When Joel E Fowler was born in 1846 in Marshall, Mississippi, his father, Joel, was 29 and his mother, Rebecca, was 27. He had two brothers and one sister. He died on January 23, 1884, in New Mexico at the age of 38, and was buried in Fort Worth, Texas. (From ancestry.com)
(NOTE: the following text off of Ancestry.com)Joel E. Fowler was an outlaw, having killed between 3-7 men. He was jailed in Socorro, TX. Since he was rich the towns people thought he could buy his way out so they broke him out of jail and hung him. There are so many versions of Joe (or Joel) Fowler’s lynching that historians are at a loss to say which is the true one. But at least two points are beyond dispute. The first is that the outlaw in question was duly taken from the Socorro jail by the local vigilantes one night in 1883 and was suspended by the neck from what was always known thereafter as “The Hanging Tree.” The second inarguable point is that he richly deserved his fate. Piecing together the conflicting stories, the affair seems to have come about in this way. Indiana born but raised in Texas, Fowler at a young age entered the cattle business. But he had a serious flaw. When drinking, he lost control and became mean-tempered. Of his wife, he was wildly jealous. Coming home unexpectedly one night, he found her consorting with another man. Drawing his pistol, Joe Fowler shot him dead. Soon after, he left for the New Mexico Territory. In Las Vegas, N.M., he operated a dance hall and eventually married one of the dancers. When he had accumulated a bankroll, Joe moved down to Socorro County and bought a large ranch.
From Trail Dust – Santa Fe New Mexican by Marc Simmions The herds grew and the outfit prospered. But ugly rumors began to surface. According to a later newspaper account, the troublesome Fowler had been arrested for disorderly conduct. As he was being led to jail, a friend of his, Joseph Cale, approached him in the street and spoke to him. Without warning, the drunkard pulled a hidden knife from his vest and stabbed Cale, who died three days later. For this act, Joe Fowler was brought to trial for murder. Having money in the bank, he hired two slick lawyers, one from Albuquerque and the other from Santa Fe. They argued that their client, being intoxicated, was not responsible for his actions. But the jury disagreed and found Joe guilty. The judge sentenced him to hang.
His attorneys appealed the verdict to a higher court, and that threw fear into Socorro residents, lest it be overturned. Further, Mrs. Fowler was rumored to have hired Texas gunmen to free her husband. One of the defense attorneys was a young man, new to New Mexico, Neil B. Field. During the trial, he had spoken eloquently of justice and due process of law. Afterward, upon hearing that the townsfolk were considering dealing with his client in their own way, he became alarmed. “If one hair on Mr. Fowler’s head is touched,” declared Field with passion, “I will leave Socorro forever.” At that point the vigilantes took a hand. In the dead of night, some 200 armed men broke into the jail and dragged out Fowler. He was cursing, pleading, and offering bribes. But he was promptly hanged anyway, from a large tree nearby.
The body was left hanging and 3,000 people turned out to view it. A coroner’s jury ruled that “the deceased came to his death at the hands of a mob of unknown persons.” Several years later, one of the crowd, recounting the episode, said: “What could we do? After that lawyer threatened to leave Socorro if we took the law into our own hands, we just had to hang Joe Fowler!” Now in semi-retirement, author Marc Simmons wrote a weekly history column for more than 35 years. The New Mexican is publishing reprints from among the more than 1,800 columns he produced during his career.
| GENDER: | M (Male) |
|---|---|
| BIRTH DATE: | 1846 |
| BIRTH PLACE: | Mississippi, United States of America |
| DEATH DATE: | 23 Jan 1884 |
| DEATH PLACE: | New Mexico, United States of America |
| CEMETERY: | Pioneers Rest Cemetery |
| BURIAL OR CREMATION PLACE: | Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, United States of America |
| HAS BIO?: | Y |
| FATHER: | Joel A Fowler |
Newspaper Clippings
Lincoln County Ownership
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Type Grantee Rec Book Page # Filed Grantor Instrument Description Doc# -
QCD FOWLER J A 1 B 508 1 18810423 GREEN HORN 18800612 188110508 1 STANLEY STEPHEN 188110508 QCD FOWLER J A 1 B 511 1 18810423 GREEN HORN 18800604 188110511 1 MCKENZIE J H 188110511 - Note: No Legal Description is given, so I’m unable to map area of ranch
Ancestry.com
- The Story above came from here
- The bottom of this page also
The following is listed in chronological order
Facts
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Birth
1846 • Marshall Co., MS
1846
(AGE)
-
Residence
1850 • Northern Division, Marshall, Mississippi, USA
1850
4
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Death of Mother Rebecca Fowler(1819–1851)
20 MAR 1851 • Castleberry Cemetery, Marshall County, Mississippi
1851
5
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Death of Father Joel Archie Fowler(1817–1853)
1 December 1853 • Castleberry Cemetary, Marshall County, Mississippi
1853
7
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Residence
1860 • Township 3 Ranges 4 and 5, Marshall, Mississippi, USA
Residence Post Office: Byhalia
1860
14
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Death
23 JAN 1884 • Sicorro, New Mexico
1884
38
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Burial
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, United States of America