1896 :: Death of W.S. Puryear

Rockdale, Tex., July 30. -- In the examining trial of J.F. Greenwood for the killing of W.S. Puryear, an account of which was published in yesterday's Galveston News, it was developed from the testimony of the widow of Puryear and other corroborating witnesses that the difficult was provoked because of Greenwood's wife's refusal about a week before the killing to loan Puryear a wagon sheet. Puryear drove out of Rockdale at a breakneck speed not more than thirty minutes before the killing with his wife in a wagon with him. On his way out home, which was only a short distance from the home of Greenwood, he said to his wife that he was going to stop at Greenwood's and tell him what he thought of his (Greenwood's) wife. The execution of this threat was what provoked the difficulty which ended in Puryear's death. Justice Wells, in whose court the examining trial was conducted, admitted Greenwood to bail in the sum of $500. He was satisfied from the evidence that it was a case of excusable homicide. Galveston Daily News, Saturday, August 1, 1896 [Puryear's findagrave memorial page]