File Name = part3.htm3 Mr. Charles Van Baucom 17 May 1986 Somewhat dejected, I took another look around, poking into corners and climbing around various furnishings. Surprisingly, I came upon some criminal case files for the period 1820-1829. And there, as luck would have it, was the file on the 1829 Murder case. But even more surprising was the discovery of a few Chancery files among the criminal files. And, believe it or not, there was Leanna's divorce action' My day was made.
Everything in these two files was photocopied except the case title on the backs of some of the documents. (See Attachment 2.)
Murder of James Ralston:
James Ralston was the son-in-law of Samuel Walker. His name often looks like Rolston in the records, but I believe it was Ralston. Notice his signature on his recognizance bond of 27 Nov 1828. It is apparently he who married Samuel's daughter Frances. According to the Family Group Record compiled by Charlene W. Brazzell, Frances married a Ralston or Rolston, and Frances Ralston appears in the records in this file. She was one of those who charged Leanna Walker, Alberry Wasson, Wiley Wasson, and James Wasson with the murder of James Ralston. (She also appears in the records of Leanna Walker's suit for divorce as a witness, by deposition, for Samuel Walker.)
There seems to have been trouble between James Ralston and the Wassons just as there was between Samuel Walker and the Wassons. James Ralston on 23 Oct 1828 accused Ephraim and Wiley Wasson of assaulting him on 9 Oct 1828. On 19 Nov 1828 Leanna Walker accused him of assaulting her in October 1828. (The ensuing arrest warrant for James says the assault was in November 1828.) And on 20 Feb 1829 he accused Alberry Wasson of assaulting him on 4 Aug 1828. One wonders why in the last instance James waited so long to bring charges. It seems a little like tit for tat.
On the night of 5 Apr 1829 James Ralston was shot to death at his house. On the next day Samuel Walker, Frances Ralston, and Elizabeth Adair
charged Leanna Walker, Alberry Wasson, Ephraim Wasson, Wiley Wasson, and James Wasson with being 'concerned' in or accessories to his murder. Warrants were thereupon issued on that day for the arrest of the accused.
At the May Term 1829 of the Circuit Court the Grand Jury presented a true bill, indicting Ephraim Wasson, Wiley Wasson, Alberry Wasson, and Leanna Walker for the murder of James Ralston. Ephraim was charged with having fired the fatal shot. Notice that James Wasson was not included in the indictment. I found nothing to explain his exclusion. It is here in the true bill that we find the date of death, that the murder occurred at night, and that it took place at "Perry Court house." There is some question about the location of the crime. Maybe people were sometimes at the courthouse at night, but Samuel Walker said later (in his answer to Leanna's Bill of Complaint in the divorce action of 1833) that James Ralston "was shot in his own house near [Samuel Walker] in the night-time."
The phrase "late of the County of Perry" in the true bill does not mean that the accused had moved out of the County, or had absconded, or had died. You might expect it to mean such as that, but the word "late" is often seen in court records with the meaning "at one time, lately' but without the further connotation of but no longer." In effect the jurors were simply saying that the accused lived in Perry County when the crime was committed. They were not concerned with where they currently were.
As you see from the Circuit Court Minutes (p. 296), Ephraim was found not guilty of the murder. The alleged accessories were therefore automatically exonerated. The jury's verdict is also noted on the back of the true bill. Unfortunately there is no transcript of the trial to give us an idea of how the verdict was reached. Apparently there was no witness to the murder and no other evidence sufficient to convince the jury that the accused were guilty.
Notice in the charge of Samuel Walker that Alberry, Ephraim, Wiley, and James Wasson were identified as sons of Leanna Walker. Proof positive. The fifth son, probably William W. Wasson, is not mentioned anywhere here. He was still in Perry County however, for he was subpoenaed as a witness for the defendants, and the subpoenas were returned, executed, on 30 Apr 1829. (See report of 14 Sep 1984, p. 3.) He apparently did not get involved in the affrays. Not surprisingly, the Wasson daughter is not mentioned either. I believe that she was the Elizabeth Wasson who married Joel Cornett in Perry County on 7 Oct 1834. (See report of 8 Jun 1985, p. 2.)
Divorce Action of Leanna Walker: Leanna stated in her Bill of Complaint that she and Samuel Walker married about 1820 in Tennessee, that they moved to Alabama about 1824, and that she had 3 children by Samuel who were still living when she instituted suit for divorce in 1831. Samuel Walker stated in his Answer that he had 7 daughters and 3 sons by a former marriage, all living with him when he married Leanna, and that 9 of those children were still living (in November 1831); and that Leanna had 5 sons and 1 daughter when they married. He stated further that Leanna bore him 2 sons and 2 daughters, who were still living. Despite Leanna's statement that she had 3 children by Samuel still living, 4 appears to be the correct number. You may recall that Wiley B. Wasson was appointed as guardian of 3 of them (Mary, Wesley, and Nimrod) in 1841. The fourth, Malinda according to the Family Group Record for Samuel, did not die until 1895. Ephraim Wasson stated in his deposition in this case that he was the son of Leanna. Proof positive. He also stated that he thought Leanna and Samuel Walker married in Jackson County, Tennessee. Wiley Wasson stated in his deposition that he was the son of Leanna. Proof positive. Note that he signed his name as W. B. Wasson. The deposition of Alberry Wasson, supposed to have been taken but perhaps not taken, is not in the case file. Frances Ralston and Shelby D. Walker tell us in their depositions that the oldest of Leanna's Wasson children was about 14 or 15 years old in 1820 (when Leanna and Samuel Walker married). That oldest child, born about 1805 or 1806, appears then to have been Alberry Wasson, who was born in 1805 according to the 1850 census of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. It is Shelby who narrowed the date of marriage of Samuel and Leanna to the summer [of 1820].
Leanna did not win her suit. It was dismissed in the decree of 21 Aug 1833.
Conclusions and Recommendations: We now have the proof that Wiley B. Wasson's mother was Leanna (______) Wasson Walker and that Alberry, Ephraim, and James Wasson were his brothers. That William W. and Elizabeth Wasson were the other full siblings of Wiley is still speculative, but I have very little doubt that they were. We can stop looking for his father in Alabama, for it seems he was never here. He apparently died in Tennessee sometime in or before 1820 and probably after 1815. (Remember that William W. Wasson was born about 1816 according to the 1850 census of Union Parish, Louisiana.)
Ephraim said that he "thinks" his mother and Samuel Walker married in Jackson County, Tennessee. As a beginning I would assume that in fact they did marry there. And if that is true, there is a good chance that the Wassons lived in that county for some time before the marriage and that Leanna's Wasson husband died there. I suggest that you begin your Tennessee research in Jackson County.
The case of James Ralston's murder is interesting, but failure to find any records of the other criminal cases (or case) leaves open the question of whether Samuel Walker was murdered by the Wassons or by someone else, or whether he was murdered at all. The family story that his Wasson stepsons murdered him, related by Mrs. Brazzell in her letter of 2 Aug 1984 to [Mrs.] Laverne [Springer], may be true. But, on the other hand, the story may have developed from the fact that the Wasson brothers were accused of murdering James Ralston. Family stories do sometimes evolve a bit with the telling and with the passage of time.
If I had found the records of the 1834 and 1835 cases (or case), we would know whether they involved Samuel's death. But I fear that those records are irretrievably lost. The Clerk tells me that many record books and documents were stored in the courthouse attic for a long, long time. When she and others examined them several years ago preparatory to shipping some of them to the Alabama Archives, they discovered that many of them had been destroyed by water and insects. The books and documents that I could not find are probably among those destroyed.
But all may not be lost. I suggest that newspapers for November 1833 be examined at the Alabama Archives for whatever might be there about the death of Samuel Walker. Those of Spring and Fall 1834 and Fall 1835 should also be searched for possible details of the cases (or case) against the Wassons. With the time span thus restricted, the search should not take very long. Let me know if you agree. Sincerely yours, William P. Parks
Attachments: Enclosures: Note: All the sources previously searched for Wasson by indexes at the Alabama Archives and at the Probate Office in Marion have been searched again, this time for instances of Mason that might in fact have been Wason. No such instances were found (except for Alberry's patenting of land, previously reported). initialed, WPP Part 3 of 4 Parts