorney Albert Stone went to Burton Tuesday morning to attend the examining trials of Virlie Matson, Jesse Matson, Eddie Matson, and Ernest Thomas, who were charged jointly with murder in connection with the stabbing death of Paul Lincecum, another negro. Bond in each case was fixed at $1,000, which the negroes are expected to furnish, but at present they are being held in the county jail by Sheriff Reese until they make bond.

The cases of these negroes will come up for investigation by the grand jury when district court meets for the spring term in March. It is said that the killing resulted from a...[unreadable]...dice game.

 

Brenham Banner-Press (Texas)

Saturday, 25 October 1930

HABEAS CORPUS HEARING IS HELD IN MURDER CASE

A habeas corpus hearing was held before Judge J. B. Price of the district court Saturday morning in the cases of Eddie Matson, Virlie Matson, Jesse Matson and Ernest [T]homas, negroes of the [Burton?] community charged with murder in connection with the slaying of Paul Lincecum, another negro...

After some consideration the bond of Virlie Matson was fixed at $1,000, and that of the other three negroes at $500 each...

The case grew out of an affray in which Lincecum met his death from stab wounds, and the four negroes held in jail were charged with the stabbing.

Brenham Banner-Press (Texas)

Saturday, 3 October 1931

VIRLIE MATSON GIVEN FIVE YEARS IN MURDER CASE

Virlie Matson, negro, charged with murder in connection with the death of Paul Lincecum, another negro, was given a sentence of five years in the penitentiary by a jury in district court Friday afternoon.

Jesse Matson, another negro, was recently sentenced to two years in the penitentiary on a similar charge.

Testimony showed that Virlie Matson stabbed Lincecum with a knife and that Jesse Matson struck him with a stick.

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Jessie (b. 1908) and Verlie (b. 1911) Matson were received at the Huntsville Unit (Walker County) of the Texas State Penitentiary on 6 October 1931. Four days later, they were sent to the Darrington Unit in Brazoria County. Jessie served about 17 months of his sentence, being discharged 2 March 1933.

Verlie served 2 years before receiving parole, granted by the first female governor of Texas, Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson. He was finally discharged 12 August 1935.

Further research shows Eddie, Jessie, and Verlie Matson were brothers. All were possibly sons of Jim Matson and Lureda (nee Thomas?) Newsome. For the 1920 Washington County, Texas Federal census, the Matson brothers and Paul Lincecum resided on neighboring farms.

Jessie served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and both he and Verlie married and had children. Jessie died 6 August 1972 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, Harris County, Texas. Verlie was about two months shy of his 90th birthday when he died on 30 July 2001.

Upon his death, Jessie was laid to rest in the same cemetery -- Zion Hill -- as Paul had been some 40-plus years earlier.

The Dickey Clinic and Pearl Lee Punchard, Daughter of Eunice Lincecum

Pearl Lee Punchard was born 12 July 1884 in Texas to Eunice Lincecum and Paul Punchard. She died 7 March 1950 at the Dickey Clinic in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas. Burial was a few days later in St. Mary's Cemetery of Lee County, Texas.

According to Pearl's death certificate, she was divorced at the time of her death. Her gravestone at St. Mary's Cemetery indicates she was a mother.

The cause of Pearl's death was "Peritonitis (due to) intestinal strangulation." A little less than six weeks before her death, Pearl underwent an operation in which a significant finding was "twisted intestines -- gangrene."

As mentioned at the top, Pearl passed away at the Dickey Clinic in Taylor, Texas. It was run by Dr. James Lee Dickey (1893-1959), one of the only practicing Black physicians in Williamson County, Texas, in the 20th century. He settled in Taylor after graduating from medical school in 1921. The following is from a blog post by Preservation Scholar Jae'la Solomon, hosted by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission:

"One of Dickey’s goals was to combat the disparate rates of disease amongst Black Americans in Taylor. Ailments like tuberculosis, typhoid, and infant diarrhea all plagued the rural Black community in the area. Dickey acted and showed results. For instance, in 1933, rates of typhoid fever, a potentially fatal bacterial infection, rapidly increased in rural Taylor. Many African Americans worked as sharecroppers and were unable to afford the cost for clean city water, so they borrowed from a local ranch. This water, unsafe for consumption, spread the sickness and many were left without proper treatment. Dr. Dickey noticed a spike in typhoid and talked with city officials, explaining to them the link between typhoid and the ranch water. His advocacy made a great difference, and officials authorized the opening of fire hydrants. Families came out with buckets, filled them with water from the hydrants, and took them home. Dickey also began to treat willing patients of the infection, making house calls and walking through the mud to get to those in need.

Eventually Dickey realized that he needed a space to treat more patients, so he bought an empty rooming house at 401 Bland Street and renovated the space into what would become the Dickey Clinic. Dr. Dickey did remarkable work at the clinic. He and a staff of predominantly Black nurses offered critical care to the Black folks of Williamson County. Dickey treated patients with venereal diseases, offered free prenatal care, and helped to nearly eliminate tuberculosis and cases of infant diarrhea amongst African Americans in Taylor. In 1952, his service to the community granted him Taylor’s Citizen of the Year, a very rare feat for a Black man in the Jim Crow South."

 

Photograph of the Dickey Clinic at 401 Bland Street, Taylor. The clinic opened in 1936; this
picture was taken in 1955. Dr. Dickey was the African American doctor in Taylor who worked
with city leaders to stop a typhoid epidemic in Taylor's poor districts.
- The Portal to Texas History

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