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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Ode Grover Lincicome and Neola Grace Jameson Dawson (Virtual Graves)

 

Image by Juanita Brock Galindo (2008) via FindAGrave.

Ode Grover Lincicome was born 2 April 1888 in Bellwood, Butler County, Nebraska.

He died 4 April 1967.

Burial was at Resthaven Memorial Park in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.

Neola Grace Jameson Dawson Lincicome was born 27 September 1896 in Hornick, Woodbury County, Iowa.

She died in 1965.

Burial was at Resthaven Memorial Park in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.

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Ode was a son of Aluria Scrogham (1861-1938) and Silas L. Lincicome (1855-1945). Silas and his family lived in several different places in his "younger years" -- Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, and Arkansas. At about age 50, however, Silas finally seemed to reach a territory he liked: Oklahoma. Ode was a teenager when they arrived, but it seems he remained loyal to the state the rest of his days.

Ode served as a mechanic with the 358th Infantry, 90th Division of the US Army during the waning months of World War I. He and his regiment also remained on occupation duty after the war and returned home in June 1919. In November the following year, Ode married Neola Grace Jameson, widow of Hal George Dawson, Sr. (1893-1918).

Neola was the daughter of Maude Natalie Phelps (1876-1961) and John Jameson of New York. She married Hal at the age of 19, on 22 March 1916 in McAlester, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. This young couple would have two children -- Bettie Sue and Hal, Jr. -- before tragedy struck in the form of the 1918 flu pandemic. Both Hal Sr. and Jr. battled the virus. Hal Sr. lost the battle, but Jr. survived. Following from a burial notice regarding Hal Sr:

"The young man's death occurred Friday from influenza, but a delay was occasioned by the fact that the seven-weeks' old child of the family was also in a critical condition from the same malady."

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I have no evidence of any biological children born to Neola and Ode, but it seems the latter stepped in and accepted the two from Neola's previous marriage as his own. In fact, a decision was made to change Hal George Dawson, Jr.'s name to Grover Ode Lincicome, Jr. My assumption is that this was done officially and legally, since Grover Jr. also served in the United States military.

When I initially discovered Hal, Jr.'s name change, I felt a bit sad for Hal, Sr. It seemed a shame that his part of the Dawson surname lineage would be truncated. Another casualty of the 1918 flu pandemic, perhaps. But, really, who am I to say? The only reason I have an opinion at all, perhaps, is that something similar happened in my direct line, although more generations have passed, and I am far more removed from it. A direct ancestor of mine took his mother's surname, instead of his father's. So, following the normal course of things, my surname should not be what it is. Furthermore, I don't even know what my surname "should" be. Hopefully, that is not the fate of future Jameson-Dawson-Lincicome researchers.

In a way, though, it's fitting that Hal, Jr. became Grover, Jr. since Ode Grover Lincicome (Sr.) is the only father he really knew.

Nancy Elizabeth Kenyon Lincecum, 1833-1904 (Virtual Graves)

 

Nancy Elizabeth "Lizzie" Kenyon Lincecum was born 27 January 1833 in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

She died 5 November 1904 in Missouri.

Burial was in Kenyon Cemetery at Delta, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

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Nancy was one of at least thirteen children born to John Kinyon/Kinion (1805-1860) of Missouri. Her mother was his first wife, Mary Brooks.

Nancy married Benjamin A. Lincecum 20 December 1849 in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. I believe the couple had at least four children, but am only confident of three: Mary Lucinda (1851-1874), Francis Marion (1857-1931), and Marcella Ann (1862-1947).

Nancy's gravestone in Kenyon Cemetery has been off its base for many, many years. My guess is that an inscription was added for her husband, Benjamin, at the time the stone was placed for her. (His info is on the flip side.)

Image by Bob (2014) via FindAGrave.
Permission for use granted in bio.

Image cropped slightly.
Original by Courtney Marquis (2022) via FindAGrave.
Permission for use granted in bio.

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Marie Louise Durham, Granddaughter of Cassandra Lincecum (Virtual Graves)

Image accompanying wedding
announcement in 2 September
1917 Austin American-
Statesman (Texas).

Marie Louise Durham was born 8 March 1893 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. She was a daughter of Marie Augusta Packenius (1868-1947) and Walter Winn Durham (1855-1929), and a granddaughter of Cassandra Lincecum (d. 1877) and George John Durham (1820-1869).

The Durhams were among the first settlers of Austin, and Marie's grandfather, George John Durham, was once Austin's mayor. 

Marie Durham married Alexander James Gouldie (1891-1938) of New York, son of Eliza Fife and James Gouldie, on 1 September 1917 in Cameron County, Texas. In a wedding announcement published in the Austin American-Statesman (Texas), Maried was described as "a brunette of the blue-eyed type."

I believe the young couple had five children, though I can only name four: George Alexander (1918-1920), Marie Louise (1919-2000), Hubert David (1922-1982), and Charles Durham (1927-1987).

Marie became a widow in 1938 when her husband died mere hours after having surgery to extract five abscessed teeth. His son from a previous marriage, Alexander James Gouldie Jr., remained close to stepmother Marie after his father's death.

Marie Louise Durham Gouldie died 10 November 1956 at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Harris County, Texas. After Catholic funeral services, she was laid to rest in Mt. Olivet Cemetery of Dickinson, Galveston County, Texas.

Lycurgus, Lascassas, and Leander Lincecum (Virtual Graves)

A father and two sons with difficult-to-determine death dates.

Lycurgus Lincecum was born 1815 in Cotton Gin Port, Monroe County, Mississippi. He was the first-born son of Sarah "Sallie" Bryan (1796-1867) and Gideon Lincecum II (1793-1874). Lycurgus married Mary Jane Cox 28 May 1838 in Franklin County, Tennessee. This young couple had five children, including a set of twins, Lascassas and Leander. They were born about 1846 in Mississippi.

Lycurgus fought in the Mexican War; he was enlisted in a Texas group. According to Texas Veterans in the Mexican War: Muster Rolls of Texas Military Units compiled by Charles D. Spurlin, Lycurgus (age 31) was part of Company G, 1st Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers. The same reference noted Lycurgus "died at Mexico City, Mexico on December 22, 1847."

Further, Spurlin lists Lycurgus (age 35) as part of "Benjamin McCulloch's Company, Texas Mounted Volunteers (Spies)," in Federal service from January to July 1847.

This death date for Lycurgus is questionable, however, given his daughter Mary Eliza was born about 1848. Lois Burkhalter gets to the truth in her biography [affiliate link] of Lycurgus's father:

"Lycurgus, the first born, was the first of numerous Lincecums to be buried in Washington County. He died on February 3, 1849. Eleven years after his death Gideon was amazed to receive a letter from J. H. H. Woodward, a Houston lawyer, inquiring about Lycurgus' death in the Mexican War and mentioning the possibility that his widow and children were eligible for a pension. Gideon explained that his son enlisted in a Texas group, was discharged and paid off in Monterrey, Mexico, in August, 1847, and died two years later in Long Point...

Cropped image from original
by Margie LoneStarB via
FindAGrave

Gideon wrote Woodward:

'I had not moved to Texas then...My son, from the heavy service and exposure in guarding a train of wagons on their route from Laredo to Monterrey, contracted what he denominated the Mexican bowel complaint, was never well and of which complaint he finally died...He left five children who are all living...'

Colonel Dancy [commander of a regiment raised by Ben McCulloch (same as above)] cleared the situation, remembering that Lycurgus became ill after arriving at Monterrey with the Texas volunteers and that he hired a substitute to answer his name for the remainder of his term. The unknown substitute was killed in battle."

The final resting place for Lycurgus Lincecum is disclosed in the part of the biography pertaining to the death of Gideon's wife of 52 years, Sarah: "She was buried by the side of her first-born, Lycurgus, at the Baptist Meeting House between Long Point and Union Hill." Today, that location is known as Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Burton, Washington County, Texas.

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Leander "Andy" Lincecum, one of Lycurgus's and Martha's twin sons, married Mary Catherine Yontz/Yonts (d. 1872) September 1867 in Washington County, Texas. I have no record of any children from this union.

Lascassas "Lass" Lincecum, the other twin, married Mary E. Jameson 22 July 1869 in Washington County, Texas. I have no record of any children from this union, either.

I had no information regarding the deaths of Andy and Lass until I came across a page from a family Bible connected to the Yonts family. Neal St. Martin uploaded an image of this page to his Ancestry [affiliate link] Family Tree. About halfway down on the right side of this page dedicated to family deaths are handwritten entries regarding Leander and Lascases. They died just days apart — Leander on 22 January 1870 and Lascassas on 31 January 1870. (Oh, how I wish I knew what happened!)

I don't know for certain where Leander and Lascassas were laid to rest, but my first theory would be in the family lot at Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery.

Monument dedicated by Wm. Mark Lincecum,
great great great grandson of Gideon.
(Originial image credit same as above.)

Katherine Mae Moore and Ellis Elcie Colbath (Virtual Graves)

Slightly cropped and enhanced image.
Original by Bill and Denise via FindAGrave.
Permission for use granted in bio.

Ellis Elcie Colbath was born 20 February 1886 in Hye, Blanco County, Texas.

He died 8 September 1968 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.

Burial was in Mission Burial Park at San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.

Katherine Mae "Kate" Moore Colbath was born 14 July 1885 in Devine, Medina County, Texas.

She died 13 October 1976 in Bexar County, Texas.

Burial was in Mission Burial Park South at San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.

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Kate was a daughter of Susan McCombs and Haywood M. Moore (1849-1929). Her paternal grandparents were Emily Lincecum (1813-1884) and Daniel Boone Moore (1805-1889).

Kate and Ellis were married 7 January 1912 in Comal County, Texas. I know the couple had a son, born 12 February 1923 in Stephens County, Texas, but I find no evidence he survived to adulthood. He is not even listed with the couple in the 1930 Bexar County, Texas Federal census.

The couple did, however, seem to take in a nephew. Winston Wallace Moore (b. 1917) was a son of Leonidas "Leon" Moore (1877-1960) and Mattie Crouson (1890-1918). Since Winston was less than a year old when his mother died, and Leon was already caring for three other children, maybe Kate and Ellis stepped in to help. Winston W. Moore was noted as a son in each of Ellis's and Kate's obituaries.

San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
Friday, 15 October 1976
[Snippet]

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